Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Chicago (demonstration)

The courtyard with two different privacy problems

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When reading chair is open for reading for an hour

Each month read on its 15th · 2026
Read for an hour, through the year. Reading chair is open for reading for an hour 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, December to January. It opens at different hours February, March, April, May, September, October and November. Shut June to August. 9 months open, 3 shut, 0 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec9months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

Rings run from 7 am at the centre to 9 pm at the edge.

Reading chair is open for reading for an hour 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM, December to January. It opens at different hours February, March, April, May, September, October and November. Shut June to August.

  • December to January: open 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • February: open 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • March: open 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • April: open 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • May: open 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.
  • June to August: shut for reading for an hour. What it feels like is what stops it.
  • September: open 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. It carries on past 7:00 PM, which is later than most people do this.
  • October: open 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
  • November: open 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.

The shut months are shut for one reason: what it feels like. That is the thing to change if you want the season longer, and it is a different job from making the open months better.

The same year as a table
MonthOpenUsable hoursWhat decides it
January12:00 PM–1:00 PM1 hWhat it feels like closes it
February10:00 AM–3:00 PM5 hWhat it feels like closes it
March10:00 AM–5:00 PM7 hWhat it feels like closes it
April9:00 AM–7:00 PM10 hWhat it feels like closes it
May6:00 PM–7:00 PM1 hStill usable afterwards
Juneshut—What it feels like stops it
Julyshut—What it feels like stops it
Augustshut—What it feels like stops it
September6:00 PM–7:00 PM1 hStill usable afterwards
October9:00 AM–6:00 PM9 hWhat it feels like closes it
November9:00 AM–3:00 PM6 hWhat it feels like closes it
December11:00 AM–2:00 PM3 hWhat it feels like closes it
Long garden viewHouse23 ftExisting side fence5.9 ftABA · East upstairs windowB · West shared pathReading chairN16 ft
BuildingNot yoursCanopyShadow nowCan see inProposed

Reading at

8:34 PM·September
September 14 · Reading chair

The evidence behind this whole day is thin, so nothing on the strip is marked out as worse than the rest. The shape of the day is still the model’s best reading; the confidence in it is low, and it stays low until something it needs is measured.

Reading chair is open for reading for an hour 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM and again 5:30 PM to 11:30 PM.

About 8 hours in September, and what it feels like is what closes it.

The same day as a table
The same day hour by hour, in text.
HourSunVerdictConfidenceSun position
12:00 AMdarkTighta starting hypothesis
3:00 AMdarkTighta starting hypothesis
6:00 AMdarkNoa starting hypothesis
7:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis5° up, bearing 90°
8:00 AMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis16° up, bearing 100°
9:00 AMin sunTighta starting hypothesis27° up, bearing 111°
10:00 AMin sunNoa starting hypothesis36° up, bearing 125°
11:00 AMin sunNoa starting hypothesis45° up, bearing 141°
12:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis50° up, bearing 162°
1:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis51° up, bearing 186°
2:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis48° up, bearing 208°
3:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis41° up, bearing 227°
4:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis32° up, bearing 242°
5:00 PMin sunNoa starting hypothesis22° up, bearing 254°
6:00 PMin sunWorksa starting hypothesis11° up, bearing 265°
7:00 PMshaded by Existing side fenceWorksa starting hypothesis0° up, bearing 275°
9:00 PMdarkWorksa starting hypothesis

Even light, no glare on the page, enough quiet to forget the time.

Read for an hour

Reading chair works for reading for an hour at this hour.

  • What it feels like is1.2°F under— 59.6°F against at least 60.8°F

    An hour is long enough for a few degrees to matter.

Still unanswered:Noise

Confidence low (49%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    Read for an hour
  • Place
    Reading chair
  • Weather
    Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Method
    Traced geometry and radiation at this hour, measured against what this use needs
    • Try a changeMake a document

    How well this place is described

    Mapped
    1. Quick
    2. Mapped
    3. Annotated
    4. Measured

    Shade, sky view and daily light are computed from real geometry rather than assumed. This is the rung at which the product starts telling you things you did not already know.

    It cannot answer who can see in, and it cannot tell you whether the heights it is using are the real ones.

    To reach Annotated

    • Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
    • Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.

    What that buys: The privacy question, and a check on the geometry. Most inferred heights are wrong by enough to matter, and a photograph settles it in a minute.

