Hyper Contextual

With the ongoing United Nations Climate Summit scrambling to rescue a heating world. And as climate change is becoming an everyday topic of conversation, our lives are most certainly now within a state of flux.

So what are the implications for Architecture?

We are influencers in an industry that produces nearly 40% of the worlds CO2 emissions.

By comparison Aviation accounts for 2.5% and despite electric cars being held up as a climate solution, the global vehicle fleet; including cars and all trucks, accounts for just 15%. - just over a third of what we are responsible for.

As architects our work is culpable in contributing to global heating, sea level rise and species destruction. Reduction of CO2 emissions in buildings must be absolutely our focus.

We are interested in the way that the profession defines what good architecture is – and the implications those values or those ideas have on the way we develop our contemporary buildings.

For instance; in the early 1900s Edwardian Architecture was the height of style, architects evaluated good design against principles of symmetry and classical proportion, by using copulas and domes, all in references to imperial Baroque styles.

They slapped themselves on the back for reaching the pinnacle of taste! But In the 1930s – following the upheaval of the first world war, the Modernists changed the way architects evaluated their work.

Good architecture changed its definition. It became about function, material composition, space and light. And those people left evaluating architecture through an Edwardian lens became outdated. There have been notable movements since - each time accompanying broad social shifts.

For example, the corporate international style which was solidified after the second world war accompanied a new sense of globalism and Americanism. Or the Sydney and Melbourne schools which emerged out of the 1960s as Australia dismantled its discriminatory immigration policies and began to grapple with its new multicultural identity. In these movements, architects were active participants in the large social conversations of our social identity and how we will live and work - think Harry Seidler and Robin Boyd.

The last major movements; Post Modernisim of the 70s and Deconstructivisim in the 80s were highly academic and signalled a retreat of architecture from public discourse.

So where are we now?

Without a cohesive narrative, and at the mercy of social media: We now have a soup of graphical, disparate, placeless buildings. Filled with a blur of throw away cliches like “Mid-Century Modern”, “Hamptons style”, “inside-outside living”, and “passivehaus”.

When we were at university we remember being asked; “what is architecture?”.

It seems that over the last 30 years we might have now answered that question. By dissolving any clear driving conviction, and surrendering ourselves to the floating tastes of Pinterest and Instagram we seem to have eliminated the dichotomy all together.

The definition of good architecture has become whatever tickles somebody’s fancy. Everything and nothing is now architecture.

As a result Architects have fallen out of social discourse. We have become trendy, glib, graphic designers, or tailors of global fashion items; like Gucci handbags in an airport duty free… identical to that found in every other airport duty free the world over…… But its worse than that, because architecture is responsible for such an enormous amount of CO2 emissions, Architecture is a Gucci mink coat.

So what do we do?

A major social change is definitely upon us. We are seeing Environmental change, energy change, and generational change. If we are to follow history, a shift in the way we understand architecture is probable.

This shift will also present an opportunity to build back the central role of architecture in social discourse. Our new objective must absolutely be carbon neutrality, and low embodied energy… saving the earth. But If we don’t love the earth, why would we bother saving it? And if we don’t actually live in, or engage with the earth, why would we ever love it?

We know that engagement with the natural environment is critical to wellbeing. But mechanical climate control, global materials, and placeless global styles have resulted in us living and working in completely artificial environments.

This is consuming huge resources to do so and directly contributing to the climate change we are all seeing happen before our eyes. 

We now look through silent double glazed windows, overlooking blue pools and gardens of succulents which are devoid of bird life We believe that engaging meaningfully with OUR environment is key to producing efficient buildings and in fostering a love for OUR place.

As conservationist Rachel Carlson said: "The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction."

So.... We can define what constitutes good architecture however we like. We could go back to Georgian Architecture if we all generally agreed that was the way to go. There are no hard rules because it is actually US who make the rules.

But given the environmental threats; both global and local, and with a desire to address those threats in absolutely fundamental way, WE believe that that our new direction must be HYPER CONTEXTUAL;

An architecture that is solely born out of place. That loves its place. That engages with the physical, social, cultural and historical context – free from foreign influence, with a view to building a greater reverence for place. and so contributing to its survival.

We need to explore who we are as Western Australians, and what makes us unique.

HYPER CONTEXTUAL looks backwards at our history. At those who adapted to an inhospitable environment through sparse ingenuity. Who built perfectly liveable structures without concrete, minimal steel and no mechanical air-conditioning.

Who developed a language of high-pitched roofs, low slung verandas and modest proportions because those innovations were in direct response to the actual conditions on this place.

HYPER CONTEXTUAL looks over at indigenous culture and how they too lived in this place without international supply chains and international styles.

AND It looks under the easy symbolism of materials and graphics. To explore the actual way the occupation engages with the broader context and way of life.

HYPER CONTEXTUAL looks sideways at the way we live together as a society. We have an unusually outdoor social life. We participate in sport at amongst the highest rate in the world.

We as designers talk a great game about indoor-outdoor living, but a set of bi-folds or sliders doesn’t make a backyard cricket pitch. Our buildings need to be designed to accommodate the way we use and inhabit the outdoors. As west Australians.

And HYPER CONTEXTUAL looks forward at the contribution our work is having on the degradation of this place. The city of Perth has hollowed out the heart of the banksia woodlands and sprawl is attacking the periphery – yet in our daily lives we see banksias in Kings Park and maybe a rare verge garden – while we accept planning guidelines that require deciduous trees.

Red tail cockatoos, now fly over our coastal suburbs because their natural habitats have been decimated, yet nobody seems to notice because we are all shut up in our silent, climate controlled houses.

Our architecture must look at how we can reduce negative impacts. We must absolutely build smaller with larger areas returned to native canopy and habitat. We can’t be satisfied with a single liquid amber in an emaciated “deep soil zone”.

HYPER CONTEXTUAL only has eyes for the unique challenges and the actual conditions of this particular place.

There are plenty of architects already doing great Western Australian work.

We think the Perth Stadium by Hassel, in an open parkland, with indigenous references, and an economy of design is a wonderful example.

We feel there is a lot of work in apartments that are developing local languages.

We were recently luck enough to visit Simon Pendal’s house extension in Highgate; a modest building that is wrapped in a generous veranda under a pitched roof.

We believe we need to be proud West Australians.

Proud of this place and eager to preserve it.

If we take the opportunity that is in-front of us and re-evaluate how we define what good architecture is, we might just arrive at a less carbon intensive, more sympathetic and more immersive architecture...

Architecture that proudly belongs to this unique corner of the world.