PORTFOLIO_KOUSHA AFARIN

KOUSHA AFARIN urban planner

Education

Master 2019 /09 -2022 /04

About Me

Master 2012 /09 -2014 /09

Milan, Italy

+393494658614

Urban planning and policy design Plotecnico di Milano Milan,Italy grade:100/110

Structural engineering Shomal University

Amol,Iran grade:3.5/4

Bachelor 2007 /09 -2011 /09

Work experience

Site manager & Structural designer

Civil engineering Shomal University

Amol,Iran grade:3.5/4

Behpayeh shomal construction Co

Babolsar,Iran 2018 -2019

Certification & workshop

Fundamentals of GIS course

University of Californi, Davis, August 2022

Project Management

IPMA, 2021/06/13-2021/07/13

Wellbeing and city perception workshop

Polimi, June 2021

Structural damage detection using FRF and DE optimization based method

Tabriz, 2015

Skills

• Teamwork

• Creative

• Ability to handle conflict

• Positive attitude

• Patience

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kousha-afarin/ ofile kousha.afarin@mail.polimi.it

Software

Languages

Persian Native English

Fluent

Italian Intermediate

• Active listening

• Flexibility

• Exellent attention to detail

• Strong leadership skills and ability to work effectively

Master plan studio

School of Architecture Urban Planning and construction Engineering

MSC in Urban Planning and Policy Design

Professor:

Patrizia Gabellini and Giulia Fini

Teaching Assistants:

Anna Proskuriakova, Antonela Sborlini, Virginia Vecchi

Team members:

Kousha Afarin, Martina Antonietti, Elisa Esposito, Riyanka George

Pilastro-Bologna

Pilastro for People is a socialoriented approach, focused toinduce and improve liveability and sustainability in the area.

It takes into consideration the different socioeconomic groups right from students, workers to the inhabitants which reside in the area. It follows a comprehensive approach to create space, to accommodate the different activities during different seasons, which would make these places liveable round the year.

From the genesis of urban planning, the settlement has been seen as a place with physical problems, but not as the spaces where social problems manifest themselves. As the problem in the area is not a physical one, but related to social alignments in the area, the theory of change of these would have a longer time span, as changing the perception is manifested at theindividualistic psychology, which is in the perceived space of the society.

The projects and the processes are chosen, are based on the idea to trigger this action of changing, which would have a higher impact in the immediate time period.

To achieve the entirety of the strategies, the series of actions mentioned have to follow to get the desired outcome of the future. But it is often seen that, when undertaking the actions of change, there are institutional hurdles, process complications, and financial difficulties.

Understanding this, we propose a set of actors that would be responsible for different actions in different phases of the project.

Also as the area is retrofitted with activities that would produce the economic outcome to the area, it is at the community level ( as Pilastro has a very strong sense of community) we can see this change.

Often it is seen that migrants are the problem. But they are the problem because they lack societal knowledge, due to their exclusion from society, which would reduce their already scarce employment opportunities.

Working on the society, this project will be able to include all of the potential users of the area, allowing them a feeling to be part of the community.

Pilastro Residents’ current flow

Workers’ current flow

Students’ current flow

Bologna Residents’ current flow

Imact of strategies on future practices of use:

Final Outcome and Pilot Projects

Piazza Lipparini and Central Park

This square, followed by the Central Park forms central part of the district, which has high potential to become a liveable square. From the existing flows,it is quite clear that only few stratas of demographics used the space. In order to make it vibrant, we introduce new commercial activities, leisure activities etc. The area around the Piazza Lipparini is pedestrianized totally, so it gives higher sense of freedom for the users to enjoy the space round the year. We improve the existing library to extend it to create outdoor sitting spaces and create pedestrian paths between these spaces. This is followed by creating a new pole of centrality for several recreational activities where the walkway of the Portico starts and moves till the end of the park in the west.

New structure in front of the University

In order to improve the relations and to emphasise the interactions between different users like students, inside and outside residents and workers with the area near University, Meraville Centre and Business Centre, we have proposed a common space for the people to interact. This area would cater an open structure and student residences, which adjoins the new tram way. The market area is of multi-use - as an local market during certain time of the week, as open meeting point during the lunch with few cafeterias, as an event space for the students or workers of the area, or as an cultural space for the different associations in the area to host their events.

