Experiential Simulation for Urban Design: From Design Thinking to Final Presentation

The chapter presents the research outcomes developed by the author on the topic of environmental urban design and simulation, carried out at the Urban Simulation Laboratory ‘Fausto Curti’ at Polytechnic of Milan, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies. In particular, the author focuses the attention on the experiential approach: she proposes an urban design method that make use of multi-sensory simulation and that addresses the human-environment relationship. The author firstly traces the origins of the research laboratories dealing with environmental urban design and simulation; given this research context, she then presents an overview of the central characteristics of reliable experiential simulation. Following, she proposes a design method based on recursive key phases and a mixed used of different kinds of representations. In the conclusion she synthetically sums up the relevant issues addressed in the text.