Reading Response #3 Site Matters by Andrea Kahn

Andrea Kahn defines site specification by using terms such as ‘web of specific associations’ and ‘matrix of forces’. I agree with the fact that a site is not defined by its physical boundaries, but it is rather a complex overlay of influences within the context. The identity of site and its influence to the surroundings make the physical boundaries seem less important. The porousness of a site boundary is related to the cognitive mapping of its influence, and therefore it has ‘its own degree of spatial extension’. Understanding this notion of site, we need to analyze the site with broader point of view. For example, the reason why we do various mapping exercise in the beginning of studio project is because we need to study the site and its influence to its surrounding. What is the hierarchy of program within the site? Where do people come from? How do people navigate through the site? What are the sequence of movement within the site? These are some of the questions we need to ask in order to broaden our understanding of the site. Kahn says that these mappings represent each ‘realities’, which are present at the same place, same time, but not necessarily corresponding to one another. Therefore, we as architects have a responsibility to filter out which information is useful to identify the site and the scope of an urban project. Also, it is important to note that exercised such as mapping through representation should be used as a tool to ‘construct forms of knowledge’, which goes deeper than merely depicting different realities.