Fire House_XL

FIRE HOUSE_city mapping

overview:
“In the broadest sense of the word, the definition of research includes any gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge.” – Martin Shuttleworth

“Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue.” – John W. Creswell

Research is a “systematic inquiry whose goal is communicable knowledge.” – L. Bruce Archer

The start of every design process should begin with research – the collection and investigation of real, not hypothetical, data and information.  This investigation is the beginning of the critical process of defining a problem, developing new questions, speculating with answers, and then revising your solutions.

In the instance of the Fire House, this investigation will occur – in a deliberate and controlled manner – across scales – at the scale of the city (XL), the scale of the site (L), the scale of the program (M) and the scale of the structure (S).

We will begin by investigating the relationship between the City of Chicago and its fire stations, using true data, both available and found, and using GIS data viewers and other graphic software.  We will ask ourselves – Where are they located? Why are they located in this manner? Which and what type of areas do they serve?  What might this suppose about Chicago’s varied population density, its urban fabric and its city services?  What does it suggest about the Fire Station itself?  What can you posit from specific data?  And what data is necessary to inform a strong supposition?

objectives:
– Become familiar with open source Quantum GIS viewer;
– Utilize the Chicago City Data Portal as a source of real (actual) data;
– Learn to intuit questions and develop hypotheses based on collected data;
– Learn to source and use additional data to analyze hunches and answer questions;
– Develop the ability to solve problems based on given criteria sets;
– Interpret and conclude your hunches through the analysis of this data;
– Present your finding in a clear and concise manner.

program:
Over the weekend, you are to download the Quantum GIS data viewer and review several data sets and shape files.  Develop a familiarity with the software and begin to interpret how it may be useful in the design process.

Research a minimum of five data sets, and choose at least three to compare to each other.  Develop hypotheses, and use the data sets to prove or disprove your hunches.  Reiterate, reiterate, reiterate… Use your analysis to learn something new that wasn’t originally evident in the data.

Develop a drawing/graphic/map that merges the visualization of your selected data sets and a map (or series of “plan views”?) of Chicago. Your composed “map” should communicate your investigation and provide a legible supposition of the relationship between the city, its fire stations, its physical fabric and its underlying data.

deliverables (due Monday, September 10, 2:00pm):
1. Present two drawings (map/graphic/table) that clearly present your investigation and communicates your supposition (hunch) of the relationship between the city and it’s fire stations.
a. A single horizontally oriented 11×17 with a cleanly organized set of images that describe the sequence of your investigation.
b. A single comprehensive diagram/drawing/etc describing your final position.

additional resources:
1. Shuttleworth, Martyn (2008). “Definition of Research”. Experiment Resources. Experiment-Research.com. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
2. Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
3. Quantum GIS
4. Chicago Data Portal
5. http://www.esri.com/
6. Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Connecticut: Graphics Press, 2001.
Tufte, Edward. Envisioning Information. Connecticut: Graphics Press, 1990.

Massing and volume studies

Drawing heavily on the site analysis and programming work, the next project phase will be to explore the possibilities for organizing 60,000 ft2 of covered space with the various exterior programs across the 177,000 ft2 of available site. At this point all the program and site factors will come into play, but still without straining for “design” or “architecture”.

This phase is open to radical exploration, but demanding rigor and complete mastery of the site and program. So you’ll need to be both irrational and a hard-nosed realist at the same time. While the three previous phases were mostly self-contained, this project phase will require that you synthesize the information developed so far into a cohesive strategy for occupying the site.

Work
Part one: generate five different schemes for arranging the program and the attendant massing(s) and volume(s) on the site.
Part two: select three of the above and develop them further.
Part three: select one of the above and develop to a high resolution for the final presentation.

Format
Studies are to be conducted in 3D physical models at appropriate scales. Drawings will, of course, support the studies but critiques and the review will use the physical models.

Review
Friday 1 October at 1:50.

Distorted Maps

In class on wednesday, I mentioned a process of mapping that utilized a distortion operation to analytically convey value of a particular condition.  These “cartograms”, like this one below documenting the prevalence of HIV infection, effectively give us an instant understanding of the severity of the problem, by changing the topology of something we are very familiar with.

Cartogram of HIV prevalence in the world

Here is an article with a series of these maps for a variety of global issues, and another blog post with the same and other examples.