1st Edition
Designing the Complex City A Systemic Approach to Spatial Design
1. Introduction: Urban complexity, systems thinking, spatial design
2. An embodied approach: Intervening in spontaneous socio-spatial dynamics
3. Open design: Directing rather than mastering emergent transformations
4. Design as a ‘good perturbation’: Navigating adaptive cycles in cities
5. A multi-scale living atlas: Detecting leverage points for spatial action
6. Systemic spatial design: Enhancing synergies between different design disciplines
7. An eco-systemic approach: Fostering city vitality
8. Conclusion: Cultivating urban complexity: The systemic turn in spatial design disciplines
Biography
Elena Porqueddu is an architect and researcher based in Milan. After gaining a Ph.D. in Architecture, Urban Design and Conservation of Housing and Landscape from the Polytechnic of Milan, she continues to dedicate her activities as a scholar and lecturer to exploring the interplay between spatial design disciplines and the emergence/evolution of spontaneous social-spatial configurations, and to studying the implications of systems thinking for spatial design.
"Complexity calls for alternative spatial designs, a message Elena Porqueddu conveys with compelling clarity. Highlighting flow, change and adaptability across various levels, she leaves no room for doubt about their implications for designers. Furthermore, she proposes an approach to design that gracefully addresses the challenges of spontaneous urban transformation"
Gert de Roo, Professor in Planning, University of Groningen, Netherlands
“The field of design seems to often undervalue the disruptive implications of complexity. This book tries to fill this gap in an original way by developing a fresh approach that is both theoretically and practically challenging in this regard.”
Stefano Moroni, Professor in Planning, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy
