The front porch nobody sits on

Do not let one good July afternoon approve a permanent object.

This is the annual vote. The same proposed screen, awning, pergola, move or planting change is held fixed while the engine re-runs the property in winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Reading point

Use

Clock hour: 5:00 PM

The hour is intentionally held constant. This isolates seasonal geometry instead of letting a different clock time flatter the proposal.

The year, in one line

Everything below is about a change. Before that, it is worth knowing what the place already does — the hours it is open, month by month, on one page you can put on a fridge.

Operating hours card

Before a permanent change gets to win

Make January, April, July and October vote on it.

These are the exact same proposed objects re-run through the engine in four seasons. A summer fix that steals winter sun cannot hide inside one July afternoon.

Same geometry · four seasons

Change	Jan	Apr	Jul	Oct	Seasons it helps	Year verdict
A 7 ft 1 in screen 6 ft 4 in from the seat The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.	No No → No	Tight No → Tight	Works No → Works	Works No → Works	3 of 4	seasonal
A 6 ft screen close to People on the sidewalk The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.	No No → No	Tight No → Tight	Works No → Works	Works No → Works	3 of 4	seasonal
An evergreen hedge to about 7 ft 4 in The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.	No No → No	Tight No → Tight	Works No → Works	Works No → Works	3 of 4	seasonal
A drawable outdoor curtain The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.	No No → No	Tight No → Tight	Works No → Works	Works No → Works	3 of 4	seasonal
A second seat 19 ft 8 in south-east The status does not move in any sampled season.	No No → No	No No → No	No No → No	No No → No	0 of 4	weak
Sit under Street tree The status does not move in any sampled season.	No No → No	No No → No	No No → No	No No → No	0 of 4	weak

What changes by season

A 7 ft 1 in screen 6 ft 4 in from the seat

January: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

April: No → Tight; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

July: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

October: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

A 6 ft screen close to People on the sidewalk

January: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

April: No → Tight; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

July: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

October: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

An evergreen hedge to about 7 ft 4 in

January: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

April: No → Tight; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

July: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

October: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

A drawable outdoor curtain

January: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

April: No → Tight; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

July: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

October: No → Works; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

A second seat 19 ft 8 in south-east

January: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

April: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is privacy exposure; direct-sun reading +81.

July: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +100.

October: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is privacy exposure; direct-sun reading -47.

Sit under Street tree

January: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +0.

April: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is privacy exposure; direct-sun reading +100.

July: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is what it feels like; direct-sun reading +100.

October: No → No; after the change the controlling issue is privacy exposure; direct-sun reading +0.

Draw this change

The same change, four times a year

A 7 ft 1 in screen 6 ft 4 in from the seat, drawn at 5:00 PM on the four days the vote reads. The top row is the place as it is; the bottom row has the change in it.

To scale · to the measurements given

The drawings, in a table

A 7 ft 1 in screen 6 ft 4 in from the seat, as the place is and with the change, at 5:00 PM on four days.
Day	Sun	As it is	With the change	Hours
15 January	Down	No	No	Not claimed
15 April	27° up, W	No	Tight	Not claimed
15 July	36° up, W	No	Works	Not claimed
15 October	11° up, SW	No	Works	Not claimed

The year as it is

Works
Tight
No
Unanswered

Rings run from 7 am at the centre to 9 pm at the edge. Schematic: A shape of the facts, not a picture of a particular date or a measured outline. Each month is its 15th, not a promise about the other days.

The porch chair does not open for reading for an hour in any month of the year, at the hours this use happens.

All year: shut for reading for an hour. What it feels like stops it in 6 of those months and privacy exposure in most of the rest.

Nothing here opens for reading for an hour at any point in the year. What it feels like shuts 6 months and privacy exposure shuts most of the others, so this is two problems rather than one — and a change that fixes either on its own still leaves a shut garden.

The same year as a table

Month	Open	Usable hours	What decides it
January 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
February 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
March 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
April 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
May 15	shut	—	Privacy exposure stops it
June 15	shut	—	Privacy exposure stops it
July 15	shut	—	Privacy exposure stops it
August 15	shut	—	Privacy exposure stops it
September 15	shut	—	Privacy exposure stops it
October 15	shut	—	Privacy exposure stops it
November 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
December 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it

The year with a 7 ft 1 in screen 6 ft 4 in from the seat

Works
Tight
No
Unanswered

Rings run from 7 am at the centre to 9 pm at the edge. Schematic: A shape of the facts, not a picture of a particular date or a measured outline. Each month is its 15th, not a promise about the other days.

The porch chair is open for reading for an hour 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, May to September. It opens at different hours April, October and November. Shut December to March.

December to March: shut for reading for an hour. What it feels like is what stops it.
April: open 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
May to September: open 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
October: open 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. What it feels like is what closes it.
November: open 11:00 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

Month	Open	Usable hours	What decides it
January 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
February 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
March 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it
April 15	11:00 AM–7:00 PM	8 h	What it feels like closes it
May 15	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h
June 15	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h
July 15	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h
August 15	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h
September 15	9:00 AM–7:00 PM	10 h
October 15	11:00 AM–7:00 PM	8 h	What it feels like closes it
November 15	11:00 AM–3:00 PM	4 h	What it feels like closes it
December 15	shut	—	What it feels like stops it

Annual shortlist

6 exact proposals re-tested

A 7 ft 1 in screen 6 ft 4 in from the seat

seasonal

The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.

January: No → No · April: No → Tight · July: No → Works · October: No → Works

A 6 ft screen close to People on the sidewalk

seasonal

The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.

January: No → No · April: No → Tight · July: No → Works · October: No → Works

An evergreen hedge to about 7 ft 4 in

seasonal

The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.

January: No → No · April: No → Tight · July: No → Works · October: No → Works

A drawable outdoor curtain

seasonal

The status improves in 3 of 4 seasons and does not get worse in the rest. 1 stays No.

January: No → No · April: No → Tight · July: No → Works · October: No → Works

A second seat 19 ft 8 in south-east

weak

The status does not move in any sampled season.

January: No → No · April: No → No · July: No → No · October: No → No

Sit under Street tree

weak

The status does not move in any sampled season.

January: No → No · April: No → No · July: No → No · October: No → No