3d neighbourhood configurator

“Urban Climate Resilience: Interactive 3D Modelling for Early-Stage Design”

The tool aims to create a simple and intuitive modelling environment that allows, through the management of simple 3D objects and a few parameters, to generate urban scenarios and verify their behaviour in relation to various indicators, both qualitative and quantitative.

This tool is intended to simplify the processes of comprehension of climate modelling and consequently climate resilient planning and design, enabling the assessment of key performance indicators for climate-resilience already at the conceptual stage of design (e.g. massing)

Training Format: 4 hours
Focus Group Format: 2 hours

OUTCOMES

3D visualisation of current city conditions and proposed design concepts, with assessment of key indicators related to climate-benefits (mitigation and adaptation) and co-benefits (social, economic and environmental)

OBJECTIVES

Optimise and simplify the district-scale modelling phase integrating key performance indicators related to climate benefits (mitigation, adaptation) and co-benefits (social, economic, environmental) of different design solutions at the earliest design stages (e.g. concept phase, massing)

FACILITATORS

Experts trained in IT and urban climate and basic Rhino user. Focus Group Format: one expert capable to facilitate the focus groups and one expert to run the configurator

TARGET GROUP

• Technical training format: experts/practitioners in architecture, planning and engineering with basic knowledge of the Rhinoceros software
• Focus groups co-design format: Communities, decision makers, policy-makers, city officials, local experts, practitioners, students, community leaders, NGOs, Third Sector, private stakeholder

BASELINE MATERIAL
PREPARATION

The tool consists of five components programmed in Grasshopper, which enables the users to generate simplified and blocky 3D objects representing some of the typical elements that characterise the urban environment and influence its microclimate (e.g.) grounds, roads, buildings, trees and canopies.
Once generated, the user can assembly those elements to make a conceptual mass model of a urban space

TRAINING
SESSION

Training/educational format addressed to practitioners or architectural/planning students (one day workshop). The expert manages a training of 6 hours in which the functioning of the tool is explained to allow the participants to generate potential design solutions verifying different configurations and simulating their effects on urban micro-climate

FOCUS
GROUP

Focus groups/co-design with non experts (city officials, decision makers, community): An expert gives a PPT/PDF presentation to introduce the focus-group. The focus is to deliver to participants basic knowledge on urban micro-climate and potential design solutions that can be configured through the tool

RUNNING THE
CONFIGURATOR

In the second phase while one expert guides the focus group for a co-design exercise the second expert simultaneously runs the configurator to generate and simulate the co-designed solutions

USING THE
3D MODEL

The generated 3D model automatically provides all the input data useful for running energy consumption and outdoor comfort simulations with AAD tools and thus can be directly embedded in the simulation models without additional post-processing steps. It also provides other useful information for further assessment, such as social, economic and environmental co-benefits of the modeled solutions

Ground Generator
It generates a rectangular geometry representing the terrain shape. For each geometry the tool provides quantitative and qualitative informations (e.g. albedo, emissivity, co-benefits)

Road Generator
It generates a solid representing the shape of the road according to the given polyline and width. The tool provides quantitative and qualitative informations (e.g. albedo, emissivity, co-benefits)

Building Generator
It generates a box geometry of the specified dimensions, which represents the building shape. According to the parameters the tool proves with information useful to outdoor comfort and energy simulations

Tree Generator
It generates a box geometry of the specified dimensions, which represents the tree canopy, providing the following informations: and: tree and co-benefits

Canopy Generator
It generates a rectangular geometry of the specified dimensions, which represents the canopy and co-benefits

Ask for more

Communities, decision makers, policy-makers, city officiels, NGOs please contact us for further informations