Pilastro during the night

Life after sunset

Gratosoglio-Milan

Housing and Neighborhood studio

School of Architecture Urban Planning and construction Engineering

MSC in Urban Planning and Policy Design

Professor:

Bricocoli Massimo and Sabatinelli Stefania

Teaching Assistants:

Tutors Matteo Fischi, Antonio Salvador, Anna Tagliaferri

Team members:

Kousha Afarin, Siavash Memar, Weronika Jonna Wehr, Edoardo Rivolta

Gratosoglio current nightlife

•Picchio cafè until20:00

•Pizzeria Tramonti 19:00-23:30

•Time break cafè until 20.00

•Family cafè until 20.00

•Marrakech restaurant until 22.00

•Lounge saponaro XXXVI cafè until 20.00

•Ronchettino restaurant 20.00 22.00

•Pizzeria da Kimo until 00.00

•Capo Verde cafè until 20.00

•Amaranta Club (dance club)06.00- 23.00

•La capannina cafè until 23.00

•Lucky cafè until 01.00

•Colibrì cafè until 00.00

Proposal for the outside

Eyes on street

• New home for Artists

• Art on facades

• light art exhibitions

• Involving young people to join art community

• Integration with school

• Use Art Light to share culture

• Increase sense of safety with lights

• Increase more attention to spaces

Light lane

• Smart Lighting solutions aim to make cities feel safer, make lights more efficient, poles multi-functional and push costs of maintenance and energy down among others in various ways.

These lamp posts enable the ability for added security with CCTV cameras, and SOS emergency button, Public Wi Fi and occupancy sensor integrated in the pole itself.

integrated solar panels having an energy storage, making it possible to have lights in a more environmentally friendly way.

Today, the bus stops are not adequate and not lit as they should be. As a consequence of this, catching the bus, in particular during night hours, is not very enjoyable, in a dark neighbourhood like Gratosoglio.

This is why with this project, we want people of all ages to be able to catch the bus in a safe way, during all the hours of the day and without any problem. To do this, our idea is to provide a new sustainable system of lighting for all the bus stops, combined with efficient solar panels located on the top of the roof, and also to provide an SOS emergency button to be used in case of need.

Except on the major streets, such as Via Baroni or Via dei Missaglia, the secondary roads connected with the residential building are or not well illuminated and are totally dark. The idea of a capillarity of light is related to the fact that from the principal street there are a lot of branches of secondary streets to reach the different buildings. The idea is to create a new sustainable path, creating light without street lamps, but with an asphalt coat that during the day absorbs the solar energy and releases light in the dark hours.

Events

Creating new space for meeting in the neighbourhood through new events, that aim to involve the entire population of the Gratosoglio, is another strong point of our strategy. We have seen that in the area there are lots of outdoor spaces that are not well used today, such as the space between the tower or the various green areas in more affluent spaces of the neighbourhood. The fundamental role played by these events will not only give more attractiveness and make the Gratosoglio much more -“dynamic and vibrant”-, but also attract people of all ages, such as children, elders, and anyone who wants to join. It could be interesting, for example, to organize events according to the different cultures and lifestyles of the world. Another important aspect of this strategy is the economic one, in fact through these events our idea is to involve the local activities present, such as cafes, shops, and others in order to give them the possibility to sell their products and to increase their earnings and advertise their local activities.

Philipine and Eygept have the most number of imigrants in Gratosoglio and here we lists the number of availabe events which have the potentional ofour goals.

• Ati-Atihan – Kalibo (3rd Sunday of January)

• Panagbenga, Baguio Flower Festival(February)

• Obando Fertility Rites(May 17 to 19)

• Pintados Festival( June 29th)

• Kadayawan Festival(3rd week of August)

• Masskara –Bacolod(the weekend closest to October 19)

• Higantes Festival(23rd of November)

Philippine Eygept

• Abu Simbel Sun Festival (22 February and 22 October)

• Egyptian folk dance

• Sham Ennessim

• Ramadan

The square

To look at the other side of the neighbourhood, north Gratosoglio, in which we have an unnamed square without a clear design. This square is not pedestrian-friendly and it is now oriented to cars moreover. It is not even enough for cars due to lack of respect to traffic direction during some hours of the day.

