Contextual design: a new methodology

Abstract

Within the international debate on design methodologies, the contextual approach proposes a new interpretation for architectural design. Every project does inevitably relate to its surrounding context. Once a project is built, it becomes part of its context by determining a meaningful modification to the surrounding environment. We should therefore always consider the project as part of the context, rather than something detached from it. The main difference between architecture and the other arts is indeed this one: architecture always does have a context.