IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A

Abstract

Ecological urbanism practices aim to imitate ecosystems in the city and integrate it as opposed to intrinsically supporting the ecological systems, this approach of practice includes ecological design principles such as renewable resources, minimizing waste, energy consumption, and use of locally sourced materials. However, it is known that ecological design or “sustainable design” can be more prevalent in privileged contexts and seen as an attainable design style rather than an instinctive design approach designed for the community and its needs. Consequently, leaving vulnerable contexts behind in the discourse of its design & research, and raising a need to address the accessibility of vulnerable communities to ecological design and the resources necessary to assess, diagnose and implement it. Hence, the aim of this work is to bridge the gap, provide a hybrid methodology and tools to serve as a guideline for implementing ecological design in vulnerable contexts throughout different domains: Urban, Socioeconomic and Architectural. This is addressed in the case study of La Pau, Barcelona, in which the different factors that determine vulnerability are studied and possible lines of action identified to synthesize a vulnerability assessment tool, in addition to measures and strategies to reduce vulnerability as well as create a future framework for different vulnerable contexts throughout the world.