Room for Drama
Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

Chicago (demonstration)

The north-facing city garden

DemonstrationEdit the plan

When the bed by the back door is open for growing things

Each month read on its 30th, or the last day of a shorter month · 2026
Something growing here, through the year. The bed by the back door cannot be read for growing things in any month yet. 0 months open, 0 shut, 12 unanswered.JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec0months open
  • Works
  • Tight
  • No
  • Unanswered

Rings run from 6 am at the centre to 8 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 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, not a promise about the other days.

The bed by the back door cannot be read for growing things in any month yet.

  • All year: cannot be answered, because usable light has not been recorded here.
The same year as a table
MonthOpenUsable hoursWhat decides it
January 30——Usable light closes it
February 28——Usable light closes it
March 30——Usable light closes it
April 30——Usable light closes it
May 30——Usable light closes it
June 30——Usable light closes it
July 30——Usable light closes it
August 30——Usable light closes it
September 30——Usable light closes it
October 30——Usable light closes it
November 30——Usable light closes it
December 30——Usable light closes it

The bed by the back door for Something growing here. October 30, 2026 at 3:01 AM, America/Chicago. Now on this date. Confidence medium. Cause: How long it stays wet is what stops it.

Not full sun or shade. How much usable light actually arrives across a day, and whether the spot ever dries.

Something growing here

The bed by the back door does not work for growing things on a day like this, and how long it stays wet is why.

“No” means the model does not support this use under the conditions being read. The controlling limits are listed below.

  • Past the limit How long it stays wet is about 24h — 14h over (at most 10h)Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.

    An outdoor cushion soaked here in Oct would not dry before nightfall.

    Roots and foliage sitting wet kill more plants than the wrong hardiness zone does.

  • Past the limit Hours of direct sun is 0h — 1.5h under (at least 1.5h)Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it.

    Effectively no direct sun reaches this spot on this date.

    Some direct sun, even briefly, changes what is possible here.

  • Close to the limit Usable light is 4.4 mol/m2/day — 1.6 mol/m2/day under (at least 6 mol/m2/day)Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it.

    About 4.4 moles a day and 0 hours of direct sun. That is shade: foliage rather than fruit.

    Plants respond to the light that actually arrives over a day, not to the label on the tag. Below about six moles a day, very little thrives rather than merely surviving.

What would change this. This would change if how long it stays wet were measured and came out differently. The figure is an estimate, not a tape.

Confidence medium (60%). Enough to point in a direction, not enough to buy against.

What this answer was built from
Use
Something growing here
Place
The bed by the back door
Weather
Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape) (from a published source)
Method
A whole day in October, traced against the scene rather than read at one hour
Try a changeMake a document

What next here

Testing a change

3 of 8 milestones. One thing is still in the way of privacy, sightlines and screening advice.

  1. Getting an honest answer3 of 4 done
    • Placed on the earth — done. The sun is in the right part of the sky for this address.
    • A spot to read — done. 3 spots are being read.
    • What stands in the way — done. 4 things are drawn, so the shade is worked out rather than assumed.
    • Who can see in — not done. Privacy is the most common reason a terrace goes unused, and it cannot be answered without knowing which windows look at it.
  2. Testing a changeyou are here0 of 2 done
    • A change tested — not done. Testing a change before buying it is the cheapest part of the whole exercise.
    • A forecast checked — not done. A forecast nobody goes back and checks is a guess with a date on it.
  3. Proving it well enough to spend money0 of 2 done
    • Corrected against reality — not done. After a couple of rechecks the model can be corrected against this specific garden.
    • Photographed — not done. A photograph is what turns a drawing somebody sketched into a drawing somebody can check.
  1. Mark the windows that look at this spot

    Being overlooked is one of the most common reasons a good terrace goes unused, and it is the one reading here that cannot be inferred from anything else.

    a tap per windowneeded for privacy, sightlines and screening advice
  2. Read all 3 spots at the same hour

    Moving where you sit is free, immediate and reversible, and it beats most of what you could build. Read side by side it is usually obvious which corner was always going to work.

    a read, nothing to enter
  3. Get this place to Annotated

    A photographic check on the mapped sightlines and geometry. That makes privacy estimates more credible, but does not replace measured dimensions. Right now: Sightlines drawn from mapped observers remain provisional until their positions and heights are checked. The drawn heights have not been verified against the actual place. What is missing: 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. Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.

