Introduction

This section, though necessarily also involving materials and dimensions as discussed in Part Two, focuses on form, geometry and scale. Jan Birksted analyses the ways in which internal and external spaces can be structured to create unity of interior and exterior spaces. At the same time, the example of the Maeght Foundation also describes a series of spaces with totally different spatial qualities, designed by artists such as Miró, Giacometti and Braque, who were fascinated by the shaping of space and the handling of materials. The example of the Maeght Foundation also offers a model of site-specific design. Thomas Deckker also discusses an example of site-specific design but from the opposite spectrum: here the architecture highlights the landscape through opposition and contrast. Interestingly, both the examples described by Jan Birksted and Thomas Deckker are imbued with political significance in the form of a social ideal and a political vision. Jan Birksted’s example involves a single building in the landscape. Thomas Deckker’s examples extend to suburban, suburbanised and urban marginal sites. Caroline Constant’s discussion of Prague Castle and of Prague involves a bigger urban environment, one with complex historical meanings to be dealt with symbolically through materials and geometry. Finally in this section Augustin Berque’s discussion of Tokyo extends to a metropolis. Augustin Berque analyses the way in which Tokyo is structured and how it grows: it is without hierarchy and without centre, and thus forms an apparent opposition to the Western tradition, which we find perfectly described by Caroline Constant’s discussion of Prague Castle. Here the design by Plenik aims to link a single building and its garden, Prague Castle, to the city lying beneath and beyond it in a total visual and spatial harmony.