CONTEXT & BUILDING
Architecture
in context is neither a cursory attention nor a radical innovation, it is a strong
and eloquent visual relationship to the surrounding. Individual
building is always seen first as a part of the whole. Creating Places and
Spaces that enrich the lives of the
people who use them is
the foundation of Architects work. Every building can and should engage
in a dialog with the history, beliefs and needs of a particular place and time.
Identification of place lies as a generative core of architecture. Place
is to architecture as meaning is to language. Recognition,
memory, choice, sharing with others, the
acquisition of significance; all these contribute to the process
of architecture.
“Real cities, must become the science and art of
catalysing and nourishing these close- grained working relationship.” - Jane Jacobs
“The keystone of the theory behind this city
(Radiant City) is the liberty of the individual.” - Le Corbusier
“The
twentieth century town is physically a combination of two simple concepts: the
traditional city of corridor and streets, grids, squares, etc., and the
city-in-the-park.” - Tom Schumacher.
Context
is external
elements that
influence an object. These elements are physical and non-physical.
Roads, buildings, and land contour are examples for physical elements while
non-physical elements are weather condition, local culture, as well as
political and economic constraints. There are varieties of context such as climate
context, political context, cultural
& current context, human context and others. The context determines the architectural
style, building material selection and site layout,
which is very important in creating an effective design.
All these promote continuity between the
building and local circumstances.
For me, I think that context is predominately combination of social and economic issues.
Despite the normal situation like site contour, site weather, (natural issues). Non-physical issues are now overtaking the
site consideration in architecture life. Social issues such as security (terrorism) which I mentioned
before is a global problem which affect the site planning. Architect needs to
think of the access, to be convenient but on the other hand provides a safety
to the user and building itself.
From the view of economical, they
are the impact which slowing down the building design process and development, and also given the psychological
impact to all practitioners. Economical consideration of the site may affect the
outlook of the building, will this material is affordable by the users of the site?
May this site turn more popular after suiting my design on the site? May this
area bring out the economic values and changing the lifestyle of the
surrounding? Therefore, this context usually makes the
architectural style to be simple and clean.
TERRACES HOME
Terraces home adopts the combination of
Architecture and Agriculture (Agriculture + Architecture = Agriculture) as a
basis for sustainable development. The idea is to combine the two
distinctive elements of Vietnam’s rural areas: The house (accommodation space)
and terraced rice field (cultivation space) to create a Home with blurred
boundaries in and out; above and below; common and private.
Agricultural cultivation helps bring city dwellers
closer to the nature by giving them interesting first-hand experience in
planting, taking good care and sharing harvested produce from their own
farmland plots with their neighbours. Terraces home serves as a constant
reminder of the origin of paddy rice civilization in a flat world context
threatened by various types of pollution currently at an alarming level.
It is, at the same time, expected to promote the expansion of farmland plots in
urban areas with a view to securing food supplies for future life. I
personally think that this is a good example to this topic because it takes the
culture context of Vietnam very seriously.
In conclusion, contemporary architecture is
influenced by many factors. These factors are main context for the
architects/designer in designing building. The design process should not only
fulfil the designer’s desire but must take into account the surrounding context
locally and globally