Buildings Have Many Layers of Contextual Meanings - Essay Example

?Buildings in Context Introduction The architect, Sir Robert Smirke had designed the British Museum “in the Greek revival style The building is reflective of classical Greek architecture with lots of columns.2 It is classified as classical because its design has “its roots in antiquity, in the worlds of Greece and Rome, in the temple architecture of the Greek world and in the religious, military and civil architecture of the Romans.”3 The general historical context in which Smirke adopted this style was that, during the period of 1823-1852, when the museum building was being built, the Western society and its architects had just unraveled the architectural wonders of Greece by making excavations in “its ancient sites.”4 The elegance and enormity of Greek classical architecture was imitated so as to make the viewer feel the greatness of artifacts kept inside this museum after being found in the British excavations.5 The total structure made then was “a quadrangle with four wings: the north, east, south and west wings.”6 The colonnade at the south entrance made up of numerous pillars, and the stairs and the pediment complete the external appearance of the entrance to the museum. The connection between the British excavations in Greece in the end of 18th century and in the beginning of 19th century and the architecture of British Museum building is not easy to make out for a contemporary onlooker. But still this connection is a simple instance of contextuality in which a building, any building, is immersed. Contextuality The example given above, of the contextuality of architecture draws attention to the question, how we understand a building. It is difficult to decide to what extent, a building fulfills the functional needs of its users and to what extent it simply represents aesthetics, prevailing architectural norms and possibilities, historical and social perceptions, and the patterns of a visual culture. To be more close to reality, a building has to be viewed as a product of its historical and contemporary contexts. Moore has put this concept as, “buildings have become such an integral part of our cultural existence that it is hard to think of them as something separate from our Self.”7 To describe this phenomenon in a more academic language, Moore has said “the patterns and meanings associated with the built environment reflect fundamental cultural concepts uniquely shaped by particular societies at specific times.”8 Types When a building is classified, under a stylistic type like classical Greek or Gothic or Victorian, it involves a tendency of reductionism- to see a building as a product of design alone. But when an attempt is made to move away from the perception of architecture as purely a visual form, a new mode of classification has to be adopted based on types that derive from the functions or activities that happen in and around a building. This is where actually the historic and contemporary context gains importance. This is to accept that we can understand a building by understanding how its relates to the society around it. For example, there can be types such as domestic buildings, religious buildings, governmental buildings, recreational buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, welfare service buildings, educational buildings, health service buildings, prison buildings, military buildings and so on. Here, architecture is defined and explained based on its functional use. A prison building ought to have a design based on its security needs and an army building requires a style based on the needs of discipline. As the concept about law and order, human rights and crime and punishment change over time, the design of a prison building is bound to change. In a similar way, “with the raising of the school leaving age to 11 in 1893 and 12 in 1899, schools had to accommodate more and more pupils, and the later schools were even larger in scale and designed in a more elaborate manner.”9 This is why it is observed that architecture can be understood as concrete expression of social, cultural, political and economic changes in context over time. New types similar to the above categories are invented and existing types are modified so as to cope with the evolving social practices, technologies, political or cultural values. Form A particular form of a building is determined by many factors like the building material available, the skills possessed by masons of the period in which the building is built, financial resources that were available for construction, the aesthetic concepts of that period, the needs of the people who were supposed to use that building, the prevailing “consensus and coercion”10 that is there in the society when the building was being built, the socio-economic status of the people who use the building, the specific characteristics of the people who are not supposed to use the building - the list is inexhaustible. The theoretical questions of context in connection with the form of a building have been categorized into four: (1) In what ways do built forms accommodate human behavior and adapt to human needs? How does the social group “fit” the form it occupies? (2) What is the meaning of the form? How do built forms express and represent aspects of culture? (3) How is built form the extension of the individual? How is the spatial dimension of human behavior related to mental processes and conceptions of the self? (4) How does society produce forms and forms reproduce society? What roles do history and social institutions play in generating the built environment? What is the relationship between space and power?11 Though to prepare exhaustive answers to all these questions in connection with the form of British Museum is not practically possible for this essay, some very visible aspects of the form of this building could be discussed. The Museum came up in its present form primarily because of some issues of space. There was an overcrowding of artifacts once the archeological excavations brought in more and more relics form Greece, Rome and