sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Performance-Oriented Integrative Sustainability Approaches to Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023) | Viewed by 28962

Special Issue Editor

Institute of Architectural Sciences, Vienna University of Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria
Interests: performance-oriented architecture; architectural history from a performance perspective; alternative sustainability approaches: embedded architectures; non-anthropocentric architectures; experimental design and research-by-design in architecture – approaches and methods; integrative information-based design; novel platforms for practice-oriented and practice-based research collaborations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will comprise a selection of papers addressing integrative sustainability approaches to architecture, urban design and landscape architecture from a performance-oriented design perspective. This is an emerging field, which is often interdisciplinary in character and research-by-design focused.

Local geography, climatology, biology and ecology, as well as locally specific and newly projected hybrid patterns of land-use play an increasing role in these endeavors. However, the lack of correlation and integration of concepts and methods across disciplinary borders frequently poses considerable problems in deriving instrumental approaches across spatial, temporal and functional scales, domains, dynamics, and stakeholders. This Special Issue of Sustainability will include research that contributes to advancing this area of development.

Some key research questions are:

  • How can we approach SDGs from the perspective of higher education?
  • How can sustainability approaches benefit from a performance perspective?
  • How can sustainability approaches benefit from integrative approaches?
  • What are the shared existing and emerging questions and concerns in architecture, urban design and landscape architecture and how can these be addressed?
  • How are concepts and methods correlated and integrated?
  • Based on specific works, what characterizes the emerging integrative approach to sustainability from a performance perspective in general terms?

Prof. Dr. Michael U. Hensel
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • performance-oriented design
  • integrative sustainability approaches
  • architecture
  • urban design, landscape architecture