    3 things left
3 more things worth doing here
  1. Test a change before you buy anything

    The plan is good enough to ask what a screen, a tree or a canopy would actually do here — including the ones that turn out to be a waste of money.

    a few minutes, nothing bought
  2. See how this spot changes through the year

    A terrace that works in July can be unusable in September for reasons that have nothing to do with temperature. The same geometry read in four seasons is the cheapest insight here.

    a read, nothing to enter
  3. Photograph the spot and mark what is in shot

    A photograph is what separates a drawing you sketched from a drawing somebody else can check. It is also how heights get corrected without a ladder.

    one photograph

How well this place is described

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

Shade, sky view and daily light are computed from the geometry on this plan. Unmeasured dimensions remain estimates, not verified measurements.

Sightlines drawn from mapped observers remain provisional until their positions and heights are checked. The drawn heights have not been verified against the actual place.

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.
  • Who can see in: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.

What that buys: A photographic check on the mapped sightlines and geometry. That makes privacy estimates more credible, but does not replace measured dimensions.

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: 3 spots marked. A reading is a height at a place, and moving it moves the answer.
  • Mapped The things in the way: 4 objects drawn. The house counts, and so does the neighbour's.
  • Mapped What is underfoot: 3 of 3 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: Nobody marked. Privacy is a question about who sees in from where, and the product will not invent one.
  • Measured Heights off a tape: 0 of 4 objects are measured. The remaining 4 are this product's own inference, so no figure here is a survey figure yet.
  • 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. 1Who can actually see inSit in the chair

    Sit where you actually sit and look around. Mark the one window or path you can see a person from. Until one exists, privacy is a question we are not answering rather than one that is fine.

    This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

    Mark it on the plan

    Currently assuming: nobody is overlooking this. Tested across one confirmed observer changes the whole privacy answer.

  2. 2What you are looking atSit in the chair

    Mark the direction of the view worth keeping. No view has been marked yet, so nothing weighs what the view is worth, and a screen that blocks it looks free.

    This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it.

    Mark it on the plan

    Currently assuming: no view is being protected. Tested across one corridor changes what screening is worth doing.

Drawn
Worked out
Planting bedThe house36 ftEast party wall14 ft 9 inWest party wall14 ft 9 inThe block behind39 ftThe bed bythe back doorThe far endof the gardenThe bench91215N33 ft
BuildingNot yours (dashed edge)CanopySun’s path today (schematic)Can see inProposed

To scale · to the measurements given: Drawn to scale from the measurements given. Not a survey. It is not a survey.

Reading at

3:01 AM·October

The sun is down.

October 30 · The bed by the back door Schematic: A shape of the facts, not a picture of a particular date or a measured outline.
The same day as a table
The same day hour by hour, in text.
HourSunVerdictConfidenceSun position
12:00 AMdark——
3:00 AMdark——
6:00 AMdark——
8:00 AMshaded by East party wall——6° up, bearing 115°
9:00 AMshaded by East party wall——16° up, bearing 126°
10:00 AMshaded by The house——24° up, bearing 139°
11:00 AMshaded by The house——30° up, bearing 153°
12:00 PMshaded by The house——34° up, bearing 170°
1:00 PMshaded by The house——34° up, bearing 188°
2:00 PMshaded by The house——31° up, bearing 204°
3:00 PMshaded by The house——25° up, bearing 219°
4:00 PMshaded by West party wall——17° up, bearing 232°
5:00 PMshaded by West party wall——7° up, bearing 244°
6:00 PMdark——
9:00 PMdark——

Direct sun at the bed by the back door, month by month

Schematic · computed: Computed from this place's own plan and climate, then drawn as a shape rather than to scale.

