“CONTEXTUALISM: URBAN IDEALS AND DEFORMATIONS”

BY THOMAS L. SCHUMACHER

Group 7 Chan Ka Yin, Grace

Chow Chiu YinLau Wing Shan, Sarah

Tan Ka Wai, Amy

Thomas L. Schumacher+ 1941- 2009: Post- Modern period+ American architectural theorist, professor

+ Student of Colin Rowe

+ expert on urbanism

+ “contextualism”---significant insights in post- mod-ern urban design

Publication: “CONTEXTUALISM: URBAN IDEALS AND DEFORMATIONS” 1971 (Theorizing a new Agen-da for Architecture)

Thomas L. Schumacher+ 1941- 2009: Post- Modern period+ American architectural theorist, professor

“ The twentieth century town is physically a combination of two simple concepts: the traditional city of corridor streets, grids, squares, etc., and the city in the park ”

Definition: Contextualism

Traditional citycustom and historical approach of development

+ Void in solid: subtractive process

+ “Emphasizes the spaces and de-em-phasizes the building volumes”> Figure void

+ Humanistic--- human scale, usage

+ Density, complexity

+ Old urban fabric (collection of blocks)

Traditional cityCity of Rome+ Scattered irregular block> fit in site

+ Blur division between different land-use

+no zoning

+ Piazza Navona> Figure void> gathering, shopping> X mono-functional space

Traditional cityCity of Rome+ Narrow street, low- rise blocks with shops at ground floor

+ Pedestrian experince

+ Hybrid urban experience

+ Solid in void: additional procedure

+ “emphasizes the building volumes and not the space which the buildings define or im-ply”> Figure solid

+ Functionalistic--- scale of automobile,efficiency & convenience

+ Characteristic: order, segregation

+ Object- like architecture (individual)

City in the parkmodernist approach of city planning

City in the parkVilla Radieuse, 1935 by Le Corbusier

+ grid regardless of site> uniform lay-out> pattern

+ Object- like high-rise>Solid on ground

+ segerated zones connected by trans-port route

Commercial

Transport

Housing

Recreational

Factory

City in the parkVilla Radieuse, 1935 by Le Corbusier

+ Mismatch between building & human scale

+ Standardisation> mono- style

+ Machine- like city

“Towards a New Architecture”“A building is like a soap bubble. This bubble is perfect and harmonious if the breath has been evenly distributed from the inside. The exterior is the result of the interior. “

> internal force to design> Form Follow Function

“Because the twentieth century town is an unhappy combination of the traditional city and various misconceptions of the Ville Radieuse”

Definition: Contextualism

So what is Urban Ideal? How to achieve it?> CONTEXTUALIAM

?Traditional City City in the Park

A BCD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

?AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Traditional City City in the Park

Robert Moses(1888-1981)

+ URBAN IDEAL: Similar to modernist vision

+ Enhance efficiency in city

+ Large infrastructure to link up different zones

+ Improve quality of life

City Renewal

?AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Traditional City City in the Park

Robert Moses(1888-1981)

City Renewal

+ Mass transfer: Blocking human accessibility

+ Tearing old urban fabric apart

?AB

CD

1 2 34 5

Traditional City City in the Park

EF

6

G

Jane Jacobs(1916-2006)

+ URBAN IDEAL: More towards traditional city

+ Humanistic “village“ city

+ Retaining old urban fabric

+ Multi-use districts: creating the full city experience

Nostalgia

?AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Jane Jacobs(1916-2006)

Traditional City City in the Park

Nostalgia

+ Essence of the city: chaos, density and complexity

+ Give texture & character to a city

AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Traditional City City in the Park

Collin Rowe (1920-1999)

+ URBAN IDEAL: elements from both traditional city & city in the park

+ Contexturalism: consideration of old urban fabric in new development

+ Utopia as metaphor, Collage city as a prescription

+ Mixture of functional & historical condition

Collage city

?

Traditional City City in the Park

AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Collin Rowe (1920-1999)

Collage city

?

+ Building as both space occupier & definer

+ Come to the middle: integrated whole

?AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Traditional City City in the Park

Thomas SchumacherContextualism: middle ground

“To retreat to a hopelessly artificial past is unrealistic, but to allow brutalizing system to dominate and destroy traditional urbanism is irresponsible.”

