CCC Architecture

Site Selection and Analysis

There are many things to consider when choosing a site. Below is a list of some of the considerations. Your site may not meet all of them, and your project might not require that you consider all of them. They may include whether the site has:

• Good views of the surroundings.
• Access for pedestrians and to transportation.
• Adequate drainage.
• A terrain that suits the project.
• Ample natural light.

Take photographs of your site you have chosen. Include photographs from the site itself, but also photographs approaching your site. The images can be used later as a background to images of models that you build. How many photographs you take depends on the site. Taking 25 is not unreasonable. You might not use them all, but it is better to take more photographs, than have to return for more later.

Take notes and make sketches about the site. Visual Notes for Architects and Designers by Norman Crowe and Paul Laseau is a good resource for this. Your sketches can be details or plans. Your notes could include observations about the site that seem interesting or significant. For example, you might make a plan and indicate on the plan where people are coming from or going to. This could help you later to determine where to make the entry. Your sketches could also include ideas that you have for your project.

Get a sense of the size of your site. One way to do this is to 'pace' the site. To determine how long your pace is, measure 100 feet, walk that distance counting your pace and divide 100 by the number of your paces (we can do this on campus). Walking at a comfortable pace count your steps. Multiply the number of steps by the length of your pace. 

There is also information that you can find online. Google Maps is a good resource for generating site plans. Input an address, intersection or public place. Include the city name.

Click on Earth at the lower corner.

Click on the plus and minus symbol to zoom in and out. The scale is indicated along the bottom. 

To make a screen shot, press the Print Screen button at the upper right on your keyboard. To save the screenshop open Paint.

Press Ctrl + V. Under the File menu choose Saveas and save the image.

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There are many things to consider for this as well: