CA23145 - Architectural and Urban Ambiances of European Cities (CitySenZ)

In the manufacturing process of living spaces, a predominant top-down approach, from project inception to delivery to users, has often led to post-construction issues that are costly to resolve. These issues may include areas overexposed to noise, a lack of cool shaded spaces, and various other challenges that affect the quality of life. This highlights the significance of exploring the lived spaces through ambiances in the missing “bottom-up” flow.
Moreover, ambiences studies, which has evolved since the 1980s, offers a more comprehensive understanding compared to earlier post-project evaluations, including post-occupancy assessments that originated in the 1960s. It encompasses various trends, such as the phenomenological approach, artistic works that utilize ambiences as a creative medium, environmental psychology, ambiance engineering, and architectural achievements by figures like Peter Zumthor. These trends significantly contribute to our understanding of architectural and urban ambiences.
This COST Action seeks to unite diverse perspectives and methodologies to understand, exchange and harmonize the concepts, definitions, by collecting archives, and defining cooperative objectives by harmonizing the technical language and draw perspectives for the future of architectural and urban ambiences in European cities and beyond. It focuses on holistically integrating the “bottom-up” approach, including sensitive experiences of ambiances, into the design, construction, and management of living spaces. By emphasizing the sensory dimension of ambiences, this aims to highlight solutions that prioritize the human experience in urban planning. One uses a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach to positively influence architectural and urban policies and practices both in Europe and globally.