Contemporary Architecture in the Historic Environment

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Design Approaches and Philosophies
modernist architecture, most memorably calling architect Peter Ahrends’s proposal
for the new Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London “a monstrous
carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend.” This speech
eventually led to the abandonment of Ahrends’s proposal in favor of a postmodern
design by the firm of Venturi, Scott Brown and set off an intense debate
between Prince Charles and leading British architects of the time such as
Richard Rogers. (S.L.)
Charles, Prince of Wales. 1989. A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of
Architecture. New York: Doubleday.
In this book, Charles, the Prince of Wales, advocates for architecture and urban
design that are harmonious with local building traditions and maintain the local
character. He justifies this preference by explaining that when people identify
with a place, it creates a better quality of life and thus increases a project’s
chance of economic success by pleasing people more easily. Throughout the
book, Prince Charles defines 10 principles, each guiding a different aspect of
urban design:
1. The Place: “Don’t rape the landscape.”
2. Hierarchy: “If a building can’t express itself, how can we understand
it?”
3. Scale: “Less might be more; too much is not enough.”
4. Harmony: “Sing with the choir and not against it.”
5. Enclosure: “Give us somewhere safe for the children to play and let the
wind play somewhere else.”
6. Materials: “Let where it is be what it’s made of.”
7. Decoration: “A bare outline won’t do; give us the details.”
8. Art: “Michelangelo accepted very few commissions for a free-standing
abstract sculpture in the forecourt.”
9. Signs & Lights: “Don’t make rude signs in public places.”
10. Community: “Let the people who will have to live with what you build
help guide your hand.” (A.P.A.G.)
Cohen, Stuart. 1987. Contextualism: From urbanism to a theory of appropriate
form. Inland Architect 31 (3): 68–69.
Cohen explains the beginning of contextualism in the 1960s. The author wrote
this article after the publication of two articles by Lesnikowski in Inland
Architect attacking contextualism theory. Cohen argues that contextualism is a
theory to guide the proper insertion of buildings in existing cities, not a theory
for the construction of new cities. He presents a very concise definition of the
theory: “Contextualism proposes the establishment of physical continuities
between adjacent buildings” (p. 69). According to Cohen, the degree of integration
of a building into its context should depend on the building’s civic importance
and its hierarchy in the urban landscape. (A.P.A.G.)
[See the following entries for Lesnikowski’s articles: Lesnikowski, Wojciech.
1986. Contextuality: Historic and modern perspectives. Inland Architect 30 (4):
Contemporary Architecture in the Historic Environment: An Annotated Bibliography - Getty Conservation Institute - 2015