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1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design
Job No: PD0710-67/3184Chapter 3 final (3.2)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 7:42 AM Page 99
Clients, users and brief ›Site, context and place› Initial ideasInterview summary
CHORA has developed a very particular methodology to
analyse a wide range of sites, places and contexts. This
method also feeds directly into strategies to make proposals
appropriate to each place (‘scenarios’). This means that site
analysis becomes more than simply an exercise to help
the architect to understand the place. The site analysis
is designed to help the architect find a way to propose
appropriate change in a place. It is particularly useful
in complex, large-scale situations where there are many
interested parties, several possible outcomes and no clear
solution for the fundamental problems and conflicts at hand.
It is vital that any site is considered within its context and
CHORA gives a satisfying weight to the invisible processes
and phenomena on a site, which shape its context. These
processes and phenomena may be invisible either because
they are too large to see and understand in their entirety
on site (such as a network of canals) or because they are
intangible (such as the effect of an international economic
subsidy on the choice of crop grown in a farmer’s field). This
willingness to embrace a global scale enables the architect to
tackle significant issues and set ambitious goals for projects
of any scale.
This does not mean that the small scale and the local are
neglected. Local, first-hand observations are a fundamental
part of CHORA’s method. The multiplication of these
observations through the collaboration of many individuals
gives them a validity and depth that they could not otherwise
have. The game-like structure set up for these observations
lends an element of play and randomness to counteract the
methodical nature of the site analysis; it allows participants
to make both objective and subjective observations. The
resulting scenarios build on the architect’s creativity and
ability to speculate on what might happen in the future.Text
1st ProofTitle: BA: Architectural Design
Job No: PD0710-67/3184Chapter 3 final (3.2)_.qxd:layouts to chapter one 7/24/10 7:42 AM Page 99