    Everything that was checked
    • Quick A place on the earth: Chicago (demonstration), with a time zone, which is what makes an hour an hour.
    • Quick Somewhere to read: 1 spot marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
    • Mapped The things in the way: 2 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
    • Mapped What is underfoot: 1 of 1 readings sit on a mapped surface.
    • Mapped Where the property ends: Drawn, so the product can tell you when the cheapest fix stands on someone else's land.
    • Annotated Photographs of the actual place: None annotated. A photograph is how a drawn height gets checked against a real one.
    • Annotated Photographs that know where they were taken from: No photograph has a position and a bearing, so what is marked on them cannot become a measurement.
    • Annotated Who can see in: 2 observers marked.
    • Measured Heights off a tape: All 2 objects are marked as measured.
    • Measured Something checked against the day: Nothing has been checked against a real afternoon. The model is unopposed, which is not the same as being right.

    What to measure next

    Ranked by how far the answer moves, not by a checklist
    1. 1What the paving actually isOne photoFlips the answerWetness ±27

      Photograph the paving next to something white. How dark it is decides both how hot it gets underfoot and how much light it throws back up at a seated person.

      Across the plausible range this flips the answer between tight and no. Worth going outside for.

      Mark it on the planAdd photo evidence

      reflectance 0.1 → tight 64 · reflectance 0.25 → tight 58 · reflectance 0.45 → no 49

      Currently assuming: reflectance 0.3, assumed. Tested across 0.1 to 0.45.

    What the place is doing at 8:34pm in September

    Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape).

    What it feels like

    cool

    59.6°F

    Felt temperature · 28 on the reporting scale

    It feels about 6 degrees cooler than the air, near 60°F.

    What is doing it

    • How much sky is overhead

      −1.9°
    How this was worked out
  • Air
    65.7°F from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Radiant
    50.2°F mean radiant temperature
  • Method
    Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

    • Direct sun

    after dark

    0 W/m²

    Beam reaching this point · 0 on the reporting scale

    The sun is down.

    How this was worked out
  • Sun
    below the horizon
  • Traced
    0% of the beam reaches this point

    • Glare

    none

    0

    out of 100

    Nothing bright is in the line of sight at this hour.

    How this was worked out
  • Facing
    190deg

    • Privacy exposure

    screened

    0

    out of 100

    Nothing marked here has a usable line to this seat.

    What is doing it

    • East upstairs window

      +0.0

    • West shared path

      +0.0
    How this was worked out
  • Observers
    2 marked
  • Method
    Eye-to-eye rays, then scaled by how much brighter the seat is than the observer's own surroundings

    • Wind

    still

    0.8 mph

    Wind at the seat · 4 on the reporting scale

    Existing side fence is taking about 58% of the wind off this spot.

    What is doing it

    • Existing side fence

      −1.1 mph
    How this was worked out
  • Reference
    6.1 mph at 10 m from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • At seat height
    1.9 mph before shelter
  • Shelter
    58% removed by what stands upwind

    • View

    open

    100

    out of 100

    The view from this seat is essentially intact.

    What is doing it

    • Long garden view

      +100
    How this was worked out
  • Corridors
    Long garden view
  • Method
    Rays sampled across each corridor's angular window

    • Surface heat

    comfortable

    65.7°F

    Surface temperature · 7 on the reporting scale

    The surface is running about 66°F.

    How this was worked out
  • Surface
    Courtyard
  • Method
    Absorbed shortwave against air temperature, flattened by air movement (from a published source)

    • Wetness

    dries-fast

    1.2 x

    Drying time against the open · 22 on the reporting scale

    Still air here; moving air does a surprising amount of the drying.

    How this was worked out
  • Drying rate
    0.000 in/hour here
  • Method
    Penman combination equation on the radiation and air actually reaching this spot (from a published source)

    • Light after dark

    Unanswered

    No exterior or window light has been placed yet, so what changes after dark is unanswered.

    Ask something else about this place

    Who can see me?

    The sightline, the smallest screen that closes it, and what it costs you in view.

    What grows here?

    Usable light across a day, not the label on the tag.

    I already own this. Where should it go?

    The same reasoning backwards: every spot you have marked, ranked for one plant.

    What survives here?

    What this exposure does to the things you leave out.

    Dinner outside tonight?

    The forecast, read against this specific seat.

    What changes through the year?

    The same layout in May, August and October.

    What changes after dark?

    Light, glare and who can see in once the sun has gone.

    Everything on the plan, in text
    ThingReadingNote
    House23 ft100 per cent solid.
    Existing side fence5.9 ft100 per cent solid.
    East upstairs windowopen36.2 ft away, eye height 15.1 ft, 18 degrees above the seat.
    West shared pathblocked27.1 ft away, eye height 5.2 ft, 3 degrees above the seat.