Changes of approach to urban context in international guidelines and experiences in Lithuanian urban environment

Abstract

The focus of the research is the concept of context, guidelines for the approach to it, and the ways by which it was regarded in the development of urban environment. The paper defines how these approaches and practices changed during the last century. During the last century, an especially dynamic and turbulent one, Lithuanian state experienced divergent and controversial periods: independence (1918-1940), World War II (1939–1945), Soviet period (1944–1990) and independence restored (1990-present). The paper discusses the Western attitudes and the evolution of approach towards context while dealing with urban environment, and peculiarities of Lithuanian practice in conformity with these attitudes during last century. The theoretic investigation is grounded by the documents formulated and declared by international organisations like CIAM, UNESCO, ICOMOS and others, as accumulations of pioneering thought. Particularly, their statements that consider the surrounding context as basis, principle, or inspiration for the creating, transforming or reconstructing the urban environment are analysed. The term context is used as a generalising term, an umbrella one, which covers several terms used in the documents or literature to define closer or wider urban environment while dealing with it. The paper focuses mostly on historical urban situations, and wide range of activities in changing the environment from architect or landscape architect’s professional point of view. The theoretic analysis is followed by the critical review of certain experiences in Lithuanian practice at that time, in characteristic redevelopment of spaces in the main cities (state capitals). The identified evolution reveals the expansion of the concept of urban context and growing regard for it both in theory and in practice. The evolution of contextual approach in Lithuanian practice follows the guidelines stated in documents of international organisations in spite of its political situation, but the research discloses its certain peculiarities.