Architectural observation is the discipline that separates design from decoration. In MÉTODO, no drawing is made before the site is understood: how the sun moves across it in January and in June, where wind enters and exits, what the views are worth, and what the neighbors impose. The process before the style is not a slogan — it is the sequence of a project.
The Site Visit as Primary Instrument
A site visit in MÉTODO is not a walk-through. It is a structured data collection session. We arrive with instruments — compass, clinometer, thermometer, humidity meter — and a documentation protocol that produces the same set of information for every project.
What we document during a site analysis:
- Solar orientation: which faces of the site receive sun at what times of day and which season
- Prevailing wind direction and seasonality — critical for ventilation design
- Topographic conditions: slopes, drainage flow, existing vegetation as evidence of water behavior
- Views by direction: what is worth capturing, what is worth blocking
- Noise sources and their hourly patterns (traffic, industry, animals, neighbors)
- Adjacent structures and their shadow projections at key sun angles
- Soil surface evidence: cracks suggesting expansive clay, drainage patterns, existing vegetation root spread
This documentation becomes the analytic foundation for every design decision. A room placed on a specific wall of the house is placed there because the analysis says it should be there — not because it was convenient or traditional.
Asoleamiento: The Discipline of Sun Study
Asoleamiento — the systematic study of how sunlight moves across a site across seasons — is the first design tool we use. For a site in central Mexico at 19° to 21° latitude, the sun path on the summer solstice reaches nearly vertical at noon. On the winter solstice, it stays low in the south sky. These two conditions produce very different shading requirements for south-facing elements.
We run asoleamiento studies at three moments:
- Summer solstice: maximum sun height, minimum need for heating
- Winter solstice: low sun, maximum potential for passive solar heating
- Spring and fall equinox: intermediate condition that determines whether a single overhang solution works across all seasons
The output is a diagram showing what percentage of each facade is shaded at each hour for each season study. This diagram determines window placement, overhang depth, and which rooms receive which type of light throughout the year.
For a client reviewing a design, the asoleamiento diagram explains why the living room is on the west side and why the deep loggia is on the south. It is not an aesthetic choice — it is a sun-angle calculation.
The Matrix of Options
Once site analysis is complete and the architectural program is written, design begins. In MÉTODO, we do not produce a single scheme and ask the client to approve or reject it. We produce a matrix of options: typically two to three scheme variations that respond to the same analysis and program but make different organizational decisions.
The matrix of opciones — decidir comparando, no adivinando — is structured so that the client can evaluate schemes against each other across common criteria. Each option shows:
- Plan organization (how rooms relate to each other and to the site)
- Section character (the vertical relationship between spaces and the sky)
- Primary circulation logic
- Relationship between indoor and outdoor zones
- Structural implications (how the scheme responds to the site's constraints)
A client who has only seen one option cannot make an informed decision. A client who has compared three options — each of which is a serious design response to the same analysis — can make a decision they will stand behind ten years later.
The Section as Design Instrument
The floor plan organizes horizontal relationships. The section organizes vertical ones — and the vertical is where most of the experience of a building lives. The height of a ceiling, the relationship between a low bedroom and a high living volume, the way a staircase creates a view shaft through the building: these are section decisions.
La sección como relato: the section tells the story of how the building works. In MÉTODO, the section study begins before the floor plan is finalized. If a scheme cannot produce an interesting and functional section, the plan organization is reconsidered.
We present section perspectives — three-dimensional cuts through the building — as the primary design communication tool for clients. A section perspective shows simultaneously:
- The spatial sequence from entry to living to private zones
- How natural light enters the building from above and the side
- The structural elements that carry load
- The material character of floors, walls, and ceilings in their proper relationships
This drawing is more informative than a rendered photograph because it shows what the building does, not just what it looks like.
Observation Continues Through Construction
Architectural observation does not end at the design phase. In MÉTODO, construction supervision includes regular site visits where the architect observes how the building is being assembled and evaluates whether the constructed reality matches the design intent.
Concrete pours are inspected for form integrity before and after placement. Material deliveries are checked against specifications. Details that could not be fully resolved in drawings are resolved on-site, in the presence of the trades doing the work.
This is why construction supervision is part of the full-service architectural scope — not an optional add-on. A building designed with precision and built without oversight is a hypothesis, not a completed project.
Próximos pasos
If you want to understand how MÉTODO's observation-based design process would apply to your site — in Mexico City, on the Pacific Coast, or in Colorado — the first step is a site analysis consultation.
We discuss the site's conditions, your program requirements, and how the analysis would inform the design before any drawing is made.
Learn about the full MÉTODO process — from the first site visit to the completed building.