Understanding the site through visual analysis is vital in the design process. Whether it is through photography, art interpretation, mapping, labeling, or collaging, the analysis can help bring out ideas, concepts, and goals that are specific to the site you are working with.

Petra Kempf’s book, “You Are the City” illustrates the way she would analyze a site in an expressive, messy, and non-factual manner. By using bold colors and isolating different components of the site, she creates a series of mapping diagrams to layer on top of one another, allowing the interaction of these elements to be played with in a variety of combinations. Another book, “MetaCity/DataTown” by Winy Maas gives an opposite approach to examining a site’s context. The author provides plenty of factual information that is clearly illustrated in a logical format with bold texts, numbers, and graphics.

While you attain the information quickly and efficiently in Maas’ work, Kempf’s process isolates the key features that are important to you. Her drawings are simple and to the point which is why I chose to map out the Lloyd District in this way in order to give a more personal study of the site and identify the features I find most significant.