Climate-controlled urbanism: understanding rationales, modes and implications of microclimatic enclosure

Project overview

The project builds on the fieldwork and empirical studies of an ongoing collaborative project with a British colleague, the aim of which is to publish a book with MIT Press. This research examines the emergence of controlled urban environments through a socio-technical approach that focuses on the spaces and territories where strategies for ecological transition and adaptation to global change are implemented. These volumetric enclosures are becoming increasingly strategic in several urban activities and sectors (domes and other structures designed for leisure, biodiversity conservation in botanical gardens and zoos, horticulture, vertical farms, etc.). They are based on socio-technical configurations centred on the management of air, temperature, humidity, light, etc., thereby producing ‘optimised’ indoor microclimates to circumvent an external climate or environment perceived as increasingly unstable and uncertain. This is therefore a highly significant topic that contributes to a better understanding of current and future urban responses to environmental and climate emergencies.