The idea is to create a pedestrian-friendly square and an urban space to bring communication to it. Inspired by some good references and examples around the world we designed the square and kept the current circulation traffic. The middle space with stairs is a part of an urban space that can introduce space for people to sit down and enjoy their free time. The design is inspired by the “buildings directions” around the square to create a familiar shape.

The area of around 1500 sq2 meter seems enough for the neighbourhood public and open space. It is not only an idea for after sunset and keeping awake the neighbourhood at night, but it is also the ideal space to be used during the day time.

Proposal for inside

The ground floor

The roof space

To increase the sense of security and liveability not only outside of the buildings but also inside, we decided to redesign the rooftop of the towers and use them as common spaces. Through physical improvement of spaces like glass railing, LED lights, furniture and so on, we want to use the potential of these roof spaces and encourage people to spend their free time there.

Because of the excellent view of the city at night, these spaces can attract people not only from the neighbourhood but also from other parts of Milan.

We propose that the inhabitants of the towers act as ma agers and workers in the bar and cinema, so this intervention would create job opportunities for them, and also increase a sense of collaboration between them. In this way, the sense of security inside the building will also increase because of the increase of communication among inhabitants inside the buildings.

Evening workshops

By restoring the spaces with new LED light and new and adequate furniture, we would like to create a space for evening workshops like the graphic and light art design, or language courses. Just as in the previous case, we would like to implement our idea and use the vacant spaces on the ground floor where inhabitants could spend their free time, for example after work or dinner, instead of staying at home. They would have the possibility of spending time with others, learn new skills and gain new knowledge. For instance, we propose language courses for people from the neighbourhood, each willing to teach their mother tongue to others. This is just a small example of how these spaces can be used, but the main idea is to have common spaces inside the buildings where people can spend time together, and not remain alone and isolated in their flats.

Necklace for the South

Cascina Cascinetta-Ronchetto delle Rane-Gratosoglio- Milan

Landscape and public spaces design

School of Architecture Urban Planning and construction Engineering

MSC in Urban Planning and Policy Design

Professor: Andreas Kipar

Teaching Assistants: Federico Lia

Team members:

Kousha Afarin, Martina Antonietti

Lorenzo Caresana, Luca Fantini, Inessa Mnatsakanyan, Asrin Sanguanwongwan, Juliette Sainlez

current situation of the area

Gratosoglio

It is a very complex neighborhood. The different areas into which it is divided present different characteristics of ‹attraction› and functional mix. Public spaces are not well defined, giving to the whole complex an indefinite identity.

Ronchetto delle Rane

Small village located to the side with respect to the main axes of mobility. It hasn’t ‹strong› attractors even though it still has evidence of the typical rural Milanese village which gives it a great cultural identity. It has small and varied activities and has several public spaces such as the park, the churchyard and the huge kitchen gardens.

Macconago

Is a ducal village, one of the most significant architectural presences in the South Park. Many of the ancient buildings that compose it are in a state of decay. The addition of important metropolitan functions have cracked the identity of the village. There is no type of specific public space.

Quintosole

It is a small village made up of a few buildings including important historical testimonies that enhance its identity. However, all this is is disturbed by a messy area made up of companies and laboratories. Quintosole, far from the main axis of mobility, has some public spaces such as a park, some sports fields and the churchyard.

Chiaravalle

It is a village full of potential: the dissmission of the railway restores the relationship between the village and the prestigious abbey, the redevelopment of the Vettabbia canal, consolidates the cultural identity of Chiaravalle. Despite its small size and the poor accessibility, Chiaravalle has several activities and some spaces for the community such as the ARCI club and the shared garden.

