Experimenting with adaptive architecture: Tools for climate-responsive design

This chapter explores adaptive architecture as a climate-responsive design approach, operationalising a more-than-human and regenerative agenda through Nature-based Solutions (NbS) supported by microclimate modelling. A university campus in Turin (Politecnico di Torino) is analysed as a living laboratory where compact, low-vegetated historical courtyards coexist with more open and greener recent expansions. Campus-wide simulations in ENVI-met 5.1 (810×810×40 m) reproduce peak heat-stress conditions on 25 July 2022 using meteorological inputs from the closest ARPA Piemonte station; pedestrian thermal stress is assessed via PET. Results identify the historical inner courtyards as critical hotspots due to canyon geometry, trapped radiation, limited airflow, and low-albedo surfaces. A representative courtyard (DIATI; TO_CEN02_U026) is then modelled in detail with ENVI-met 5.7.1 and tested with NbS (dense mini-forests, increased permeable/vegetated surfaces, high-SRI permeable paving, rain garden, and rainwater harvesting). The proposed scenario improves microclimatic performance, notably reducing PET by 32.48% and lowering surface temperatures, with the strongest benefits in previously unshaded areas near exposed façades.