Master of Architecture Thesis Rice University 
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Mapping of site conditions that could be parameters for design strategy. The categories and subcategories were listed with the intention of a random generator combining different conditions to create an unbiased list of site that could be used to provoke design decisions.

[f59]
Two exercises where the intention started with responding to the randomly generated combination of site conditions. The site conditions are written at the top. As can be observed, the initial sketch outlines some of the conditions, but as the sketch develops and ideas are formed, the more the site conditions became irrelevant. Not in a way that they were being ignored, but that the design choices being made were not affected by the conditions listed.

[f59]
Two exercises where the intention started with responding to the randomly generated combination of site conditions. The site conditions are written at the top. As can be observed, the initial sketch outlines some of the conditions, but as the sketch develops and ideas are formed, the more the site conditions became irrelevant. Not in a way that they were being ignored, but that the design choices being made were not affected by the conditions listed.
While a categorical system was developed when designing strictly formally, it did not provide enough limitations for the designs to be guided and result in comparable objects. Up until this point, the only decided factor relative to site was the interest in public spaces. Spaces that are shared and utilized by a variety of people. Transitioning away from strictly formal categories, utilizing site factors as the limits and motivations for design decisions became interesting. A list of site conditions and the subcategories were drawn up, a matrix of sorts was the result. The idea was to have a random selection from each category which would come together to create a unique site condition. It seemed as if this was the key to the design challenge. The randomly selected external conditions would drive the design decisions. Once the algorithm was set, and the various site conditions were randomly selected, the exercise occurred through analog sketching. A rude awakening took place with the realization that the sketches were resulting in not much different results than those when the driving factors were pure formal characteristics. These site conditions developed through a matrix were not the key to unlocking designs without functional factors.

Feyza Mutlu
Master of Architecture Thesis
Rice University School of Architecture linkedin.com/in/feyza-mutlu
fnmutlu1@gmail.com
@fnmutlu1