OVERVIEW Contextual analysis isa predesign research ety wich focuses on the existing. mrinert and potential consitions on and Slwations and theit interactions Property where our project willbe bul The major role of contextual analysis in design i that of informing us about prior concepts #0 that our early thi about our building can incorporate meaningful responses to external com ditions. Typical site asus addressedina contextual aalyis ae site location size, shape, con nage pattern, zoning ard set ies. significant an site featres backs, us (buidings, wees, ete, surrounding wath. \ ters, viewsto and rom \ typveal sues inthis regard are changing Toning paternsaroundour site shifsinthe Gesigration of major and rvincr sees Changing cultural pales in the surround ‘ng neighborhood and the constuction of Signiicant projects neatby that impact on the By ws Vv EDWARD T. WHITE contextval analys/s 6 Excoppt akon fom Site Analysis by Ecward T Whe pageJost a6 a single word oF phase is best Understood when we know something Sbouttssurrcund ng veal content s0s60 Should we be amare a! he contextea sta tion wheve our beading wil be sed Context is defined in the dictionary as the “whole situation, background oF ‘environment relevant tosome event or product.” The derivation of the word ‘meant 10 “weave together” “The saintosthss meaning els us someting aidesgners regarding the need to weeave ‘ur des gas into the evsting labric of te & {onesies presi, eoiems 3d op forum! femustsbvetoraseme off WY between the newcomer to the site iout building) and the steel The notion 9! fi" dows nat necessary imply sbordina tion of eur Bulding to ste Conditions, We , may choose to be ia sympathy wath some Ste conditon where we atempt 1 sav minor dteraton of fe fenlorce ampityard prove on what we find on the ste. We may abo identty ce tai site conditions which we want 16 de- Tibeately alter ehminate, cover up. is {guce or elon. “Weaving” a8 concept & Sopled tothe placement of buildings on Ses shy inelade some aeration of ny the exstng conditens What important 2. itor we mele thee decisions deliver Selvaré nouaisotin eect curb ctne serena scot tether atemptcg so gwar te"onat te ser eny mg Dil stems ol poking sees 7 onajor alteration of sift projec. SITES AS ACTIVE NETWORKS Sometimes as designers we may be tems cd to think of our project site 35 an ined. passive situation, We may consider it as, Simply a piece of ground! where our build ing ril ‘Weshould always remember that a site is never inert but is an ongoing set of very active networks that are in- tertwined in complex relationships. Shadow patterns meve across OU" stein 3 paricularway, Childtenmay iseoursite shortcut fo schoo!, Our site may be vied as an informal playground by neighbor hood children, Theres a uate pulse that bbs and flows through and around the site ‘ver the course ofa day: People may look §3c1085 Our site from their homes fo views bheyond. The contaurs may eareully rote war toa sile edge where it does no darn ge (0 nbighbors. The comer may be used fora bus stop. These ate a lew of the situations that mate any site active. TAs Kinetic view of ste should sensitize us to the importance of te task of siling. avr building We are about to place our build ing within this active network. l seems reasonable 1o assume that if we are to rate our design gracefully nto this network wilhout desroying is postive as Dect, then we must Hist make OUrelveS wate of the nature of the network UnOUg contenual analysis Excemt taken fom Ste Anaysis by Coward T White age 2CONSEQUENCE The ¢ TRIANGLE ‘The “consequence rignt mace tor understanding the network I causes and effets and how they relate to other aspects and issues of at cont our project ‘The consequence triangle focuses on There are three “actors” in the conte: lation of the completed and quencetnangle:the baking the users and ‘occupied building and is based an the the contest. The building includes all the tangle” is a conver busiding, work in the building, mainain the building, are clients, patos Or cus. tomers in the bulding service the building, Hive near the building or simply pas bythe bulging. The context