A More Natural Contextualism

A More Natural Contextualism

As an architect I see an interesting relationship between the issue of sustainability in architecture, which has the potential to help our planet, and the issue of contextualism, which, if expanded to include “nature,” has the potential to cause enormous growth in the art of architecture.

Contextualism, which reappeared in architectural thinking in the 70s, brought with it unparalleled challenges to many of the original tenets of the modern movement. However, it did not sufficiently alter Modernism’s large failing, which was to eliminate an essential component of the issue of context—the issue of the “natural” context. Consistent with our society’s fascination with technology, 20th Century architects preferred to design buildings that expressed man’s ability to control nature rather than acknowledge in an imaginative way the natural processes which affect buildings.

Today we recognize that nature is capable of striking back. We are beginning to understand that we are exhausting nature’s ability to absorb our negligence and arrogance.

However, in expanding the issue of context to include the concern for nature, we cannot lose sight of the existing built context. Therein, I believe, lies the future challenge both for architects and environmentalists. As only one example, solar collectors, as they exist today in the marketplace cannot fit harmoniously in a delicate urban or historic built environment. We cannot be satisfied with the easy answer of decorating or masking them in some way. We cannot be captive again to technology’s solutions alone. We must create solutions which are responsive to the built context as well as to the demands of nature.

It is my hope that the mid- and late-90s will be a time to concentrate on creating a cohesiveness between our built and our natural environment. We need to find a way to go forward with changes in the way we design and build, but not so quickly that we hurt the worthwhile built contexts that we have struggled to preserve for many years.

James Oleg Kruhly, FAIA

Philadelphia, PA