Review of literature

Urban Design Ecologies. Introduction Author: Brian McGrath Ecology of the City. A Perspective from Science Author: Steward TA Pickett

McGrath claims that there a misconception nowadays when the term urban as space is set apart from nature, as well as when the urban design is separated from design ecologies. Looking from Guattari’s Three Ecologies’ perspective, he argues that human society cannot respond to the current environmental degradation of the planet without addressing the loss of social relations that have been facing. Another interesting idea that he introduces is that urban designers should see the world in a more complex way that goes beyond patterns and forms in space but integrates organisms, energy flows and the environment. Pickett states that there is a fundamental difference between understanding ecology ‘of’ rather than ‘in’ the city. While the former has a metabolic focus and address the complexity of the current urban environments; the latter is only limited to urban green patches. His main point is the cities are equally biological, social, built and geophysical. Also, he points out that ecology is a commonly used term metaphorically in design, but it might be misleading sometimes, therefore there should be clarity about the core technical definition, values implied by the metaphor and concepts applied to the material world. Mixed-use Development: ambiguous concept, simplistic analysis and wishful thinking? Author: Alan Rowley

The author claims that mixed land use is essential for the creation of liveable and sustainable urban environments, but he also points out that the objectives should be set from the start since the concept might be a bit ambiguous and carry too many expectations. He breaks down the concept into some basic questions like what it is, how it does and why; and relates it with the main principles and visions that Kevin Lynch, Jane Jacobs and Jan Gehl had for the city decades ago. Another main idea is his criticism of the short-termism tendency that property developers have, which leads to the negative aspects of the city of today. Hybrid Buildings Author: Steven Holl

One of the main ideas that the author argues is that as a society, we are transiting the best possible time to give us some freedom to explore unprecedented architectural types - being that the main potential of hybrid buildings. He believes that urban porosity is a key element in these buildings, therefore they should aim to be pedestrian-focused. Another interesting idea he mentioned is that the vertical spatial experience is the new challenge that cities in the future will have to give a response. In that sense, the question that arises is how these building may go beyond the planimetric projection to have a real presence in the urbanscape.

The Dense and Green Paradigm. Author: Thomas Schröpfer

The author argues in this article that cities of tomorrow will have to face new challenges: reinterpreting human density separated from the concept of massiveness, and shifting of thinking our relationship with nature. He presents an overview of the evolution of the concept over history, and how it was manifested in concrete projects. In that sense, he claims that there is a need -spiritual and material- to be in contact with nature. Another main concept he discusses is the understanding of the city as a living organism, where green buildings will replace our dominion over nature and enable us to bring nature back to our world. Green Urbanism. Models of a Dense and Green Urban Context Author: Kees Christiaanse

The author introduces the concept of green urbanism and its change over history; how it evolved from the simple incorporation of green areas and corridors to a holistic integration in the cities through strategies that involve water management and climate and biodiversity impact on a micro-urban level. He questions where are we going as a society since the urbanised landscape and compact city models are not the ideals they used to be anymore, and do not respond to a sustainable future. He also argues that permeability is a key move for green urbanism and the creation of soft transitions between public and private spaces. This is Hybrid. An analysis of mixeduse buildings Author: Per A, Mozas J, Arpa J 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design Author: William Browning

After the analyses of 20 hybrid buildings, the authors argue that there are some common parameters between them in regards to the building programme and urban integration, which will be used in this thesis for the precedents analysis. They also mention the concept of topographic hybrid as the origin of the typology in the 60s when it was too radical and not well-received. Another main idea is the differentiation between hybrid buildings and social condensers. The authors also emphasise the importance of verticality in hybrid buildings and outline a guideline of paraments that should be applied to the design. This book looks at the relationship between nature, humans and the built environment, as well as the multiple benefits that biophilia has for health and well-being. The first two chapters introduce biophilic design in architecture and give some framework for design considerations. The chapter that I focused more on was ‘The Patterns’, where the author presents a kit of tools that can be used while designing, as well as some strategies and explanation of how to use them. Browning presents fourteen patterns divided into three groups (nature in space, analogues and of the space), that helped me to define my design principles.