includes all the con ditons tuations, forces and pressures tat consiuted the existing site pri to the ‘onstruction of the iulding 1 we set these three protagonists at the comers of a langle and draw lines repre Seating impacts from each of rer allthe ‘thers and from each of ther to ther ‘elves, we have diagramimed the esserial, messages ofthe consequence tangle. The Clements of the burlsing sect not only ‘each othe: but ao elements nthe conte Sind users In terme af bulding impact on Iselt. the air conditioning system cauces changes in material ord (unitre because ff temperature and humidity diferent Fenestration causes changes in material lighting and furniture because ofthe adi. tance of sunlight Fuiniture location causes changes in the tlocring material due to placement in the space. The consequences Eavsed by the building on the wiers mov Involve environmen! elects on atitde productivity eliciency. sense of worth and tvel-being, sal! turnover level ol learning, Sales volume and cher axpects of human behavior The building aso creates conse quences within the context. These may trclode alteration of wind patiems, com tours and eiainage patterns, surface ab. Sorplion of ra:0/al, existing foliage Shadow patterns. sunlight reflection of ‘windowsand sound ellecions of ullding imtenor and, exterior physical manifesta tions of our design sch 95 the walls, feos, ceiings, structure, mechanical. furitre, Fighting, color landscaping, paving. coors. diction and delivery of a set of conse sce hardware and accessories. The quences of efiects that have been cs inciudealhose people who own the deemed positive and possible. All of the efocts or consequence issues mentioned ‘ere only deal with impacts ‘Gred by our Building on ise, users and context. Ta complete the model we must perform the same operatn for users and context. We can see then, that each of the three actors—building, "users and ‘comext--are acted on by the other twoand et on the ather two. Each ofthe three auses changes in the cther two and Is hanged by the other tro. The network is tn constant motion for the life of the building when we view our design etuation inthis way, it becomes clear thot our design re Sponsibilty should be focused on the lines ot force inthe diagram and not enly onthe Sullding, users and conten themselves, 1 behooves us to not only know some- thing about the compositional charac {ers of buildings, people and contexts ‘but also about how they affect them- selves and each other. Every building project involves some de free of remodeling because a the nevis ble modification of the context at and | around our building. is impossible to place our building on ils site without hanging the existing conditions. We must Getermine mbatia elem reiforce, accem, feduce, modify or elmate The implanting of our buil the site will always eesult modeling of the site. Our goal should 10 alwaysbe to leave ou site beter than wwe found i ro taken fom Site Analysis by Edward 7 Wetie pope 3Si KINDS OF INFORMATION The kinds of information collected for our contextual analysis basically involve an inventory of existing and projected site conditions. We are not concemed with design responses to the site at this stage but rather with finding out all we can about the site. We are interested in facts. The facts about our site will always include both hard and soft data. The hard data usually relate to physical site factors and involve no judgments about their existence or na- ture. Typical hard data would be site loca- tion, dimensions, contours, on site features and’ climate. Soft data may involve some Value judgments on oir part in conducting 16 : ae SOE ee the contextual analysis. These deal prima- rily with the sensory and human aspects of the site that are not quantitative and which requirean opinion about the existence and itive or negative characteristics of cer {ain site qualities. Typical examples include good and bad views from the site, best approach directions to the site in terms of view, existence of odors and extent to which they are annoying, presence of exist- ingon site human activities and their valve (informal