Alessandro Raffa

In the context of the climate crisis, 20th-century reclaimed coastal landscapes (20CRL) – the result of modernist control over nature – are facing growing systemic risks. Adaptation, however, is hindered by cultural, scientific, and institutional gaps, with design research remaining marginal. ReclaiMEDlanD is a design-based, interdisciplinary, and participatory initiative that, by focusing on two Italian 20CRLs, reconsiders risk as a lens for rethinking current spatial and governance structures, supporting communities toward long-term adaptation scenarios. The future of 20CRLs depends on creatively embracing uncertainty through design, paving the way for a collective agenda for climate adaptation.

Decommissioned airfields are increasingly recognized as strategic sites for ecological regeneration, climate adaptation, and the creation of new public spaces. However, research on their transformation has predominantly focused on the environmental performance of Nature-based Solutions (NBS), often overlooking the role of inherited spatial morphology in structuring regeneration processes and outcomes. This paper proposes an AI-assisted, morphology-based proto-ontological framework for analyzing and designing post-airfield architecture. The framework was developed through the inductive and comparative analysis of a corpus of 32 urban post-airfield regeneration projects, from which recurrent inherited morphologies, transformation actions, spatial devices, and NBS were identified and structured into a relational sequence. The framework was then applied to two contrasting case studies: Maurice Rose Airfield Park (Frankfurt) and Xuhui Runway Park (Shanghai); these were selected for their different transformation logics. The results show that similar airfield morphologies can generate markedly different climatic, ecological, social, and memory-related outcomes depending on how they are transformed and linked to NBS. The study demonstrates that inherited airfield morphologies are not passive remnants but operative spatial structures, and that NBS should be understood as spatially embedded and form-generating design components. The proposed proto-ontology offers a transferable analytical model and a basis for future computational and generative design applications.

The climate crisis exposes the inadequacy of modern urban paradigms grounded in the separation between nature and built form. In response, this paper reframes streetscapes as architectural and urban spaces where ecological performance and spatial composition are conceived as mutually constitutive. Rather than treating Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as isolated techno-performative devices, the research interprets them as design components capable of shaping section, threshold, and relational depth within the street. Building on two European-funded research projects, the ClimaScapes research—which unfolds into the Climate-Adaptive Nature-Based Urban Regeneration (CANBUR) Framework—through the different phases of Research about Design, Research by Design and Research for Design, thus develops the design-driven Operational Methodology. The paper, repositioning streetscapes as strategic fields for urban and architectural design, presents (i) the tools developed within it and (ii) its application inside a neighborhood of Matera (Italy). The findings demonstrate that integrating NBS within coherent spatial configurations enables a shift from environmental optimization toward architectural composition, offering a transferable yet context-sensitive methodology for climate-adaptive regeneration in Euro-Mediterranean and comparable urban contexts. This approach suggests streetscapes evolve into resilient, climate-adaptive urban commons, reinforcing community ties, ecological sustainability, and the broader goal of future-proof cities.

The contribution explores how outsider and alternative design practices can generate new frameworks for adaptive transformation within twentieth-century Mediterranean reclaimed landscapes. Once conceived as modernist “territorial machines” of productivity and control, these territories now reveal their vulnerability as hybrid socio-ecological systems. Developed through a collaboration between the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and the University of Florida’s Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience, ReclaiMEDlanD advances a design-driven, transdisciplinary methodology that treats adaptation as a cultural and collective process rather than a technical task. Through a multi-method, and participatory approach applied to two emblematic Italian reclaimed landscapes, the project mobilizes design as a situated form of inquiry—bridging analytical knowledge, institutional practice, and community experience. By cultivating outsider positions across disciplinary, institutional, and spatial boundaries, ReclaiMEDlanD reveals the transformative potential of design research to imagine alternative and resilient futures for reclaimed landscapes.

The regeneration of urban streetscapes through Nature-based Solutions is crucial for achieving climate neutrality and resilience. However, design research is limited to date and needs to impact current design and planning practices. Ongoing research attempts to go beyond present gaps to define an operational methodology and guidelines to mainstream streetscape’s climate-resilient nature-based regeneration. The research adopts a Research-by-Design approach, structured in three integrative phases: (i) Research of Design, (ii) Research through Design, (iii) Research for Design. The contribution will go through the first two phases by applying and cross-testing the operational methodology in two neighbourhoods in Matera, Italy and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Imperfection, uncertainty and adaptation are intrinsically intertwined concepts that reflect the complex nature of human existence in the Anthropocene. This contribution delves into the nexus of imperfection, uncertainty, and adaptation through the lens of Green Urban Regeneration, focusing on the transformation of mono-functional infrastructural spaces into Climate-Adaptive Nature-based Streetscapes. Cities, endeavoring to adjust to the shifting and uncertain climate patterns, are already embracing imperfection in the regenerative design of Streetscapes, turning them into hybrid, multi-purpose, inclusive and Nature-based streetscapes. As part of an ongoing EU-funded research, this contribution explores how embracing imperfection can inform the conceptual and operational framework for innovative Climate-Adaptive Nature-based Streetscape Regenerative Design.

Over the past two decades, global cities have been addressing climate challenges by transforming their gray infrastructural spaces through climate-adaptive and nature-based regeneration processes. These efforts also aim to tackle local ecological, social, and economic disparities. Despite the prevailing focus on technical and performance-based approaches, research on climate-adaptive, nature-based regeneration of streetscapes remains limited and has yet to significantly influence design-driven approaches to urban regeneration. This paper seeks to address these gaps by emphasizing the importance of spatial dimensions in overcoming current theoretical and operational limitations. It introduces a research experience that aims to leverage the potential of design to promote climate-adaptive, nature-based green regeneration of streetscapes and to integrate this approach into mainstream practices through a “research-by-design” methodology. To achieve this, an operational framework has been developed and is presented here, offering both conceptual and practical insights for creating climate-adaptive, nature-based streetscapes. Following the proposed methodology, two pilot design cases are introduced and discussed, both located in the Italian city of Matera: Piccianello and La Martella. This iterative process aims to establish a framework for sustainable, long-term urban resilience, making cities greener, more adaptive, and more equitable.

Purpose: This study aims to demonstrate how women's involvement in urban planning and design in Gulf cities improves urban space's inclusivity and strengthens identity through cultural heritage revitalisation. It also promotes the participation of women in architecture and city-making by showcasing how shaping urban spaces offers local communities opportunities for social interaction and a more inclusive environment.Design/methodology/approach: The paper critically compares two case studies in the Gulf region—one in the United Arab Emirates and the other in Bahrain—according to four inclusion criteria: context connection, cultural sensitivity, community engagement and choices of amenities. These inclusion criteria are also applied to an experimental project by women architects' students in Saudi Arabia to inspire the future female architects of the Gulf region. From urban to architectural scales, the project offers a glance into the heritage design by women architects.Findings: In light of this critical analysis, this study highlights the sensitivity to issues related to the revitalisation of urban areas by women architects. The case studies identified show the role of the female architect in making architecture and linking cultural heritage with contemporary themes. These projects stitch the past with the present and link cultural identity with aspects related to sustainable architecture. Therefore, valorising women's architectural experience is necessary to contribute to sustainable urban development in the Gulf region and beyond.Originality/value: The present study addresses the importance of the role of women architects in the Gulf region. The research promotes the full and equal participation of women in the architecture and construction of the city to recognise their achievements by increasing their involvement in the work in a more integrated and balanced way.