SiteinSight: Assigning Physical Computing a Role in Architectural Ideation

Abstract

The benefits of a robust architectural site-analysis are well understood through countless examples of built architecture. The tools necessary to achieve such an analysis, much like the site itself, continue to evolve. It is common to find physical computing systems – systems designed to engage the physical and environmental qualities of our world -- being employed to expose, capture, and store an architectural site’s peculiarities in the form of data. However, what is less common is employing this data in real-time, on-site and within a common framework of ideation. This thesis demonstrates a relationship between physical computing and a designer that benefits from real-time data employment. It is a hardware and software platform that assigns physical computing a collaborative role during an initial architectural site visit to not only perform the common task of data collection, but to present it to the designer in a familiar way; a way that might allow for richer data interrogation resulting in a more informed architectural proposition. Ultimately, this thesis exists to demonstrate a way physical computing can be a meaningful participant in architectural ideation.