playground, gathering spot for unemployed workers, neighborhood fairs and festivals) and types of noises and the extent to which they are disruptive. This “soft data’, although it initially involves judgments, tends to become “hard data” ‘once it is documented in the contextual analysis. tis important to keep in mind that Excerpt taken fram Se Analysis by Eawars T. Whito pagesty may showing location of tela on 9 ciy a6 2 whe ity map may al ‘how distances and travel hmes Io rlaed Function in other pals the iy NEIGHBORHOOD CONTEXT Pre sens the invediae suroundings of the Siefor pernapetnres to tow Slacks evond the ste Boundary. This may be extended further to include an iomportat Taco oF because of the scale ofthe projet, ap may show existing and projected uses, Fhnlngs. zoning ond any otnercondtions Imot may have se impact om ast project © SIZE AND ZONING Documents 3 the cimensional aspects ofthe ste includ ing Soundaves, location and dimersion of lenemente and prowet toning elt {hom with al ss mensional smpications Taetbacks, height resnctons, parking fox mula, allowed uses, ee) and bullébie {rea land avaabe forthe procter ab Seicks and easements have beer 0 tracted). Analysis should alo document the prosent and projected zoning were, plans hyhe city tanspomation department {fo widen roads (change rights of way) and nvother end hat might sect ourpoiec ine hare. LEGAL This category presents the leg description ofthe property, covenants and festictionspresant ownership, present fovernmenaljusdiction ti {nd any fuure projections that may el fence the project uch ab the fact hat he Sites ima fture ey urban renewal re oF within the boundaries of eventual ariver 18 Siveopenion, NATURAL PHYSICAL FEATURES lo cludes contours. drainage patens. sai Sipe ar hen capaci res rh Fedge, peas, valleys, pols 3nd ponds. MAN-MADE FEATURES Documents fnte condone sucha buildings, wal dives, curb cus, hydants, power poles Sl paving pte Of site fetues may Include cotacteriatcs of surrounding do velopment such 26 scale, oo! ote, Tepesration panems, seacis, mater, colors, open spaces, sual anes, pang Bares rican mately te Blo ed ecensorier and dea, CIRCULATION Presets all vehicular 2 {nd pedessian movement paterson ar] Stoundthe ste Oatarncladescuraion and Beat loads irsurouncing weber hd pedesvian movement, bus saps, te deents edges Walle generators, sevice insck acess and intermitien) wale Iparader, ive track roves, concerts at ‘earbyauditoriom) Rafe analy should Include future projections isola ab ey ‘in be made UTILITIES Ths caepory deals with the ‘ype, capacity and ication fal utes, ‘om, ahacent to and ne thes yea! lity ype telodeelecrcy, gas. seven ‘nate and telephone. Where ubites re Some dstance rom the site. thse diner Sone shou he gen Mista to doc ‘ment the depts of wits hen rey ae Siro 9 el hee mae 19 Excerpt taken fom Ste Analysis by Edward T.Whie pagesSENSORY Documents the isu aud ble iactleandollactor aspects of hese Typical sues are views Yoana rom these and noise generated sround the te fis oh alos toretora the pe uration iniensity Sad coat ipontive oF Negative) of toe Sensory ives, As dincussed earlier és ‘fren Involves raking some judaments ‘bout the relative desiobiity athe dilly Set veniony condtions on and around he sie nN Its useful in discussing the influence of contextual analysis on design to dil ferentiate between function and con- text as forces which locate building spaces and activites onthe ste. Fune= tion tends to locate building spaces in an introverted way in that they are primarily looking inward to each other {or the rationale behind their postions in the scheme. Context, on the other nd, wants the spaces to diferent positions on the site in re- sponse 10 conditions outside the build- ing. tn function, the attraction is be- tween spaces. In contest, the attrac: tion is between spaces and external site conditions. Usually problem these two (and all the ol Droject issues pull and push the spaces {o determine their final placement in the scheme. They are in a very real sense competing with each other to determine the building form. Some examples of situations that might ‘ausea