Perception + Precision: An Exploratory Process Towards Generative Site Analysis

Abstract

Site analysis plays a vital role in the relationship between landscape architects and the places they work to understand and enhance. As an arm of the design process, site analysis finds its place in every project. Experiential and phenomenological qualities are captured and expressed by landscape architects yet they sometimes lack consistent inclusion in site analysis. A focus on diagrammatic techniques and exploratory mapping works to integrate these qualities into more traditional site analysis methods. This thesis seeks to apply these methods to capture the ephemeral and experiential, combined with thorough analysis through perceptive and precise modes of representation. An application of these techniques requires both an understanding of process and a testing ground. Through structured divisions of process, this thesis applies these methods to Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington. This large and complex park fulfilled the needs of diverse site conditions, rich historical significance, and a performative ecosystem. This self-reflective process merges drawing with digital tools to achieve representation that shows subjective understanding of site with the accuracy of data. The resulting mapped images show added engagement in site analysis through explanatory and dynamic representation. This representation is indicative of synthesis and interrogation of site conditions revealing latent complexities and the conceptual potentials of this more engaging analysis.