Site and Context, Analysis and Diagrams

Context: the time we have arrived at is strange to say the least.

New realities have evolved, politically, socially, economically and are shaping how we live; how we work, where we go, how we travel, and how we interact as a society.

Within this, this course will also concentrate on other components of context found with any given architectural project, Site, and all the accoutrements that are associated with a Site: location, direction, streets, traffic, pedestrian approach, sunlight, wind, weather, views, adjacencies, zoning, culture, community, demographics, income, race, landmarks, history, and other factors.

The projects of this studio will focus on analysis of context and influence of context on any given project.

Most often, on good pieces of architecture there is a strong interplay, dialogue, between the project and its surroundings, neighbors, and community.

This dialogue is often not overt in the final manifestation of form and subtle in its articulation, but important in its underpinnings.

Care should be taken in translating and interpreting context, there are trip falls of potential cultural misappropriation, mimicry as platitude, and/or pure insolence and ignorance of context, as well as potentials for lack of creativity. From Personal Space to Street Space to Radical Urban Space.