space or activity tbe placed inthe Scheme duo external linkages to context fre presented below oy race 3s ee on i Seche! a| Eon bates. HUMAN AND CULTURAL Includes ar analyss ofthe surouncing neishber Food i terns of cultaralpeyehoiog es. Debaviorst and socologiel aspects The Category dierent fram “Neigborhood Cootea listed eavranthat he ater ad iresses the physical while ts catego ‘Seale mith the acres, human Flation Ships and patter of human characters tice tunes here mit involve populates ge. ethnic pattems. dene. emplovrion Daten, values, ineome and lari struc [hte lao of mporance ave ary scheduled Sr informal acta #9 the neighborhocd Such a fesivalsparados or cats fais Yandalem and crime pater, although rot pleasant ae of valu to evigre's When conceptuslizing site zoning. and building dese Operations need: Fa Sreaccesoae. a iy Sn ik coves ‘cated to relate to. | Actities needing Actities needing beet sunighe Excoyptaken tom Ste Anatysis CUMATE Present all the penent ce trate coreitions sun as fafa. nota umdity and temperature variations ove’ the months of the year Also inched are prevallng wiod directions, sunpath ane ‘emeal sin angles asthey charge ove the Year and potential satura etsrophes ich tornados. huricanes and earth Guskes ise helpil ty hraw no nly how Climate condtions vary over a ycal year Duras wnat the coticaleencine mht be ienpamam daily rainfall peak wind veloc 20 Operations need [ambi | ing shelter trom high activity [Re me venice Intearation of fer ‘arth sunounding | Sec slow 0 SD spaces to" exbt- ing scate 27d 1 ow. geometric pat SS cue cont ie trolled exterior i a 3 Eewars WheReasontforacatinga buldingin sparc Iararea of hesite may vee sol bearing, condone, contours that shin ze 3h ‘work ching corsaction, ges to take Sivanvage of views or breezes ares oF omer that ensure high wsibby tothe bsg, alles that allow e3ey sence 3 es. site scar that have ale cased ruption Terie! exieng cars wth te Scare eased by comsiroction’ or the vowdance of some paricuiat valeale [Ste thet shoul be’ preserved es) oF Some particularly negative condiion po {is important 10 remember that design and building and space place: iment cam involve Sectional issues a5 swell as plan issues. Relation of floors to contours, heights of seaces in relation to views, seppIng Of Spaces down hillsides and sacking 9! spaces im reation to contous ad neh Bovhoed scale area few of the pont reason to stay the Zoning fou fac iy fon the stein section a8 well asin plan AA thorough contest analyst gives us Confdencethar wehave este conditions SMvecord. That contdencelacitaesthe ‘anceptaliation a ste repondes i de Sgn and contobvtes 1 the hearse poe ‘6 of dea Tormlaton In doing te co textual analyst andengagingihe te sues through agar: response mapestor dealing wah the ste Theconteatual analysis actsas switch to recall the parts of our design vocab- tlaries that apply tothe site problems ‘and opportunities. The role of contex- tual analysis a a stimulant for concep- waliration is vital to responsible de ‘eee estar neta ‘fat surface in our minds sn-thal they _were triggered by the celevant proj The contectval analysis itselt will zprsonite n "oo Zpoecier” never create the design responses. ‘often we mistakenly believe hati only 757 orton wwe analyze long enough, we willbe led tothe solution. This willmever happen. & The bridging of the analysis-synthesis "gp" nana be a woes ac We Mest fos analyze the context fo ther asin Te oS ‘es bu he damn sos, ste fer Sr Beit nttbtitowteineaes Syed cman pond and deepen ou" vorabulary ae Saclay, Bereta son ad Concept fo tat eet somng ae de upoe shen pinch begh mane . Bese an esl ngs. Sees nese Wisapechageadiey timer aaa Bei pee agnatounde note ad scala iatid urbe ngon Fain nase conceal soon fyesconstivie the design vocabulary that Seeman tom mg oe Bt Bross we have angie and vote Eeddgsanahen wl pre ae cons Sone tothe top Wel io BONCAR ape oe but ona SRE Wet Sw rote {Sey otdeugnespnan the sop 24 OVERVIEW Diagramming the information learned Ahrough contextual aralsis may ble any of the ‘conventional drawing Iramewarks to record the daa. We may ite tomatic srapcaly express ov