Egypt.12 The huge donation of books by the king’s library made the scarcity of space more severe.13 This necessitated an expansion in the form. Context of resources If the construction materials used for this building are examined, it can be seen that the floor is concrete and “the frame of the building was made from cast iron and filled in with London stock brick. The public facing sections of the building were covered in a layer of Portland stone”14 Here it is evident that these might have been the best building materials available and this factor is reflected in the form. Another aspect is that of financial resources. It is in that context that it has to be reminded, though the Museum was founded in 1753, it had to wait until 1823 to get hold of enough financial resources in order to construct the present structure that houses the Museum. Regarding this aspect, it has been observed, “what the King and Parliament failed to provide-and what the Corporation of the city never even dreamt might fall within its duties- market forces brought into being.”15 In this way it was the rise of a corporate class that made the new structure possible with their benevolent donations. Here the contextual connection can be understood by presenting an imaginative case. If we assume that the King or the Parliament had funded the expansion of the Museum in an earlier period, we would also have to assume that the design of the building might have certainly been different. A style popular during that particular period might have the maximum probability to have adopted by the architect. And even the architect would have been another person and his/her individual talent also being different, the design of the structure would have been totally different. This indicates the significance of historical and social context to the design of this building. Context of aesthetics Apart from the aesthetics of classical Greek architecture discussed above, there are some less explored aspects of aesthetic appeal in connection with the British Museum. The museum, in its grandiose posture and size was surely designed to evoke respect, aesthetic joy and awe in the minds of the onlookers. The form has also invited some criticism as well, in relation to its aesthetic appeal. Critics have observed that “British Museum…for all the splendor of its colonnades…(gives)…not a single architectural clue to the building behind it, which, so far as the onlooker from outside is concerned, might almost as well not be there.”16 This might be seen by some people as a flaw of the building- resulting in a cultural impact, a language impact. The visitors may feel cheated or may feel the excitement of a sudden surprise when they pass the colonnade and enter the building, depending on their general mindset and mood. This can be termed as an emotional impact of the form, which enrich or come in the way of the total aesthetic experience. The context of this situation is that the Museum was founded in a previous era (1753) and what Smirke did was some major additions and modifications. This is the context, which created a difference in outside and inside appearances. If the Museum building, in total, had been constructed at one stretch, the total design also might have been different. Even now, the interior of the building is a combination of old and new technologies of architecture as could be seen in the design of Great Court.17 Context of language (symbolic and mundane) The new additions to the museum were such highly valuable relics that they indirectly raised a demand for a more magnificent housing than that existed. This is something related to the “symbolic meaning”18 of the building. But it is certain that “the language of buildings can also convey more mundane messages: where to go, what is important, how the building is to be used.”19 The internal structure of the museum, in general, is designed in order to systematically keep and display books without causing them harm from elemental forces and also making it easy for the visiting readers to navigate through the many rooms, corridors and staircases, to find a particular manuscript, relic or any other thing on display. The content of the museum thus partially determined the form. For example, the Duven gallery was built in a form that allowed comfortable display of “Parthenon structures.”20 Context of power Political power is another phenomenon that is closely connected to architecture sponsored by government and this is why Moore has argued, “public buildings are physical testimonies for the use of power.”21 For example, suppose, a king of ancient times built a monument so high that it could be seen from anywhere in his capital city. One effect of this monument will be enhanced awe in the minds of the onlookers about the power of the king. In this manner, the monument serves as a reinforcing factor in the power of the king. Similarly an enormous building constructed by a ruler/powerful person is indicative of the resources that are there at his/her command and also the human resource that is there to obey his/her commands. British Museum also is no exception to this aspect of a building’s contextuality. It is the political power of the British Empire that is expressed in stone and concrete through the pillars of its colonnade. It was from the early 19th century onwards that British Museum started having a massive assortment of Greek, Roman and Egyptian artifacts.22 To be more historically and contextually precise, it was after the defeat of the French by the British in the battle of Nile that Britain acquired its many Greek, Roman and Egyptian artifacts for the British Museum.23 It can be derived from this political context that the newly found victory in the soil of Greece for the British might have instilled in the minds of the people of Britain, a new sense of pride that prompted them to proudly display the ancient artifacts that accompanied it. This might have been a strong influence that led to the museum in which they were kept was also given a face which reminded of that victory. Context of reverence for the past In human culture, past is always