Designing for the Site

Abstract

From mountains and hills to valleys and plains, there exists a variety of landscapes of which act as the resting place for architectural designs and buildings. However, when selecting a site on which to construct, the architect faces the problem of whether to preserve and incorporate the existing landscape into the design or remove and replace the land for the construction to occur. As architecture seeks to create new environments for its inhabitants, architecture should not take away from nor destroy the existing landscape. Furthermore, as architecture is designed to fit on an existing plot of land, the architect should create a design that forms a cohesive relationship with the land on which the architecture rests. The overall goal of this thesis will be to determine how architecture can be placed on sites with varying topographies and the architecture not taking away from, physically or visually, the existing naturalized landscape. With research and analysis of the different means of which to construct a building on varying landscapes, the intent is to create architecture that forms a constructive relationship with its surroundings. Whether this relationship exists in the form and structure of the architecture, the visual or physical connection of the building’s users to the site, or the elements and materials used on the building’s façades, the relationship of the building to its site is further strengthened if the building blends in with the naturalized surroundings. A successful architectural design adds to and enhances, not removes and depletes the existing landscape of the earth.