Presentation for English Heritage workshop

2. The original caption to this photo (of
Stockholm) says “where are all the
visible landmarks”?

3. Then original caption to this photo
(of Stockholm) says “where are all
the visible landmarks”?

4. The artificiality of the aerial view?
Air photography – and maps – are not how most
people perceive most places, despite the current
ease of access to Google views!

5. What constitutes context?
There are many factors, identified in standard
texts including English heritage’s guidance on
conservation area character appraisal etc.
• History, archaeology, topography, vegetation,
street patterns, plot patterns, building
patterns, building forms, architectural styles &
details, “urban grain”, public realm, land use,
and more ...

6. “Context” = features in/of surrounding
area.
“Character” = features shaping a unique
identity.
“Significance” = key to both: identification
of what is important.

7. A key attribute:
The ability to recognise detail. While “the big
picture”, the “overview”, is important, it is made
up of details (even if some planning inspectors
seem to have different views!).

8. A key attribute:
The ability to identify patterns
• Scale?
• Nature?
• Time?
• Variation in
space?

9. A key attribute:
The ability to identify patterns
• Scale?
• Nature?
• Time?
• Variation in
space?

10. A key attribute:
The ability to identify patterns
• Scale?
• Nature?
• Time?
• Variation in
space?

11. What if the context is varied?

12. Be aware of change over time

13. Be aware of change over time
Cincinnati,
courtesy of
Brenda Case
Sheer

14. Be aware of change over time
Courtesy of
M.P. Conzen

15. Be aware of change over space

16. What about
temporary things?
Land uses (legal and otherwise)
Buildings

17. What about
temporary things?
Land uses (legal and otherwise)
Buildings (how temporary is
“temporary”? 70 years?)

18. What about
temporary things?
Land uses (legal and otherwise)
Buildings (how temporary is
“temporary”? 70 years?)
Vegetation?

19. Hierarchy of features
In urban morphology
studies, the “streets,
plots, buildings”
hierarchy is crucial
Courtesy of
Karl Kropf

20. Streets

21. Blocks/Plots

22. Buildings

23. Variation within one building type

24. Details

25. Colour

26. Places are not uniform (common
characteristics indicate periods/units)

27. Works for more recent, and
residential, areas

28. Even the uniform semi suburbia

29. … isn’t actually very uniform!

30. Ludlow

31. Ludlow

32. Topography
Land use (ground level, but
could be other levels)
“plan units” (ie development
history and key features)
M.R.G. Conzen’s classic study of
Ludlow (data from 1940s/50s)

33. Building types and ages

34. Combining these
characteristics
gives a very fine-
grain study of
context – certain
aspects anyway!

35. Relict features

36. Small scale might be significant

38. Context-informed design?

40. The impact of context on design
Perhaps more often seen as lack of impact?
“Who gave that planning permission”?
The shock of the new?

41. The problem of the icon?

44. An example
Lleida (northern Spain): repositioning as a
tourist-historic city in the 1980s

45. A series of distant views of the Citadel
Originally the Cathedral; been in military occupation for c100 years

47. Solutions?
• Between the substantial buildings fronting the Plaça and the
citadel there is, obviously, a substantial hill – a major access
problem.
• There is also an area of tightly-packed vernacular low-status
housing.
• This housing could not be allowed to remain on the tourist
route.
• The hill access had to be resolved to allow ready access.
• So….

48. Note the tower

49. The high-tech access answer – a lift

50. “The impact of context on design”?

53. How bad is it?

54. In these examples, is there evidence of serious
interaction between understanding context and
informing a design process?

55. In these examples, is there evidence of serious
interaction between understanding context and
informing a design process?
Some examples from a small historic town of
worldwide significance, strong design policies,
vociferous public input …

56. Within 150m we can see:

58. Impact of…
scale? Dominant style? Brick patterning?

60. Bold design, within a
context-set envelope?
Successful?

61. The same principle in Birmingham?

62. Finally,

63. Examples to discuss

65. Some examples for discussion

71. (very) context aware –
but is it “fake”?