Published Papers (6 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 12031 KiB  
Article
Temporary Design on Public Open Space for Improving the Pedestrian’s Perception Using Social Media Images in Winter Cities
by Anastasiia A. Paukaeva, Tsuyoshi Setoguchi, Norihiro Watanabe and Vera I. Luchkova
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6062; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156062 - 28 Jul 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2689
Abstract
Due to the severe climate, residents of winter cities tend not to utilize public open spaces in
winter. Temporary design interventions such as emblematic events are always proposed in winter
cities to enhance pedestrian activity by celebrating the season and improving the perception [...] Read more.
Due to the severe climate, residents of winter cities tend not to utilize public open spaces in
winter. Temporary design interventions such as emblematic events are always proposed in winter
cities to enhance pedestrian activity by celebrating the season and improving the perception of
winter. In this study, we clarify the impact of the event on pedestrians’ perception to determine
the role of temporary design in improving the perception of public open spaces in winter cities.
Using the example of event known as “Ice Town” on the Lenin Square in Khabarovsk, the content
of the Instagram images was analyzed to determine their perception during and after the event.
The analysis includes classification of the images into clusters related to dierent urban elements
using transfer learning with CNN (convolutional neural network). A total of 10,200 generated images
on the Lenin Square were considered, with 1700 images which relate the event itself. This accounts
for approximately 20% of all data, while those which related to the during the permanent use of Lenin
Square accounted for just 6%. Temporary design of public open spaces has great potential to involve
pedestrians in interacting with urban and natural environments in winter cities, even in severe cold
climate, by improving an impression of a place. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 14397 KiB  
Article
Urban Microclimate Canopy: Design, Manufacture, Installation, and Growth Simulation of a Living Architecture Prototype
by Qiguan Shu, Wilfrid Middleton, Moritz Dörstelmann, Daniele Santucci and Ferdinand Ludwig
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6004; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156004 - 26 Jul 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4349
Abstract
Urban Microclimate Canopy is a digitally fabricated fiber glass structure supporting climbing plants in order to explore new ways of integrating vegetation in densely built urban environments. A prototype was designed and manufactured in the context of an interdisciplinary studio with master’s students [...] Read more.
Urban Microclimate Canopy is a digitally fabricated fiber glass structure supporting climbing plants in order to explore new ways of integrating vegetation in densely built urban environments. A prototype was designed and manufactured in the context of an interdisciplinary studio with master’s students following an approach of research by design. Varying the assembly of winding frames and fiber weaving syntax generates diverse geometric shape and structural performance. For two short-term exhibitions, ivy plants were temporarily installed in the structure. This first step was followed with a reflection of systematic integration of the growth processes of climbing plants and parametric design. An iterative solution is given, consisting of a feedback loop linking the design of the technical structure, the simulation of plant growth, and the simulation of the environmental effects of the hybrid structure. To achieve this a novel framework for simulating twining plant’s growth on network-like structures is presented: external stimuli define a cone-shaped circumnutation space (searching space model) which results in a climbing path (climbing steps model). The framework is constructed to integrate improved individual functions (such as stimuli of circumnutation) for better simulation results. To acquire more knowledge about interactions between the plants and the fiber structure, the prototype was installed permanently and planted with three different climbing plants, representing different climbing mechanisms. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 12807 KiB  
Article
Ecological Prototypes: Initiating Design Innovation in Green Construction
by Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel
Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5865; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145865 - 21 Jul 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4007
Abstract
This article identifies a gap in the approaches to Green Construction (GC), and initiates a line of research in the area of the so-called “ecological prototypes”. Ecological prototypes, stands for a new type of GC, which are integrated and adaptive systems of design, [...] Read more.
This article identifies a gap in the approaches to Green Construction (GC), and initiates a line of research in the area of the so-called “ecological prototypes”. Ecological prototypes, stands for a new type of GC, which are integrated and adaptive systems of design, construction and practices that link architecture, horticulture and agriculture, landscape and ecology. This type of system greatly expands the existing GC design space with the aim to tackle environmental challenges in the context of rapid urbanization. This new type of GC seeks to reconcile the different environmental needs and goals, and balance intensification and restoration trade-offs. They are considered as a key strategy for supporting ecosystems and the delivery of ecosystem services, especially in degraded peri-urban and urban contexts. This effort commences with a review of selected historical cases that have evolved over time as vital part of horticultural and agricultural systems. These historical studies can both inform future research on the development of ecological prototypes and aid their design. Following the examination of selected cases and a field survey, the role of information modelling and data-driven computational methods in designing ecological prototypes is discussed. The decision support system for this new type of GC based on information and knowledge modelling (computational ontologies) is given a particular attention. Finally, further research questions and steps are outlined. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 285 KiB  
Article
Emerging Biophilic Urbanism: The Value of the Human–Nature Relationship in the Urban Space
by Simona Totaforti
Sustainability 2020, 12(13), 5487; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135487 - 07 Jul 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 6971
Abstract
The research presented in this article adopts an urban sociology perspective to explore the relationship between spaces designed with biophilic principles and people’s pro-environmental values and behaviors. The research hypothesized that biophilic design and planning promote connectedness with nature and are positively related [...] Read more.
The research presented in this article adopts an urban sociology perspective to explore the relationship between spaces designed with biophilic principles and people’s pro-environmental values and behaviors. The research hypothesized that biophilic design and planning promote connectedness with nature and are positively related to pro-environmental and more sustainable values and behaviors. The contemporary city asserts the need for new paradigms and conceptual frameworks for reconfiguring the relationship between the urban environment and the natural environment. In order to understand whether biophilic design, planning, and policies can meet the global challenges regarding the future existence on earth of humans, focus groups were conducted to investigate how people’s relationship with the built-up space and the natural landscape is perceived, and to what extent the inclusion of nature and its patterns at various levels of urban planning meets people’s expectations. The results suggest that biophilic design and planning can be considered a useful paradigm to deal with the challenges that are posed by the city of the future, also in terms of sustainability, by reinterpreting and enhancing the human–nature relation in the urban context. Full article
16 pages, 5246 KiB  
Article
The Lampedusa Studio: A Multimethod Pedagogy for Tackling Compound Sustainability Problems in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design
by Michael Hensel, Daniele Santucci, Defne Sunguroğlu Hensel and Thomas Auer
Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4369; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114369 - 26 May 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6320
Abstract
In architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, entangled multiscale and multidomain, or compound, sustainability problems and associated design requirements are becoming rapidly more demanding, complex, and interdisciplinary due to demographic, social, economic, environmental, and technological changes. This places considerable pressure on developing adequate [...] Read more.
In architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design, entangled multiscale and multidomain, or compound, sustainability problems and associated design requirements are becoming rapidly more demanding, complex, and interdisciplinary due to demographic, social, economic, environmental, and technological changes. This places considerable pressure on developing adequate pedagogical approaches to provide the next generation of architects, landscape architects, and urban designers with the knowledge, approaches, and skills to meet these challenges. This article discusses an attempt to develop an adequate pedagogy for a research-integrated master-level design studio along a multimethod approach. Key concepts, approaches, and methods are discussed, along with selected studio projects and a follow-up master thesis project. The projects are examined in terms of their responses to the themes, concepts, approaches, and methods of the pedagogical approach. Finally, further questions concerning the development of the portrayed pedagogical approach are discussed. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 1130 KiB  
Article
Collaborating with Local Communities to Identify Improvement Priorities for Historic Urban Landscape Based on Residents’ Satisfaction: An Application of Asymmetric Impact-Performance Analysis in Dandong, China
by Xian Ji, Long Shao and Yu Du
Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1463; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041463 - 16 Feb 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3058
Abstract
In the process of urbanization and globalization, urban conservation reinforces the links among past, present, and future, which enhances local identity and is indispensable for urban sustainability. The concept of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), as both a notion and an approach, has been [...] Read more.
In the process of urbanization and globalization, urban conservation reinforces the links among past, present, and future, which enhances local identity and is indispensable for urban sustainability. The concept of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), as both a notion and an approach, has been playing an increasingly important role in urban conservation discourse. Prioritizing actions is one of the pivotal procedures to perform the HUL approach. Instead of simply focusing on values selected and graded by experts, more attention should be paid to local residents’ satisfaction. A collaborative approach involving communities to prioritize actions in urban conservation and regeneration is proposed. Using the data from residents in the old town of Dandong, China, this study pioneers the application of the Asymmetric Impact-Performance Analysis (AIPA) technique in the urban conservation field. HUL attributes are categorized into basic factors, excitement factors, and performance factors based on their potential asymmetric impact on residents’ satisfaction. By taking performance levels of the attributes into consideration, this study further identifies improvement priorities for HUL, which helps planners and city managers to make rational choices in managing historic cities. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop