A diagnosis of analysis paralysis

So you’ve found a site. Time for some site analysis – context, sun paths, demographics, microclimate, figure ground studies…….we could go on forever. And why not? Site analysis is a safe and methodical exercise. Your site is just waiting to unlock its secrets and reveal a building just waiting to happen. Or not.

We get stuck in the analysis phase. It’s a form of procrastination. The building will not reveal itself. You have to design it!

And the prescription for Analysis Paralysis? A charrette!

[Sylwia Mazurek & Keith Tasker]

Last Tuesday, each student, having submitted their projects just a couple of days beforehand, were asked to draw their building and pin up for review. In just four hours and a prohibition on digital media, they retrieved the initial iterations from the private spaces of their minds, prompting a dialogue about what their building might become.

Drawing and subsequent dialogue provided the motive force for driving forward the design process.

[Emma McQuillan]