Assignment 1: Site and Context

Arch 305 901

Fall 2014

Deyong

Assignment 1:

Research & analysis of site, context and program (20%)

Final Submission: Friday, Sept. 29

Introduction:

The project for this semester is a small community center and park (consisting of a public pool, outdoor market place, cafe and artist studios) in San Antonio, Texas.  For Assignment 1, you will be researching the site and context. The site is three patches of land in Southtown in San Antonio, near the Pioneer Flour Mill and along the San Antonio River (see below and my google map). As we will discover, the area is a diverse urban ecology that can potentially benefit from an imaginative, urban intervention.

A. Independent Research:

In small groups, I would like you to begin researching the context of our site.

Issues to consider include the following:

-Demographics of adjacent neighborhoods

-Climate

-Natural Topography (including the San Antonio River)

-Historic buildings (eg. Pioneer Flour Mill)

-Public attractions (eg. Blue Star Museum)

-Composition of the urban fabric (eg. houses, apartment complexes, retail, etc.)

-Transportation (eg. street, highways, railway)

-Additional?

Document your findings in your sketchbook with notes, diagrams and images.  Share your findings on our class blog: http://skdnearch305.blogspot.com/

We will use the blog to launch class discussion on Wednesday.

B. Field Trip:

This Friday, Sept. 5^th, we will travel to San Antonio to visit the site. Please fill out the travel permission form today and submit to Eric Stafford before the end of class. (The form is attached. It will also be distributed in class).