Site analysis is a preliminary phase of architectural and urban design processes dedicated to the study of the climatic, geographical, historical, legal, and infrastructural context of a specific site.
The result of this analytic process is a summary, usually a graphical sketch, which sets in relation the relevant environmental information with the morphology of the site in terms of parcel, topography, and built environment. This result is then used as a starting point for the development of environment-related strategies during the design process.
A number of graphical tools for site analysis have been developed to assist designers in this task. Examples of traditional climate-related site analysis tools are the sundial, the sun path diagram, the radiation square, the wind rose, and the wind square.[1][2][3][4] These conventional methods of site analysis are efficient in simple sites with irrelevant close obstructions, where the analysis can be reduced to the parcel at the ground level or even exclusively to its center point. More elaborated techniques, like Volumetric Site Analysis,[5][6][7] can instead be used to study more intricate and obstructed sites like those of high and dense urban settings.
- ^ DeKay, M.; Brown, G.Z. (3 Feb 2014). Sun Wind & Light: Architectural Design Strategies (3 ed.). Wiley. ISBN 9780470945780.
- ^ "Site Analysis and Planning - Lecture 9" (PDF). UGC lecture series.
- ^ Yadav, Ar. Mihir Rajendra. "Micro-Climate Analysis of Bhopal through Bioclimatic Chart, Radiation Square, Wind Rose and Sun Path Diagram to Evaluate Passive Design Strategies". Maharashtra Association of School of Architecture. D.Y.Patil School of Architecture.
- ^ Khalid, Asma (20 Dec 2022). "An Archetype of Architecture" (PDF). International Journal of Architecture and Planning. 10 (2): 516. doi:10.15320/ICONARP.2022.213.
- ^ Leidi, Michele. "Volumetric Site Analysis for the Conceptualization of Architecture in the Urban Context" (PDF). ETH-Zürich. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 Apr 2015.
- ^ Teller, J.; Azar, S. (2001). "Townscope II ‐ A computer system to support solar access decision making". Solar Energy. 70 (3). doi:10.1016/S0038-092X(00)00097-9.
- ^ Marsh, Andrew (2006). "The Interaction of Radiance and ECOTECT" (PDF).