Strategies for the multivariate representation of micro-environmental design space. Considerations on parallel coordinates plot

This paper reports the results of experiences with the use of parallel coordinates plots for the analysis of multi-objective, multivariate problems for architectural design at the micro-environmental scale, as possible through the support of thermal and lighting simulation analyses. Parametric analyses applied at the micro-urban level may produce a wealth of information which is difficult to exploit for what both design and decision-taking are concerned. One reason for this is the sheer difficulty of producing convincing visual representations of the complex relations between the most relevant variables in play. Pragmatic strategies for the use of parallel coordinate plots have been experimented by the author to produce pictorially eloquent representations blending quantitative and quantitative information. This was mainly done through three strategies: - texturing, allowing for an increase of understandability of large data domains; - layering, through the superimposition of suitably treated representations of distinct objective functions; - filtering, through the application of threshold levels to objective functions.