Cultural Context 01|02|03

Cultural Context 01 Lead

Carlene Prince, Lovejoy Stephen

Cultural Context 02 Lead

Lovejoy Stephen

Cultural Context 03 Lead

Lovejoy Stephen

The three-year cultural context course comprises four History and Theory courses. The history and theory courses position the individual student experience within the wider subject area of architecture, establishing views regarding the role of architecture within culture, the ethical and rational critique of architecture, and the application of philosophical thought to architecture. As well as establishing rigour in thinking, critical investigation, the application and organisation of research, writing skills, and referencing, studies in the history and theory of architecture encourage students to be aware of precedent. Precedent refers to the analysis of previous works of architecture, and how diverse design methodologies inform your own proposals in the studio. Historical and theoretical understanding allows students to judge the relative success of various design approaches against criteria including building performance, scale, form, social consequence, and historical significance.

Cultural Context 1 is an introductory course in Architectural History & Theory.Providing an outline review of key components within, cities, buildings, civic movements and personalities in the World of Architecture.The aim of this module is to provide the student with a grounding in the western tradition and practises; to familiarise them with the defining characteristics of the architecture of each period; to elucidate the relation of architecture to culture; to allow the student to critically appreciate the value of historical architectural studies; to introduce the topic and issues of nominated cities around the world.

Cultural Context 02 module, aims to broader students understanding of the relationship between architecture and wider society, and enable them to contextualise specific architectural movements, ideas, and buildings in their wider historical and social context.

Cultural Context 03 explores different ways in which we could define the role of architecture. By doing so, it explores many of the critical debates currently taking place in architecture as well as examining architecture’s relationship with adjacent disciplines, from planning, urban design and heritage to psychology, economics, and politics. The unit aims to teach students to consider, respect, and engage in the intellectual depth of architecture, to appreciate the meaning and intellectual origins of concepts deployed in architectural discourse, to position design practice within a cultural context that acknowledges philosophical, political, and social problems and to enhance critical skills that inform design processes, in particular the transformation of concepts into designs

Cultural Context 2 Essay

Kenzo Tange’s Influence on Tokyo

CULTURAL CONTEXT 2 Jan Gehl & Copenhagen Critical Essay

Kenzo Tange’s Work in Tokyo

The work of Kenzo Tange is notable for its incorporation of town planning, combination of western modernism with traditional Japanese architecture, and design for the new age of information as well as its celebration of modern technology and manufacturing. These themes can be seen throughout projects he worked on for Tokyo, most notably the City Hall, Olympic Arenas, Tokyo Metropolitan Building, and Cathedral of St Mary. His 1960 and 1986 plans for Tokyo, while not realised on a grand scale also introduce many key planning ideas that shaped the development of the city.

Incorporation of Town Planning Elements into Architectural Design

Tange’s first notable work for Tokyo was the City Hall, which was completed in 1957. Originally a winning entry for a competition to design a municipal administration centre for the city, the brief required the entire administration of the metropolis of Tokyo to be housed in one complex. Kenzo Tange’s key aim for the building was to ‘create a city hall that would be a real focus of the life of the community.’ (Tange, 1970) To achieve this, he ‘provided for free pedestrian zones, so that every inhabitant of the city should be able to establish a personal relationship with the building.’ (Tange, 1970). Only part of the original design was actually built, the second, twenty-storey tower with linking assembly hall not being realised. However, a decade later, Kenzo Tange was asked to design a second, larger city hall complex, the new Tokyo City Hall. Completed in 1991, this complex also featured many public spaces, including a publicly accessible observation gallery on the 45th floor, as well as using a civic plaza and central mall to link the two city hall towers together. (Tange, 1987)

