digital architecture_site analysis
from the very early stages of site analysis it is easy to see that the old market square is an island surrounded by the Nottingham tram route . 
the tram line is identified by the black line running from the railway across the river through the city and beyond. There are a series of stops through the city the main stop being the market square. the dotted line represents the pedestrian specific routes around the retail district of the city, the. all routes run around the periphery of the square. i am interested to further investigate how these surrounding routes Influence the behavior of the pedestrians using the site.
site analysis_ site circulation
to understand the circulation i visited the site at three different time of the day and recorded the most populate routes at that time.
_morning
i have observed the site at 3 crucial times of the day this first one being during the morning. i found that at this time of the day
that people using the square tended to avoid trans versing the centre of the square, the main usage routes are indicated by the dotted lines. i believe this is due to the fact the low number of people in the square so it is my belief that people do not like feeling isolated and vulnerable crossing the square on there own. I also found that people crossing the square at this time tended to be groups. I have indicated the popular node points in the square at this time of the day. this diagram firmly shows that the periphery of the square is far more popular. the bottom left corner was the most frequently used space as this is due to the bus stop and tram stop location here
_noon
the popular circulation nodes have increased in size form the morning analysis. the nodes have also moved from 
the periphery of the square to a more central and involved location. i believe this has occurred due to two reasons, one: the day i took this analysis the weather was sunny but not particularly warm however i believe this caused more people to come into the site, more people were choosing to sit down on the hard landscaping. two: due to the increase in number of people using the site more people felt comfortable to circulate through the centre of the site and also stopping to admire the fountain.
_evening
during this period of the day the popular circulation nodes are receding from the centre of the centre once again. 
this i believe is due to similar reasons as the morning period, but also because to the west and south of the site there are a number of pubs and bars which draws people away from the centre of the square. Pedestrians who are out drinking will then move towards the lace market area to the east therefore there is no reason to transition the square. however on a weekend the number of people using the square will increase during the early hours of the morning as people make there way home from a night out. but what i think is the most important aspect to take away form this analysis is that the market square is and incredibly complex and dynamic space, which is to be treated carefully when designing, as blocking the circulation of the site with something people are not interested in will cause people to avoid the site. there a lot of behavioral aspects to consider of the people using the site.
jontyhallettdigitalarch 