The bed by the back door gets the most direct sun in May, about 2 hours on the 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, and the least in January, about 0 hours.

  • Sun reaches the spot (solid)
  • Sun up, something in the way (lined)
  • Sun down (empty)
The grid, in a table
Hours of direct sun at The bed by the back door on the 30th, or the last day of a shorter month, and when.
MonthDirect sunWhen
January0 hNone
February0 hNone
March0 hNone
April1 h11:00 AM–12:00 PM
May2 h11:00 AM–12:00 PM, 3:00 PM–4:00 PM
June2 h11:00 AM–12:00 PM, 3:00 PM–4:00 PM
July2 h11:00 AM–12:00 PM, 3:00 PM–4:00 PM
August0 hNone
September0 hNone
October0 hNone
November0 hNone
December0 hNone
The sun’s path on the plan, October 30, in a table
Where the sun is at each hour it is up.
HourComes fromHeight
8:00 AMSE (115°)6° up
9:00 AMSE (126°)16° up
10:00 AMSE (139°)24° up
11:00 AMSE (153°)30° up
12:00 PMS (170°)34° up
1:00 PMS (188°)34° up
2:00 PMSW (204°)31° up
3:00 PMSW (219°)25° up
4:00 PMSW (232°)17° up
5:00 PMSW (244°)7° up

What the place is doing at 3:01am in October

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

What it feels like

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.cold

32°F

Felt temperature

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The air is 45.1°F. It feels about 13.1 degrees cooler than the air, near 32°F.

What is doing it

What makes this reading 32°FA running total. It starts at 41°F with every named influence removed, then each influence is added in turn.41°Fshaded air−8°FHow much s…−1°FAir moveme…32°Fwhat it is

Take every named influence away and this reads 41°F. How much sky is overhead takes off 8°F, Air movement takes off 1°F. That lands at 32°F.

How this was worked out
Air
45.1°F from Humid continental, hot summers, real winters (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
Radiant
16.1°F mean radiant temperature
Method
Six-directional radiation integration, then ASHRAE operative temperature (from a published source)

Direct sun

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it.after dark

0 W/m²

Beam reaching this point

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The sun is down.

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

Glare

Worked out: Computed from the geometry, the sun and the weather you gave it.none

0

On the 0–100 reporting scale: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale. Not a measurement.

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

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

How this was worked out
Facing
11deg (assumed, not measured)
Assumed
Which way the seat faces has not been set, so glare is estimated from the open direction. (assumed, not measured)

Privacy exposure

Unanswered: Something this depends on has not been given, so nothing is being guessed.

No observer has been placed yet. Privacy is a question about who can see in from where, and until one is marked there is nothing to answer.

Wind

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.still

0 mph

Wind at the seat

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

West party wall is taking about 37% of the wind off this spot.

What is doing it

  • West party wall

    −0.3 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
0.8 mph before shelter
Shelter
37% removed by what stands upwind

View

Unanswered: Something this depends on has not been given, so nothing is being guessed.

No view worth keeping has been marked, so there is nothing to weigh a screen against yet.

Surface heat

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.comfortable

45°F

Surface temperature

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the scale.

The surface is running about 45°F.

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

Wetness

Estimate: Worked out, but at least one input was assumed rather than measured.dries-fast

1 × the open

Drying time against the open

The bar is the 0–100 reporting scale, mapped from the reading above: 0 is none of it, 100 the top of the 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: Something this depends on has not been given, so nothing is being guessed.

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

Ask something else about this place

Everything on the plan, in text
ThingReadingStandingNote
The house36 ftYou said so: You told us this, and it beats what the model worked out.100 per cent solid.
East party wall14 ft 9 inYou said so: You told us this, and it beats what the model worked out.100 per cent solid.
West party wall14 ft 9 inYou said so: You told us this, and it beats what the model worked out.100 per cent solid.
The block behind39 ftYou said so: You told us this, and it beats what the model worked out.100 per cent solid.