Juxtaposition as a Cornerstone for Approaching Diversity in the Built Environment

Abstract

Arguably many contemporary architectural theories and movements have spout in reaction to Modernism, which made the architectural theory discipline branched and divergent. This paper examines a scenario of approaching contrasting built environments in which their identities are constantly changing and where the post-modernists fractural nature of intellectual reactions and criticism led to an arguable tension that needs intervention. The data – based on literature review, participant-produced visual material, and phenomenological reflection are examined with a focus on investigating the role of juxtaposition in proliferating the concept of diversity in the built environment. Although the topic is originally theory-loaded, the analysis is hybrid and uses visual explorations as well as theoretical frameworks to produce multi-objective answers in which diversity in the built environment can be conceived, perceived, and lived. By taking the concept of juxtaposition as a cornerstone in this argument, this paper proposes an understanding of the overwhelmingly open world the modern human found themselves exposed to and suggests options and solutions to achieve diversity where abstract concepts can be cast into form in different architectural typologies.