The process of design : a tool in the exploration and understanding of place

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the understanding and representation of an urban fabric. This document is not a historical essay nor a thematical critique of the design of an architectural form but an analysis and an attempt to understand the vernacular, the evolution and transformation of San Antonio, Texas. The objective is to develop an analytical process for the understanding of place and its architectural characteristics. A framework is developed for design guidelines based on observations of the shared language of the urban structure in San Antonio and suggest guidelines that can provide the transformation and inhabitation of a place This thesis concentrates on the central and surrounding areas of the "Paseo del Rio" in downtown San Antonio. The method of research consists of information gathered through direct observations in search of morphological commonalities in San Antonio. Further, the effects of the Nineteenth Century interventions on the Eighteenth Century urban fabric is observed as well as how this transformation of the urban fabric can serve as the framework for the development of the northeast End of downtown San Antonio. This framework offers a basis for physical continuity in the change and growth of the Northeast End of San Antonio and for the understanding of its cultural characteristics and regional identity. San Antonio's urban fabric follows a non-linear process. This non-linear process is expressed through the process of cyclic observation according to the following points: 1) Gathering; 2) Prioritizing; 3) Evaluating; 4) Organizing; and 5) Presenting. This process will in turn, develop a set of controls of the urban fabric that can be used for possible implementation Even though there are a variety of Forces that influence the success or failure of urban forms such as, market forces, economic fluctuations and political issues, this thesis and sets of controls emphasize only the understanding of physical and spatial characteristics within the urban fabric. This document develops an understanding of the design thought process and a possible "general" that an architect can continuously build upon throughout ones profession. This document questions the validity of the thought process and the power of an analytical and theoretical methodology. It provides an organizational possibility, in the architectural umbrella , that allows the transition from the conceptual to the built form. Since San Antonio is currently in the process of redeveloping the Northeast End of the City, this document can serve as a framework for the unformulated set of conventions and characteristics of the urban fabric that has given San Antonio its romance and charm.