The architecture of coexistence : a methodological framework for multispecies design

In an era marked by climate change, biodiversity loss, and intensified urbanization, cities should no longer be exclusive domains of human life but shared environments for multiple species. This thesis examines how urban and architectural design can transcend anthropocentric frameworks to foster interspecies cohabitation, positioning cities as both sites of ecological crisis and regenerative potential. Drawing on urban ecology, urbanism, environmental economics, and precedent case studies of multispecies integration, the city is framed as a complex socio-ecological-technological system where humans, animals, and plants can coexist and interact. Key concepts, including diagnostic place sensitive, semiotic awareness, the multifaceted values of nature, and the role of nature-based solutions, inform and operational, phase-aware framework that integrates interspecies cohabitation (focused on liminal animals) into architecture and urban design workflows as a core design criterion. This research unfolds in five interrelated steps. First, it establishes a foundational understanding of biodiversity and its role in maintaining ecological balance, examining how different value systems shape human perceptions of nature. Second, it introduces the concept of interspecies cohabitation through a more-than-human design approach, reflecting on its philosophical implications and design challenges. Third, it focuses on liminal animals, those species that inhabit urban environments without domestication, highlighting their ecological, symbolic, and historical significance. Fourth, it develops a six-step methodological framework whose robustness is tested through a built case study (e.g., Bosco Verticale; Dominus Winery and VlotwateringBrug) and a pilot application to a Milanese residential building centered on the Common Swift (Apus apus). Finally, it transitions from a framework to practice, presenting hypothetical scenarios and design recommendations for applying these concepts at the urban scale. Across these objectives, the six-step methodology forms the backbone, translating evidence into design actions, enabling use in phases and progressive refinement. In conclusion, this thesis advocates for a paradigm shift in urbanism and architecture, reimagining cities as shared ecologies that enable multispecies coexistence. Rather than human-centered functionality alone, it advances balanced and equitable cohabitation and the emergence of inclusive urban ecosystems capable of fostering sustainable, resilient, and multispecies futures. While interdisciplinary, the prototype centers the architect’s integrative role to ensure feasible, maintainable interventions that elevate multispecies cohabitation to a design, cultural, and ethical imperative for contemporary practice.Key concepts, including diagnostic place sensitivity, semiotic awareness, the multifaceted values of nature, and the role of nature-based solutions, are explored to understand how design can foster a transformative shift in urban environments, enabling them to embrace, adapt to, and prepare for multispecies cohabitation. The thesis advances an operational, phase-aware framework that integrates interspecies cohabitation, focused on liminal animals, into architectural and urban design workflows as a core design criterion. This research unfolds in five interrelated steps. First, it establishes a foundational understanding of biodiversity and its role in maintaining ecological balance, examining how different value systems shape human perceptions of nature. Second, it introduces the concept of interspecies cohabitation through a more-than-human design approach, reflecting on its philosophical implications and design challenges. Third, it focuses on liminal animals, those species that are in urban environments without domestication, highlighting their ecological, symbolic, and historical significance. Fourth, it develops a seven-step methodological framework whose robustness is tested through a built case studies (e.g., Bosco Verticale; Dominus Winery and VltwateringBrug) and a pilot application to a Milanese residential building centered on the Common Swift (Apus apus). Finally, it moves from a framework to practice, proposing hypothetical scenarios and design recommendations for applying these concepts on the urban scale. Across these objectives, the seven-step methodology forms the backbone, translating evidence into design actions, enabling use in phases and progressive refinement in later stages. In conclusion, this thesis advocates for a paradigm shift in urbanism and architecture, reimagining cities not only as human habitats but as shared ecologies that enable diverse forms of life to coexist. Rather than reducing urban and architectural design to human-centered functionality, it envisions a balanced and equitable coexistence among species and above all among liminal animals. This vision supports the emergence of inclusive urban ecosystems capable of fostering sustainable, resilient, and multispecies futures. While interdisciplinary, the prototype centers the architect’s integrative role, to ensure feasible, maintainable interventions that elevate multispecies cohabitation to a design, cultural, and ethical imperative for contemporary practice.

