Idea And Planning

9 1 Architecture language and the environment

9.1 Architecture, language and the environment
Contents list

Sign language: an
architectural response
to Londons heritage

Chinese, English and Spanish are languages. Each has words and a grammar. Deaf people communicate with sign language. Sailors use flags. Dogs bark. If architecture
is to be classed as a language, we have every right to ask what is being said and who is being addressed. The dictionary definitions are as follows:

Language: "a vocabulary and way of using it.

Architecture: "the art or science of building (arkhos, chief, tekton builder).

Charles Jencks, in The Language of Post-Modern Architecture, suggests that architecture is a language that depends on double-coding (Jencks, 1991). It speaks
to fellow architects and to the general public. An oversized door, for example, informs the public of a "main entrance to an important building. At the
same time, a second code can speak to fellow-architects who have moved beyond functionalism and can enjoy quotations, references, literary allusions, witticisms
and arcane meanings. A classical portico on a new office block, for example, might say "I admire the geometrical purity of the classical tradition but
believe it needs re-interpretation for our own time. The second code, which is the subject of Jencks book, operates through architectural styles. Unsuspecting
readers might be surprised by this fact, as they would be if they opened a book on The Language of Electrical Engineering and found a discussion on the
aesthetics of printed circuit boards. In his later writings Jencks talks of multiple-coding instead of double-coding.

9.2 Language and Architecture
Contents list

Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament

Shell Building and Festival Hall

...where there was once a gentle discourse between the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey [top photo], there is now across the Thames, the Shell
Building shouting at the Hayward Gallery, which grunts back at a stammering and giggling Festival Hall [lower photo]. (Jencks, 1991).

As Nelson Mandela observed "You make peace with your enemies not with your friends."

Although I have a personal curiosity about the messages that architects send to one another, I can sympathize with any member of the public who does not
share my interest. What matters to the public is the environmental code. As well as speaking to the public and to fellow architects, buildings converse
with the environment. Too often, modern architecture has been environment-unfriendly. "Form follows function was the battle-cry of the heroic pioneers.
Their dream was of glory, of a bright new age in which external form was exclusively the consequence of internal function. Victorian architects, they said,
had been corrupted by stylistic considerations. Modern architecture would be pure, clean and white. Like conquerors down the ages, they focused on their
own objectives, thinking little of older civilizations. Rectangular slabs and towers were marched through the cities of the world. Microclimate was ignored,
along with local building materials, traditions, pedestrians, religion, art, cyclists and vegetation. For half a century, as the International Style marched
on, the environment lost and the people suffered. Jencks gives the following account of a conversation between buildings that front the River Thames in
London (Figure 9.1):

If peace is to dawn, between architecture and environment, new channels of communication must be opened. "Jaw Jaw is better than War War, said Churchill.
Both parties must be ready to talk. Both must be ready to listen. A common language is a necessity. As in any conversation, both sides will have things
to say. Sometimes, it will be an exchange of pleasantries. At other times, it will be a lively debate. Sometimes, the environment will tell the building
what to do. At other times, the building will have the louder voice and the more important message. City buildings should be more urbane. Urbanism could
serve as name for the art of making them so. Jencks notion of a "language of architecture is a step on the road to peace and harmony. Buildings do speak
and can listen.

9.3 Language and Landscape
Contents list

The environment speaks too, in many languages and with many voices. Oliver Rackham compares the countryside to a vast library:

The landscape is like a historic library of 50,000 books. Many were written in remote antiquity... every year 50 volumes are unavoidably eaten by bookworms...
a thousand are sold for the value of their parchment. (Rackham, 1990)

Too often, architects have seen the land on which they build as sheets of white parchment on which to write new projects (Figure 9.2). In reality, every
work of architecture is a conversion of the existing environment. When writing on the parchments of history, new buildings should converse with the stones,
listen to the wind and speak to the flowers. The languages of the post-Postmodern environment are of prime importance. Speaking to ones clients and to
fellow architects are lesser arts.

Fig 9.3 The Kremlin: "Here is power "

Fig 9.4 Brazilia: "The people’s representatives help themselves to the people’s money"

As architecture is public, whatever languages architects use should be translatable into local tongues. It will then be found that buildings have different
messages to convey. Moscows Kremlin (Figure 9.3) seems always to have declared that "Here is the seat of absolute power. Beware. The designers of book
jackets for Kafkas Castle have agreed that it was a high building, raised above the city, without a clear plan and with very confusing elevations. These
are grand examples of talking buildings. Jencks has some translations of the messages that buildings speak. My favourite relates to the great bowl on Oscar
Neimeyers parliament building in Brazilia: "This is where the peoples representatives help themselves to the peoples money (Figure 9.4).

What might a new house in a terrace (Figure 5) say to its neighbours? An exact copy would declare: "This is a wonderful old terrace. Losing the former building
was a tragedy. I am doing my best to be indistinguishable. A design that uses new features but otherwise fits in will declare: "The scale and proportion
of the old terrace was fine. But the old windows and bricks were a nuisance. Sympathetic infill is the best approach to this problem. A postmodern contrivance,
with wholly new shapes and colours, will declare: "The old terrace was suitable for the period in which it was built. The new building should be in the
spirit of our own times. A lively contrast is desirable.

