Theories of context

Sensitivity to context: a sense of place 

Contextual decisions need a theoretical context A theory of context should explain what factors will create a favourable relationship between development and environment. One often reads that developments should 'fit in' with their context. I agree, but how? The questions posed at the start of this chapter outline the problem. If proposed development must always be similar to the existing environment, innovation will always be stifled. Conversely, if every new development is made to be different, the visual world will become utterly discordant. Theories of context should deal with this issue and also with the impact of development projects on the natural and social environment. Nine theories with the capability to guide contextual decisions will be reviewed, though few of them were launched as theories of context. The most comprehensive theory of context dates from the late eighteenth century: the Picturesque. It developed from the idea of a Genius Loci, who could guide development decisions. Two of the theories are mainly to do with aesthetics: Critical Regionalism and Linguistic Aestheticism. One theory is primarily ecological: Design with Nature. Two theories emphasise social processes: Modernism and the Pattern Language. The Identity Index is proposed as an index with which to measure contextual similarity/difference.