“Obviously some middle ground is needed”

Urban Ideal

?AB

CD

1 2 34 5E

F6

G

Traditional City City in the Park

“It is precisely the ways in ways idealized forms can be adjusted (deform) to a context or used as “college” that contexturalism seeks to explain”

Contexturalist Techniques

Technique of achiving Contextualism: Collage and Deformation

Deformation

+ =

+ Basic parti (Idealized building culminates as a geometric abstraction)

+ Respond to constricted environment

+ Adjustment made to fit- in the existing context

Ideal form Deforming pressure Specific Deformation

Plan of St.Agnese in Roma, 1652Plan of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican, 1626

Piazza Navona, Roma

St.Agnese in Roma, 1652+ Sitting of a cultural important buildings

+ Basic parti: Centralized cross surmounted by a dome

+ Site environment: Existing flat facade of the Piazza Navona

+ =

Technique of achiving Contextualism: Collage and Deformation

Collage+ Fragmentation of basic parti

+ Reorganisation base od laws/ principles

+ Respond to constricted environment

+ Unified whole

Ideal form Empirical environmentFragmentation Unified whole

Housing for National Pensions Institute by Alvar Aalto, 1952(planning)

Housing for National Pensions Institute, 1952

+ Basic parti: Idealization of programatric requirements

+ Fragmentation of “Soap bubble“

+ Resulting parti ties with the context

“Land Values and the economic necessities of grouping people in high concentrations have greatly limited the flexibility of the capitalist city.”

“…..endlessly repetitious and based on profit rather than need”

“The results are urban configurations which relate neither to the human being nor to the neighborhoods which they interrupt.”

Similar to Hong Kong’s Situation

“The twentieth century town is physically a combination of the two simple concepts: the traditional city …… and the city-in-the-park…..is an unhappy combination….”

Hong Kong’s Situation

+ Union Square (city-in-the-park) VS Yau Ma Tei Fabric (traditional city)

+ Union Square is an “island”, isolated itself from the existing context

+ Destroy the harmony of the community

Hong Kong’s Situation

+ Limited the flexibility of the capitalist city

Mei Foo Sun Cheun VS Lai Chi Kowk

Slab blocks

Twin towers

L shaped

Wah Fu Estate 1967- Pok Fu Lam

+ A public housing estate

+ Collage: extract the good elements from the ideal housing forms

+ Deformation: reformulate the arrangement of buildings in the site

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ The ideal forms in the housing

+

Given Site

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ Extract the good elements from the ideal forms

+

Given Site

=

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ Form a new type based on the need of the human beings

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ Twin Tower: better natural ventilation and security

+

Given Site

=

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ meeting the demand of sufficient housing provision

Densely packed in Mei Foo Sun Cheun

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ Deform in related to the social meaning

Densely packed in Mei Foo Sun Cheun

VS

Slab blocks

Twin towers

L shaped

Wah Fu Estate 1967- Pok Fu Lam

+ A public housing estate

+ Collage: extract the good elements from the ideal housing forms

+ Deformation: reformulate the arrangement of buildings in the site

Wah Fu Estate 1967

+ Twin tower estate is repeated

+ Attempt “a middle ground” seem can success in Hong Kong

It is a safe way to deal with the urban problems

Kwai Fong - Lai Yiu EstateShatin - Wo Che EstateWah Fu Estate

Development of Hong Kong from 1967 to 1900s

+ Arrived a stage of commercial dominating the development of urban planning

+ Population suddenly raised from 3.8 millions to 5.7 millions

+ Developers drive the main stream of land development

1960s 1990s

Street in the Sky 1990s- Tseung Kwan O

+ Collage: Extract the traditional streets and shops

+ Deformation: Elevate and turn the traditional street to 90 degree

Experience of shopping from horizontal to vertical

+ Intention: Solve the land shortage, provide a “perfect” public space to the community

Street in the Sky 1990s

+ Segragate the city from the ground

+ Routine of life is restricted

Middle Ground: It is not a MUST to solve the problems. It is too THEORETICAL.

How to go on the next stage? .......

Langham Place 2004- MongKok

+ A business and commercial complex

+ Focus on the arrangement within the building

+ no respond to the site context? (City-in-the-park?)

Langham Place 2004

+ Not attempt middle ground

+ Its high economic value influences the neighborhood, reduces social problems

+ Kick out red light district

Portland Street after 2004Portland Street 1980s

instead of influencing by the site pressure, the building influences

END