Step 1: Gathering Data...

The first step of any design process is to gather as much correct and complete documentation as possible about the problem we are about to try to solve. This phase is usually called analysis.  If we work alone, this stage can take an enormous amount of time and results are usually uncomplete due to this simple reason. Team work allows to gather a much more important amount of information that might be useful for our future design, concentrating each team members' attention on a particular aspect of the problem to be solved.

In this sense we have established 10 different areas of characteristics of the site we want to analyse in order to be able to gather as much precise information as possible about these different aspects. On Thursday and on site, after doing a general visit to the building an its' surroundings altogether to have a general impression of the site, we will distribute students of the Unit into 10 groups. Each group will focus this, their first task of the semester, on gathering and presenting their specific area of analysis to the rest of the team.

The ten areas are the following:

1) Site Physical Context (Plans/Sections)

2) Buiding Plans

3) Buiding Sections

4) Building Elevations

5) Structure System

6) Constructive System

7) Catalog of Materials (Quantity and Characterístics)

8) Urbanistic Situation

9) Historical Evolution

10) Photographic Documentation

Each of the ten areas need to a) gather information and b) present and complete this information so as it's most useful for future steps. Each of them can be simply be completed a simple nearly administrative task, or, otherwise, you may try to complete a rich, creative and atractive document that has it's own values, apart from the accurate information it may contain.

We are looking for this second type of document. Each group should try to make a complete and correct informational document as a part of a global process; but it should also be presented as if it were a final entry in itself, including all the persuasive design and communicational strategies the group considers appropiate.