attributed with some respect and reverence. The pillars of British Museum also were supposed to fill the minds of the onlookers with awe by imitating the pillars of Greek temples.24 This certainly might have been considered apt, for they could thus encompass the greatness of the artifacts that were kept in the museum for the visitors to see. Also, this might have thought to remind the visitors about the need to preserve such artifacts. While making this assumption regarding the particular context in which Greek architecture was chosen, one should not forget the more direct influence that these artifacts might have on the building design. That influence naturally could have been the tendency to give a hint about the major attractions inside the museum by way of the outside appearance. Context of social aspirations 19th century was a period in which the rise for Britain as a colonial power peaked. While approaching the architecture of the British Museum from this angle, and its colonnade in particular, it is the vivid memories of past victories, and dreams and aspirations about the future of a society, that get revealed eventually. The magnificence of the building might have embodied emotions like national pride. The time to time expansion of the Museum had a context of special limitations, which again had a context of international political dynamics which allowed Britain to become a powerful nation and to bring home relics from excavation sites all over the world. In another words, it was the great enthusiasm created among British archeologists, through the victories of Britain, that became the context of Museum expansion. Context of community In the beginning of the 19th century, though Britain “came to rule half of the world”25 economic disparities peaked. Thoughts of replacing the notion about architecture as the construction of important buildings, with the concept of community architecture, began to emerge.26 British Museum was one among the last buildings that represented the old notion. And the later modifications made to the Museum building represented the new thought. This is why the design of the Great Court of the museum completed and commissioned in 2000, is more spectacular in a modern way so as to appeal to the aesthetic sense of the modern community that surrounds it. The modern society of the 21st century had by then become familiar with all kinds of visual spectacles through the medium of television and three dimensional film and the design of the Great Court can be seen as a beautiful coincidence. The glass and steel roof of the Great Court and the walls have been designed in such a way that “with every step in the Great Court the vista changed and allowed the visitor a new view on their surroundings.”27 Also, the Great Court added 40% more public space to the museum in view of the increasing number of visitors, which is an attribute of our modern society, which has come to view museums as a great educational tool.28 Similarly, the Ford Centre was redesigned to provide “young visitors,”29 “a range of tailor-made educational programmes,”30 in view of the modern community practice of holding “family and community events”31 in weekends and holidays. The Wellcome Trust Gallery space was newly created to exhibit “a series of long term, cross-cultural, thematic exhibitions, currently based around Living and Dying,”32 which again is a contemporary concept. All these instances are examples of how a building is made to adapt to the community context that surrounds it, through history. Individual architect or context? One inherent danger of reductionism involved with stressing the contextuality of the building is, the possibility of neglecting the role of the architect and the pre-evolved styles. How to achieve a balance among the factors like the role of the individual architect, the influence of historical stylistic movements, and the aspects of contextuality that partially determine the form and meaning of a building, is the challenge before a student of the history and meaning of architecture. Such a student has to explore the relationship between an architect and the society, architecture and history, and architecture and contemporary human life, in which they are also living, designing and building? To be more clear, one has to consider that an architect’s work will incorporate his/her individual talent and taste, the socio-cultural influences of the society on him/her, the styles he/she has been familiar with, the social and user demands regarding the building that he/she is constructing, etc. To give appropriate weightage to individual talent and contexts would be the best possible act of balancing. Conclusion As could be made out from the above discussion, buildings have many layers of contextual meanings and to explore them is to understand the culture and society in which they exist and existed. The constant changes that happen in the society are constantly changing our architectural perceptions also. This is why the building of British Museum could silently tell you what kind of people built it, used it and surrounded it, and to what kind of people it caters now. To listen to the story, you look at it with an altered eye and an ear for history. Bibliography Caygill, Marjorie, ‘The story of the British Museum’, London, British Museum Press, 2002. Moore, Jerry.D., ‘Architecture and power in the ancient Andes: the archeology of public buildings’, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996. Moser, Stephanie, ‘Wondrous curiosities- ancient Egypt at the British Museum’, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2006, p.66-72. Porter, R. ‘London: a social history’, Cambridge, Harvard University Press. Summerson, J. and BBC, ‘The classical language of architecture’, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 1963 Towers, G. ‘Building democracy: community architecture in the inner cities’, London, Taylor & Francis, 1995 Websites The British Museum, ‘Architecture’. n.d., viewed 20 May 2011, Retrieved from http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/history_and_the_building/architecture.aspx Read More