The built environment through the cultural-architectural lens

The Building Research and Information special issue 'Developing Theories on the Built Environment' (36(3) 2008) raises the question of whether there could be a common framework to combine a wide range of interests and provide insightful answers. This commentary explores the significance of cultural contexts for theories on the built environment. Deficiencies in both architectural theory and history have left cultural associations and values inarticulated. Increasingly, architectural theory and history have become marginalized in the widening debate about the built environment as their focus has become too limited and separated from everyday and urgent needs. The cultural 'footprint' remains the strongest force and determines patterns of behaviour and expectations. It is argued that a cultural lens is the primary key in providing both insight into an ideal and consciousness of (intellectual and practical) habits influencing our actions. In order to grasp the complexity of the built environment and provide a useful model for altering our collective actions, it is vital to study the transformational chains, for example, from the cultural to the ecological.