Fig 9.5 Terrace houses – talking about their neighbours (their context)

Fig 9.2 Typical existing site drawing (July 15th 1972)

9.4 Language and Building Design
Contents list

Excellent buildings should speak to the whole environment: to other structures, to the animals, to the plants, to people, and to everything. For the comfort
of their occupants, in hot humid climates, buildings should strain every ear to catch the wind.
In cold climates, buildings need deep eaves, thick walls and as much sunlight as possible. These are internal matters, but they should avert any new International
Style. From a planning standpoint, it is what buildings say to the external environment that matters most. Whole settlements can be designed to bend their
backs to the wind or hold up their hands to the sun. Thick walls say "We believe in the conservation of energy.

For those who can read the language of settlements, oblique aerial photographs should say: "Hot humid climate, "Hot arid climate, "Temperate windy climate,
"Cold arid climate. For those who can read the language of ecology, eye-level photographs of ordinary streets could say "The native vegetation is oak-birch
forest. It would be boring if all the streets said the same thing but, given a choice, it is probable that residents would wish them to convey this message.
In fact, most modern settlements say "We are internationalist. We have passports. We could travel anywhere in the world without being recognized as the
inhabitants of a local culture or land. One hopes that this attitude will die, once the novelty of international travel has worn thin.

Thai houses speak of the hot humid climate in which they are built.

9.5 Language Fauna and Flora
Contents list

To those who know something of birds, an old barn will say "This would make a good home for a barn owl. Some muddy lumps under the eaves of a building
will declare "House-martins live here. The little roof garden outside my study window is very popular with birds, and their presence is a delight for
me. After finding a morsel to eat, they often bring it here, to get away from cats and dogs. In spring they come to collect the wiry stems of Festuca scaldis
-- I think they are better for nest-building than Poa annua or Lolium perenne. In autumn, they come looking for the seeds that are mown off garden lawns.
My roof tells the birds "You are welcome. The birds sing to me in return.

What should a building say to a tree? "We can be friends. Foliage acts as a decorative foil to buildings. In summer, leaves prevent excessive solar gain.
In winter, leaves drop off and allow sunlight to enter. Trees give buildings a sense of belonging.

What should a building say to a river? "I love you. But how? Visually, they should relate to the water (Figure 9.6). Functionally, they should detain as
much rainwater as possible for as long a period as possible. The best way of doing this is with a habitat roof, a grass roof or a roof garden. These features
help to prevent floods. Conventional roofs, with drainage pipes, accelerate the rate of discharge into rivers.

What should a new building say to a national park? "I humbly and respectfully beg permission to take my place at your royal and ancient court. I will follow
your customs and obey the existing laws and procedures of your establishment. So far from making an intrusion, my constant endeavour will be to melt into
the background.

9.6 Language and the Environment
Contents list

What should a new building say to a medieval town? "I love you but.... The higgledy-pigglediness of medieval building makes it difficult to fit in with
ones neighbours inclinations. Instead of copying a predecessors habits, it may be necessary to re-interpret ancient principles in new ways. The resultant
architectural statement may be "I love your colours, I love your proportions and most of all, I love your materials. But I am young at heart and would
like to have more light and glitter. My heart will be of oak, my sides will be colour-washed daub, my roof will be domed.

What should a new building say to a derelict industrial site? "I bring new life to old lands. In natural deserts, developers think first of protected compounds
to protect against merciless winds and empty wastes. In urban deserts, they put high fences around buildings and car parks. Occasionally, this will be
good policy. More often, especially if there is a public interest to be served by redevelopment, it will be appropriate to dip into the public purse and
create the beginnings of a new infrastructure, which can be enhanced by subsequent development. The infrastructural elements could be a wood, a public
path, a cycleway, a hill, a stream or a lake: each will help to structure later growth. An inherent danger in the "protective compound mentality is that
newcomers will follow the pioneers example. Instead of a new society, the result will be a mass of frog-spawn. This is what makes Edge Cities so unlike
other cities.

9.7 "We speak only to the wind"

What should a building say about its occupants? As much as it wishes to reveal. Churches, lighthouses and windmills are classic examples of Talking Buildings
(Figure 9.7). Each has an important role in society and each of the roles deserves to be publicized. Mosques say "God is great. Banks say "Money is great.
The presence of expressive buildings enlivens both landscape and cityscape. They satisfy curiosity and impart knowledge of lifes richness. It is a great
pity when banks, insurance companies, apartment blocks, hospitals, schools and universities all look the same. And if they look different, it is regrettable
if this is merely a consequence of the architects personality. Eco-building is better than ego-building.

[FIGS 9.7, 9.8 ] In the ‘New Zoning’, when development projects learn to converse, zones will overlie one another. Designers and planners will learn to
answer the classic GIS questions (Where, What if and What?) before taking decisions.

9.7 The New Zoning
Contents list

Fig 9.8 In the ‘New Zoning’, when development projects learn to converse, zones will overlie one another. Designers and planners will learn to answer the
classic GIS questions (Where, What if and What?) before taking decisions.

What else might buildings have to say? Plenty. As discussed in the next chapter, they can speak of diverse identities: regional character, geology, soils,
local colours, ethnic history, traditions, industrial history, cultures, religions, architectural styles, aspirations, art, personalities and much else.
A fascinating aspect of the New Zoning is that the zones will not be exclusive (Figure 9. 8). Take the case of a town that sits on a topographic boundary.
On one side of the boundary is a level area of poorly drained clay, traditionally supporting willows and reeds. On the other is a sandy heath, supporting
birch and heather. Plant and animal species can cross the line, but some of them will remain on one side or the other. This should be the manner of our
New Zoning. Distribution zones will overlap, as will areas of identity. Some people will not be aware of the zones. Those without an interest in vegetation,
architecture, street planning, land use or history may be completely unaware of their existence. Others will be able to read these languages. Architects,
planners and designers should learn to speak them.