Population data

Chiaravalle

Quintosole

Macconago

Ronchetto delle Rane

Gratosoglio

Students and workers flows analysis

Student flows(out-in)

Gensus Data -2011 ISTAT

Workers flows(out-in)

Gensus Data -2011 ISTAT

Number of school-aged people (0-18) years old

NIL 2030

Workers Gensus Data -2011 ISTAT

Open Spaces

Function map

Conecept and strategies

CREAT OR IMPROVE PUBLIC SPACES

(Squares, ‘Piazze Aperte’, playground, urban parks, pocket gardens, urban kitchen gardens,...)

DESIGN A COHERENT SLOW MOBILITY NETWORK

(Boulevard, pedestrian street, cycle path, 30 zone, modal street, shared street,...)

ENHANCE BLUE-GREEN LANDSCAPE

(Renaturalizations, landscape diversity, new plantings, agricultural historical heritage,...)

CREAT A NEW SYSTEM OF ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC SPACES

Intervention areas

Tree Types

Boulevard Missaglia

04 . Master thesis

Milan

Master thesis

School of Architecture Urban Planning and construction Engineering

MSC in Urban Planning and Policy Design

Professor:

Pablo Javier Navarrete Hernandez

Alessandro Balducci

Teaching Assistants:

Team members:

Kousha Afarin

The impact of nature-based solutions on perceptions of safety in public space

The transformation of the built environment has been one of the most widely used and advocated public policy strategies to prevent crime and reduce fear of crime in public spaces. This approach is grounded in environmental criminology theory (ECT) which, by modifying the configuration of built environments, aims to reduce an offender›s advantage of environmenta awareness of criminogenic urban locations (i.e., those

Descriptive statistics for the data set

that l produce or lead to crime), and increase their perceived risk of identification and apprehension (Brantingham & Brantingham, 1981; Cohen & Felson, 1979). Although a large number of ECT strategies have been implemented, there is still little causal evidence demonstrating that this type of strategy is also effective for reducing fear of crime – even for widely used strategies such as street lighting or CCTV installation (Lorenc et al., 2013).

Although a large number of ECT strategies have been implemented, there is still little causal evidence demonstrating that this type of strategy is also effective for reducing fear of crime – even for widely used strategies such as street lighting or CCTV installation (Lorenc et al., 2013). While most environmental crime prevention strategies focus on tackling the conscious experience of fear of crime either indirectly (by reducing crime) or directly (by eliminating criminogenic environmental clues), studies in psychology suggest that focusing on emotional [physiological] expression may also provide an effective strategy for increasing perceived safety in public spaces. The relationship between emotional expression – the sympathetic, motor, and sensory responses – and emotional experiences – the conscious emotional «awareness» in cortical areas – has been posited through several psychological theories. The ‘Two-Factor Theory’ suggests that emotional experience and expression are interrelated and affect one another (Bear et al., 2006). Further empirical studies suggest that the activation and inhibition of emotional expression can feed back to regulate emotional experiences (Carney et al., 2010; Strack et al., 1988). This research aims to evaluate whether NBSs – a builtenvironment strategy based around emotional

expression – are able to enhance the perceived safety of public spaces, and furthermore, to see how this compares with traditional ECT (Broken Window, Eyes On Street) interventions that tackle the emotional experience of fear. There is well-established evidence that the incorporation of nature into public space reduces the physiological expression of stress, i.e., the emotional expression of fear (Bratman et al., 2012; Ulrich et al., 1991; Hartig et al. 2008). By drawing on this, we provide evidence of the causal impact of NBSs, EOS and BWT approaches on perceived safety, and understand how approaches based around both experience and expression could complement one another when addressing different urban spaces and across socioeconomic diversity, while also accounting for confounding factors. To this end, we run an image-based randomized controlled trial, collecting perceptions of safety in degraded public spaces in Milan. In total, 500 participants rated their perceived safety when viewing control images (without interventions) and treatment images, with photo simulations of interventions drawing from each of the three approaches (BWT, EOS and NBSs). Ultimately, we are able to produce reliable estimates of the impact of NBSs in increasing perceived safety, and provide a comparison with two of the most widely used crime-prevention strategies.

The impact of different interventions on perceptions of safety for each type of urban spaces

The impact of nature-based solutions on perceptions of safety for different sociodemographic characteristics

The impact of percentage of greenery on perceptions of safety

KOUSHA AFARIN

urban planner