The grammar of a place is not the same as the program or the style of buildings in that place. Sometimes the grammar of the place can be more enduring than a building. Imagine a legislative body that rebuilds its meeting place in a new style but does not change its norms of operation. More often the building endures while the place grammar changes. The Pantheon in Rome has had different place identities, as a temple, a church, a museum, and a tourist attraction.
Buildings are not neutral containers for place grammars, and their architectural effects may or may not be consonant with the grammar of the place. Sometimes the social grammar will ignore or go against the architecture of the place, as may happen when a new institution is founded in an older building, for instance a democratic assembly in a former royal palace.
(c) David Kolb, 1 August 2001