ABSTRACT
Chapter 19 describes two generative design and planning exercises presented as studies in abstraction to temporarily liberate the user from traditional neighbourhood constraints. ‘Seven Design Tactics’ provides a set of tools with which to broadly speculate on the housing capacity of an established suburban block without the potential encumbrance of issues around neighbourhood character and aesthetic fit. ‘Algebraic Siting Strategies’ provides a method of creating a fictitious study area borne of the prevailing housing types and their spatial arrangement within the neighbourhood. Together, the two exercises can be used in design studios or urban planning workshops by practitioners, design research scholars, or students, as an adjunct to other forms of housing intensification studies. They are an important tool of discovery and underpin the Suburban Operations detailed in Chapter 4 and the dual and multiple lot design studies shown in Chapters 10 and 11.
