If the topic is one we have little experience with then we need to collect information. This is a part of schematic and pre-design and responds to certain desires of the designer or other interested parties or client. This is often in conjunction with the project criteria.

This collection of characteristics was hinted at in previous sections, and starts with understanding a hierarchy of topics or ideas and how they respond to the site conditions and intent.
The main topic are typologies or general topics or considerations of architecture: library, school, museum, boathouse, and others. These have general topics like light, structure, environment, ritual, movement, threshold, nature (plants), among others.

These lead to secondary topics, ideas or topics that influence, inform, or limit the main topic but do not supersede it as designed results are in reference to the main topic. These topics are often sub-areas of larger topics, for example color theory as a part of light.

Characteristics of the site and from pre-design are more pragmatic and help to inform the implementation of the ideas, generating the designed response by using the site and the main topics to inform each other.

This makes the design of a place and in its place, rather than designed from a far. Having the site and the conditions such as climate then to help further define the typology or main qualities that are present in the designed response.