Fig. 5 Old Tokyo City Hall

Fig. 4 New Tokyo City Hall Site Plan

Fig. 6 New Tokyo City Hall Complex

Designing to Enable Public Life

By the start of the 1960’s many of Copenhagen’s streets were becoming overwhelmed by vehicular traffic and parked cars. Nowhere was this more prominent than on Strøget, the main street of the city (Steiner, 2016). In 1962, the city made the controversial decision to close the road to traffic, creating one of the first examples of a willingness from a government to reduce the pressure from cars in a city centre (Svarre and Gehl, 2013). At the time Gehl and his wife, psychologist Ingrid Gehl, had researched how Italians used public squares and spaces; research that Jan Gehl applied to looking in to how the newly pedestrianised Strøget was being used and how future roads could follow suit. Gehl described how the increase in footfall was similar to what you see in automotive traffic planning when he said ‘if you make more roads, you will have more traffic… if you have more space for people, you have more public life’ – Jan Gehl (Dalsgaard, 2012). This showed that devoting space to the public will draw people to that space and create footfall, even if, like Strøget, the road was once rarely accessed by foot. His Copenhagen studies of 1966 became the basis for a wave of newly pedestrianised streets in the city, with swathes of once overcrowded vehicular passages being converted to allow for public life.

Gehl’s research on Italian cities showed that good public spaces meet our ‘need for contact’ (Gehl and Koch, 2011). He explains this by comparing people in public spaces to children in playgrounds. A child comes to a playground and does what they want to do even though other children are surrounding them. They may not play together but they are still in the same space, similarly people in public spaces may not interact but they share the same space. Gehl suggests that people interact on a deeper level when they encounter them more regularly, suggesting that public spaces should have more shared spaces and places to linger to encourage this.

Both the converted pedestrian streets and the purpose-built public spaces, such as the Superkilen park in Copenhagen, follow these principles with a focus on interpersonal interactions either directly or on a shallower level. Ledges, benches and shopfronts encourage people to linger, increasing repeat interactions and allowing for a more communal feel when compared to a road open to traffic.

The creation of these public spaces has, however, been limited almost exclusively to the central ‘palm’ of the city. The radial neighbourhoods have remained largely dead spaces from which people mostly travel into the centre of the city to work and shop and return to their own neighbourhoods only to sleep.

Figure 4: Mapping of expansion of pedestiran routes

6 / Critical Essay // Jan Gehl and Copenhagen

Natural History Museum

Cultural Context 3 2021/22

For over 130 years, The natural History museum has evolved architecturally with his collection as well. The collection was flooding into the galleries as New specimens and knowledge were coming to collection. The permanent home of the collection has been weave architecturally with four different style such as Romanesque, Victorian, Gothic revival, Romanesque revival with nature inspired decorative elements.

He was highly influenced by German Romanesque design from his German trips and also his decorative elements are inspiration from feature of German civic buildings, where they used wide range of terracotta in decorative elements. In Mid 19th century London was very polluted city and the detail of the architecture was at risk as to clean carved surface was hard at that moment. Intensive labour work and time consuming stone carving was over budget. They used terracotta because it was quick and easy to manufacture and needed low maintenance. Also, terracotta was not also heavy on pocket as well. That’s how terracotta was resistance to the grime of Victorian architecture and new culture came to London.

The initial design Fig.2 had circular amphitheatre like display in main hallway but the main gallery of the existing the building is following the symmetry throughout the design. The main gallery named as ‘Hintze Hall’ is right when you enter the building. Gallery display has been changed and renovate many times since 1881. In 2017, The main gallery space was redesigned and 25.2 m blue whale skeleton was installed. In 2018, The gallery has won the d[Arc]award for its verity of lights source across the all floors. Fig.4 and Fig.5 shows the comparison the different display with light.

Fig.4 - Hintze Hall before the Skelaton Fig.5- Hintze Hall with Blue whale

CULTURAL CONTEXT BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE

The new design was a step towards modern ideologies against its previous Victorian style, the aesthetics and programme position the BAC as an act of creativity. An act towards establishing a diverse culture and open civic space available to everyone.

The structure has always been a civic centre designed to host diff erent events varying from political gatherings to theatre production. However in the late 1890’s it was market for a speci c audience, those of a higher education and the right to vote or have a say in the upcoming politics, which can be viewed as elitist at the time to those who looked up to those ideologies. The 1980 conversion of the BAC tried to remove many of its Victorian features to  t more modernist ideal such as the Vitruvius proposed triad: durability, usefulness, and beauty. The core programme changed from being a political construct to a creative administrative holding for the community. Making its previous design obsolete.