plan, section, eleva omen orany ofthe othe ypes of daw inge avaiable ous. The yes of cawings ‘weuse shoul be sympathetic tothe type of Information we ae recording. Some datas ‘boner exprered in plan, some in section, oma in perpecive, ec. Normal thre tretwocomaonentsioany ste information fisgram. Fist, we must have a referent drawing of the stew provide 3 context for the particular se information we want fecard. Second, we must diagram the ste {er tell The reeren Sewing may be = ‘smple pian ol the ste boundaries with bordering stoets ora section trough the Sieshowinganly the round plane Weuse these simple ste drawings as (amewors for diagrarming the particular ste (sues that we wh to express Thete are feo faiber diferent postures we may assume tagarding te recoring ofthe ste orn Hom over these reterent drawings. The fist tne may cal the composite oF integrated oproach where we atempt to diagram as ‘any Giferent ste isuet 3 we can over ‘ne telerert drawing Here, diferent hypes of site data are supetimpesed over each thers that we can more esti ee he felsvomhips between the sformation. this aporaach we most make sure tha he drawing doet ol become mudsied and Confusing ad that he most important 3 Excerpt taken trom Sie Analysis by Eowarc Tate page?PROCESS ISSUE IDENTIFICATION The frst step in conducting a contextua! analyse ieto idenily those sues we wis ‘analyze and to diagrammatically docu ment. As. discussed previously, OU goal Should be to analyze all relevant issues bout the site because thoroughness ial to project success. Its uselul in choosing fom among the vavable site se categories to let our hoses be tnflaenced by at least ho in onan inputs 28 We should think about the nature (of the project, its needs, require- ‘ments and critical issues. What a the essence of the project! ‘What athe but dings easontor being? ‘What are ts major goals and objec tivest What oes can the building play In erhancing the ste and ts surround. ings Alef these concerns should el Ustoanterpate he kindof ite data that willbe needed during ne design phase ofthe project. 2 Site analysis should never be dane at Flongrange” Weshouldalwaysseethe site fst hand, walk or dive the con- tous and boundaries, see the views dnd om site amenttie, aen 10. the Sounds and personally assinsate the ‘ale ang pulse ol the neighborhood. “hands-on” direct encounter th site from a personal and sen- sory point of view gives vs another fet of clues for choosing the types (f site information that should be Addressed in our contextual analysis. Thevisittothesiteallowsustadevelop Sense of whats unigue, valuable and important about the site This Excoyp taken tom Sta Analysis by Eaware T. Vine page 8Location © Location of he city in the stale or regis §— @Lazatin of the neightwheud ri fe ctly Neighborhood Context @ Listing zaning (ey chy tf labab wears Zaciig Creirance or dete) T 1 Freee 4 — tee pee t gee ieeeMan-made Features Excerpt taken fram Ste Anais by Eaward T We page 19@ Significant weniectral paferns en a ooh ie Dis eat he, weeCirculation pttonases, weeds Be EOD i, ° it a ad SR © Lbhiulr a tar eg arse) | Excerp! taken fom Ste Analy by Eawara T. White page 12Ba, Lea ahha eh es agen at ore yt “SETTLES. [ ms oes ie mega “BE BI | GU ene htt Beer 1 Gabe fr eg Bia Pitot wil te inser a PS abies Excerpt taken fom Ste Analysis by Edward T Wihte oge 190 4ey- shad paleras (Bee Bans RN Excerat taker hom Sie Anaisis by Edmore T Wate page 16Be, ip iar: Sensory @ Yaws into fe ste ‘Mere with oar mente mike imsreesobimgondg taen in Aaya < wry ai 7) ww “My© Views tam te site inde of worl ts isd ps los ime en es et era ms he wes Hith gerd waned a 95 hed fee cacde gre Ti cence yur fe sah SCTE ee HOO it we Excerp!fakan rom Sie Analysis by Eaware T. While page 19© Link of intrest on sibUsing the pata! Spaces on the & Both the iedividual site design vignettes i the tres Se conto ou Shyamming: The moe ‘ srctbvlary oi candidate des ie pon fo Tin spate 132 buliding dese. Excerpt taken om Site Analysis by Eaward T Wile page 21\o Tes \@ Man-made tortures min a | beta are | £ | | q | | s | [aL [pegsbs wets lez 2 ae jeereue stone (fae) ei mL Boe passe