For architects who wish to be contextually responsible, which is by no means everyone, there is often a tense trade-off between context and character. Not the pervading character of local surroundings but the stylistic character that is common to one architect’s work and makes it different from another’s. The battle has its most entertaining results when we see architects ideologically committed to one idiom forced to work within another.

例如，在Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners设计的海德公园一号，通过其标志性的鲜明标志核心和肌肉交叉支撑来传达其标志性的结构表现主义，在尴尬的立面紧身衣后面紧张地隐藏着，以满足其历史环境的遗产需求。同样，在伦敦奥德维奇的ME酒店(ME Hotel)，被爱德华时代(edward)时代周边的帝国主义气息所吓倒，Foster and Partners一贯的图解清晰风格也消失了，取而代之的是对古典技巧的生硬模拟。

当然，正如已故的威尔•艾尔索普(Will Alsop)、让•努维尔(Jean Nouvel)或弗兰克•盖里(Frank Gehry)等不思悔改的挑衅者所惯于做的那样，背景总是可以被忽略或恐吓的。但对于那些希望走一条更温和路线的人来说，对建筑——就像对人一样——的基本挑战在于，你应该牺牲多少自己才能融入其中。在保持我们或我们的建筑最初的独特动机和本能的同时，我们能做出这样的牺牲吗?…