Context theory
Encyclopedia
Context theory is the theory of how environmental design
and planning
of new development should relate to its context. When decisions have been taken they are implemented by means of Land Use Plans
, Zoning Plans
and Environmental Assessments
. A number of context theories set out principles for relationships new designs and the existing environment.
theorists argued that landscapes should be composed 'like a picture' (ie a landscape painting) with a foreground, a middle ground and a background. The theory was applied to landscape garden
s in the eighteenth century and as Nikolaus Pevsner
argued to the wider topic of regional planning
in the twentieth century. This produced the context theory that towns (the foreground) should be compact and urban, that the surrounding countryside (the middle ground) should retain its agricultural character and that remote areas (the background) should remain as natural parks.
Modernist
town planners lacked sympathy with picturesque context theory. Their firm belief that 'form follows function' led to the prioritising of certain human needs over environmental considerations or deeper issues of meaning. When planning a new road, for example, the emphasis was on traffic analysis and engineering rather than on the relationship between the new road and its environmental context.
Ian McHarg
opposed Modernist planning in his book Design with nature. He believed that new development should be preceded by the fullest possible analysis of the environmental context in which building would take place. The highway planners who were, in his view, destroying the American landscape at that time were described as 'highwaymen'.
Kenneth Frampton
put forward a context theory which he described as Critical Regionalism
to help consider the relationship between new architecture and its context. He believed that designers should make a critical response, rather than a sentimental or copyist response, to local design traditions.
Tom Turner
, in Chapter 3 of a book on Landscape planning and environmental impact design (1998), argued for a broad approach to context theory based on an index of Similarity, Identity and Difference (the SID Index): 'On different occasions... a powerful case can be made for developments which are "similar to", "identical with" or "different from" their surroundings' (p88).
Jonathan Watts reported (on Tuesday June 12, 2007 in The Guardian) "China has become the land of 1,000 identical cities, a senior government official has warned in an outspoken attack on the country's rush towards modernity."
Environmental design
Environmental design is the process of addressing surrounding environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products...
and planning
Environmental planning
Environmental Planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out development with due consideration given to the natural environmental, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic frame work to achieve sustainable outcomes.-Elements of environmental...
of new development should relate to its context. When decisions have been taken they are implemented by means of Land Use Plans
Land use planning
Land-use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. Governments use land-use planning to manage the development of land within their...
, Zoning Plans
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
and Environmental Assessments
Environmental impact statement
An environmental impact statement , under United States environmental law, is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An EIS is a tool for decision making...
. A number of context theories set out principles for relationships new designs and the existing environment.
Theories
PicturesquePicturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
theorists argued that landscapes should be composed 'like a picture' (ie a landscape painting) with a foreground, a middle ground and a background. The theory was applied to landscape garden
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
s in the eighteenth century and as Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
argued to the wider topic of regional planning
Regional planning
Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. The related field of urban planning deals with the specific issues of city planning...
in the twentieth century. This produced the context theory that towns (the foreground) should be compact and urban, that the surrounding countryside (the middle ground) should retain its agricultural character and that remote areas (the background) should remain as natural parks.
Modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
town planners lacked sympathy with picturesque context theory. Their firm belief that 'form follows function' led to the prioritising of certain human needs over environmental considerations or deeper issues of meaning. When planning a new road, for example, the emphasis was on traffic analysis and engineering rather than on the relationship between the new road and its environmental context.
Ian McHarg
Ian McHarg
Ian L. McHarg was born in Clydebank, Scotland and became a landscape architect and a renowned writer on regional planning using natural systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His 1969 book Design with Nature...
opposed Modernist planning in his book Design with nature. He believed that new development should be preceded by the fullest possible analysis of the environmental context in which building would take place. The highway planners who were, in his view, destroying the American landscape at that time were described as 'highwaymen'.
Kenneth Frampton
Kenneth Frampton
Kenneth Frampton , is a British architect, critic, historian and the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York....
put forward a context theory which he described as Critical Regionalism
Critical regionalism
Critical Regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter placelessness and lack of identity in Modern Architecture by utilizing the building's geographical context...
to help consider the relationship between new architecture and its context. He believed that designers should make a critical response, rather than a sentimental or copyist response, to local design traditions.
Tom Turner
Tom Turner
Tom Turner is an English Landscape architect, Garden designer and Garden historian teaching at the University of Greenwich in London. He is the author of books and articles on landscape and gardens and is the editor of the Garden History Reference Encyclopedia CD and the online Gardens...
, in Chapter 3 of a book on Landscape planning and environmental impact design (1998), argued for a broad approach to context theory based on an index of Similarity, Identity and Difference (the SID Index): 'On different occasions... a powerful case can be made for developments which are "similar to", "identical with" or "different from" their surroundings' (p88).
Jonathan Watts reported (on Tuesday June 12, 2007 in The Guardian) "China has become the land of 1,000 identical cities, a senior government official has warned in an outspoken attack on the country's rush towards modernity."
See also
- Land use planningLand use planningLand-use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. Governments use land-use planning to manage the development of land within their...
- ZoningZoningZoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
- Environmental impact statementEnvironmental impact statementAn environmental impact statement , under United States environmental law, is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An EIS is a tool for decision making...
- New urbanismNew urbanismNew Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
- Urban designUrban designUrban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
- ArchitectureArchitectureArchitecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
- Phronetic social sciencePhronetic social sciencePhronetic social science is an approach to the study of social – including political and economic – phenomena based on a contemporary interpretation of the Aristotelian concept phronesis, variously translated as practical judgment, common sense, or prudence. Phronesis is the intellectual virtue...