The New Normals: Architecture Under Climate Change Uncertainty

This paper discusses design research that utilized an existing project development phase to test a methodology for involving multiple projections of climate change in the design a of a present-day institutional building. In the paper an initial argument is laid out for the need for this type of design method. This is followed by a brief explanation of the methodology borrowed from charrette scenario planning and climate impact assessment. A schematic design that is the result of this planning process is then displayed as a jumping-off point to discuss design decision-making under the auspices of an unknown future climate system and the need for site-climate calibration in passive architecture. This design is the composite of three possible “optimal” buildings that represent one program designed for using climate scenarios from three major socioeconomic carbon emissions pathways. The final design is the resultant interpretation of these three futures and the needs they impose on the program and the building as a formal bioclimatic object. Concluding remarks follow the presentation of the design and decision-making theory behind its elements.