Limiting binary thinking : architectural design in historic urban contexts

Abstract

Heritage practitioners are increasingly facing the challenges of working in historic environments, as issues such as densification, resource depletion and the effects of climate change impact on city development, often at the expense of conservation. Due consideration should, therefore, be given to processes that ensure critical architectural solutions that limit the perception of historical contexts as static resources and design solutions as binary responses. Through a theoretical lens of architectural post-structuralism, based on binaries, it will be argued that architectural heritage practice was initiated in a dichotomous manner and that its processes and resultant architectural design approaches have been similarly polarised. This article will briefly formulate a relevant architectural post-structuralist critique while highlighting and describing the general binary oppositions present in heritage practice and design. Then, crucial project phases that provide a range of possibilities for those working in historical contexts will be presented, to limit heritage practice only operating at the extremes of its current, inherent, binary oppositions.

Erfenis praktisyne staar toenemend die uitdagings om in historiese omgewings te werk in die gesig, veral omdat kwessies soos verdigting, uitputting van hulpbronne en die gevolge van klimaats-verandering dikwels ten koste van bewaring op stadsontwikkeling impakteer. Behoorlike oorweging moet dus gegee word aan die prosesse wat veseker dat kritiese argitektoniese oplossings, wat die persepsie van historiese kontekste as statiese hulpbronne, sowel as ontwerpoplossings as binere antwoorde, beperk. Deur 'n teoretiese lens van argitektoniese post- strukturalisme, gebaseer op teenstrydighede, sal daar aangevoer word dat argitektoniese erfenispraktyke op 'n tweeledige manier geinisieer is en dat die prosesse daarvan en die gevolglike argitektoniese ontwerpbenaderings op soortgelyke wyse gepolariseer is. In hierdie artikel word 'n relevante argitektoniese, post-strukturalistiese kritiek kortliks geformuleer, terwyl die algemene binere opposisies in erfenispraktyke en-ontwerpe uitgelig en beskryf word. Dan word belangrike projekfases aangebied wat 'n verskeidenheid van moontlikhede vir diegene wat in historiese kontekste werk, bied, om sodoende erfenispraktyke wat net tot die uiterste van sy huidige, inherente, binere opposisie werk, te beperk.