You may have heard the terms, Contextual Architecture, or Buildings in Context, or something similar. This simply refers to how buildings relate to their surrounding sites (context). The surrounding site can include such things as adjoining buildings, mature trees, an adjacent plaza or the existing street pattern. Typically when someone mentions a building “in context”, they mean it relates well to what is around it, that is, it was designed to complement and add to the immediate neighborhood of which it is a part. There are many different ways this could be possible, and also many ways a new design could violate and disturb the context of which it is a part. One obvious measure is building height. If there exists a neighborhood with mostly 3 story buildings, a 16 story building would certainly be out of context. But would a 5 story building? Or a six story building? While there are basic common sense principles for judging how well a new project relates to and contributes to its surrounding environment, there are no hard rules; each case must really be evaluated individually. Sometimes a building or landscape that stands in stark contrast to what is around it provides a focal point and adds interest, life and vitality to its context. Look at the image on the first page of this thought. Changing (higher) land values and new types of construction are illustrated by these two buildings on a corner in San Francisco. The developers of the new building project were required to preserve and incorporate the old structure into their program. Is this effective? Could it have been done more effectively?