Haworth Tompkins saw an opportunity to rediscover and celebrate key elements, claiming that ‘people understand what a building like this is about, and they accept the invitation of the building just to go and explore, get lost in it’ (Flucher, 2018) . The roof of the Grand Hall was destroyed in the  re exposing the structural masonry walls, with a charred and scorched surface of exposed brick and plaster. Juxtaposing with the patterned ceiling panels, which was constructed in the same pro le as the original roof but features an open plywood lattice, referencing the memory of pattern celebrating the traditionalism of the building’s history. The new designed ceiling allows for greater ventilation and theatrical acoustics, maintaining its purpose for the user. It is shown through these decisions how theatre production broke free from the con nes of the traditional auditorium, joining the boundaries of the acting and audience spaces.

The BAC continue to draw inspiration from its user, to establish a better experience through programmatic interventions. In 2021 it introduced itself as the worlds  rst relaxed Venue, committing itself to be accessible to everyone creating equal experiences. The programme was created along with Tourette hero ‘using the Social Model, which says disability isn’t caused by people’s bodies or minds, but by how society is structured.’ (Anon., n.d.) For the interventions to be successful the building and programme had to be functional at the same time of construction. Just as Haworth Tompkins took the scratch approach they also chose to take a theatrical production approach. Creating a schedule of rehearsals where architectural construction or experiments were timetabled. Resulting in the restoration becoming its own show on the stage it is being used as.

‘Haworth Tompkins is challenging industry norms, ideas about authorship in architecture and the behavioural codes of theatre as they are promoted through architecture’s tendency to channel and contain us.’ (Ruff ord, 2015)

Clients of the BAC have stated how “Haworth Tompkins did not just off er architectural solutions” but in turn allowed the “community of artists and local residents to become part of the design team”. (Anon., n.d.)Portraying how this buildings civic duty has evolved to welcome all community’s without restrictions.

Prior to the completion of the building Photographer Fred Haworth took a series of photographs displaying the structures stripped down aesthetic. Capturing its historic manner in which the buildings Victorian features were shown. He presents the interior shell of the structure displaying its vast amount of windows that allow a light illuminative atmosphere alongside the pendant lamps along the corridors highlighting the pathways through the centre. However, none of these photos include the user, these photos give a sense of emptiness, that although the building is aesthetically pleasing it can not function without its user.

This furthers the argument of the balancing act for designing for use vs preserving the historical fabric. To restore and keep the buildings heritage the designers took aspects from the user and there needs to create a space for them. In doing so Haworth Tompkins made it obsolete for any other use, the only evolution now is the programme not the building itself.

In order to develop the design further more changes would need to be made which can result in the demolish of its Victorian aspects such as its masonry walls. The Battersea Town Hall was designed and built from the point of political agenda in 1893 by Edward W. Mountford. Mountford is viewed as one of the ‘initiators of the Wrenaissance style of Baroque Revival architecture’ (Anon., 2021). The structure contained 70 rooms, the grand hall being the main space. It has been developed over the years to accommodate expansion and its new uses, however not always regarding the value of the building.

Concerned with the improvement of public spaces Bernheimer suggests that ‘beloved environments require a degree of complexity, depth, and variety that takes time to grow’ (Bernheimer, 2017) this is re ected in the plywood lattice, referencing the memory of fractals and symmetry from the previous plaster mouldings, in the restoration. Thereby preserving its historical heritage. However, one wing of an existing attic was transformed into a light and airy space for the staff which opens onto a new rooftop garden. The atmosphere is represented in the lower rooms of the structure, but it is juxtaposed by its modern materials and aesthetic. In classic Victorian architecture ‘we see ordered complexity in the layout and the weaving together of materials’ (Bernheimer, 2017). Haworth Tompkins has not represented this here, and has solely focused on the user and its needs for a business hub. The designers have not stuck to the traditional materials that were used on the original structure, creating a whole new identity for part of the building.

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