73out between their masses and fronts. It can also be the case
that the buildings do not turn towards us, but towards one
another, for example on the Acropolis, where, as Rudolf Arn-
heim has observed, the visitor is ‘meant to understand that the
temples are there for one another, and not for him.’ (1998, 27)> door and gate, form character, ingress and exit, inside and
outside, intermediate space, joint, opening, threshold, view
into/out of
> expansiveness and constriction, movement
> architecture, detail, structure, tectonicsArchitecture is always a part of a context, while itself forming
a context. It is dependent on context, but at the same time
transforms and interprets it. While architecture follows gen-
eral principles of architectural > order or of an architectural
type, it is also subject through context to the special features
of the topos and the conditions of a > place.
The spatial context of the individual building, into which
it is woven (contextus), forms to begin with the environs of
the town, with its buildings, streets and public squares, and
the surrounding > landscape with its topography and vegeta-
tion. In an extended sense, the concept of context extends to
social, cultural, economic, legal and historical relations, and
may be pursued in broader, and to some extent no longer
clearly identifiable, spheres of dependency and influence.
Conversely, going into detail, an individual room or architec-
tural element may be considered in the surrounding context
of a building. Accordingly, every object, and every room is
perceived in a context, one that is in turn embedded in a wider
milieu. In this way, by shifting to successively larger scales, we
pass from one context to the next.
The spatial context of the building, however, is no arbi-
trary superimposition of heterogeneous environmental con-Connection
Constriction
Construction
Context