Rajesh Lambe, Neeta & R Dongre, Alpana. (2017).

A shape grammar approach to

contextual design: A case study of the Pol houses of Ahmedabad, India. Environment
and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. 239980831773420.
10.1177/2399808317734207. In architecture, context refers to the surrounding area
or setting in which the building is placed. In architectural theory and practice,
context plays an important role in proposing architectural vocabulary. Since the
mid-20th-century, creating harmony with traditional context amidst growing
development has been a major concern and interest of designers. Contextualism
theory in architecture refers to the relationship between new buildings and the
existing surroundings while addressing the issue of fitting new to old structures
together to achieve congruence and continuity. The analysis of traditional
architectural style significantly influences a designer’s decision-making process
when adopting contextual design approach. In this study, a shape grammar approach
is proposed to create a harmonious environment through the generation of new
designs based on the grammar of existing architectural style without curbing the
designer’s creativity. This paper demonstrates the pattern-generating quality of
traditional Pol row houses of Ahmedabad, India. The grammar of the traditional Pol
house forms the architectural context for the new in-fill development in the area.
The shape grammar approach to architectural design is examined as a process of
interpreting the context as socio-cultural experience through rule schema when
addressing the issue of contemporary demands and needs. Here, shape grammar is
explored as a tool to analyse the existing design through the generation of new
designs. The grammar differs from the previous work in terms of the derivation
method and identification of the clues for rule schema in the Indian context. This
method has been examined in the process of resolving the issue of unsympathetic
development by providing design variations within the grammar for in-fill
development to derive spatial clues for generation of new designs, which would be
argued as the first step towards achieving aesthetic congruence.