In an era marked by climate change, biodiversity loss, and intensified urbanization, cities should no longer be exclusive domains of human life but shared environments for multiple species. This thesis examines how urban and architectural design can transcend anthropocentric frameworks to foster interspecies cohabitation, positioning cities as both sites of ecological crisis and regenerative potential. Drawing on urban ecology, urbanism, environmental economics, and precedent case studies of multispecies integration, the city is framed as a complex socio-ecological-technological system where humans, animals, and plants can coexist and interact. Key concepts, including diagnostic place sensitive, semiotic awareness, the multifaceted values of nature, and the role of nature-based solutions, inform and operational, phase-aware framework that integrates interspecies cohabitation (focused on liminal animals) into architecture and urban design workflows as a core design criterion. This research unfolds in five interrelated steps. First, it establishes a foundational understanding of biodiversity and its role in maintaining ecological balance, examining how different value systems shape human perceptions of nature. Second, it introduces the concept of interspecies cohabitation through a more-than-human design approach, reflecting on its philosophical implications and design challenges. Third, it focuses on liminal animals, those species that inhabit urban environments without domestication, highlighting their ecological, symbolic, and historical significance. Fourth, it develops a six-step methodological framework whose robustness is tested through a built case study (e.g., Bosco Verticale; Dominus Winery and VlotwateringBrug) and a pilot application to a Milanese residential building centered on the Common Swift (Apus apus). Finally, it transitions from a framework to practice, presenting hypothetical scenarios and design recommendations for applying these concepts at the urban scale. Across these objectives, the six-step methodology forms the backbone, translating evidence into design actions, enabling use in phases and progressive refinement. In un’epoca segnata dal cambiamento climatico, dalla perdita di biodiversità e da un’urbanizzazione sempre più intensa, le città non dovrebbero più essere domini esclusivi della vita umana, ma ambienti condivisi da più specie. Questa tesi esamina come il progetto urbano e architettonico possa trascendere i quadri antropocentrici per favorire la coabitazione interspecifica, collocando le città sia come luoghi di crisi ecologica sia come ambiti di potenziale rigenerativo. Facendo riferimento all’ecologia urbana, all’urbanistica, all’economia ambientale e a casi studio di integrazione multispecie, la città è inquadrata come un complesso sistema socio-ecologico-tecnologico in cui esseri umani, animali e piante possono coesistere e interagire. Concetti chiave quali la sensibilità diagnostica al luogo, la consapevolezza semiotica, la natura multiforme dei valori della natura e il ruolo delle soluzioni basate sulla natura informano un quadro operativo, consapevole delle fasi, che integra la coabitazione interspecifica (con focus sugli animali liminali) nei flussi di lavoro dell’architettura e del progetto urbano come criterio progettuale centrale. Questa ricerca si articola in cinque passaggi interrelati. In primo luogo, stabilisce una comprensione fondativa della biodiversità e del suo ruolo nel mantenimento dell’equilibrio ecologico, esaminando come differenti sistemi di valore plasmino le percezioni umane della natura. In secondo luogo, introduce il concetto di coabitazione interspecifica attraverso un approccio progettuale more-than-human, riflettendo sulle relative implicazioni filosofiche e sulle sfide di progetto. In terzo luogo, si concentra sugli animali liminali, specie che abitano gli ambienti urbani senza essere domesticate, evidenziandone il significato ecologico, simbolico e storico. In quarto luogo, sviluppa un quadro metodologico in sei fasi, la cui robustezza è testata tramite casi studio realizzati (ad es., Bosco Verticale; Dominus Winery; Vlotwateringbrug) e una applicazione pilota a un edificio residenziale milanese incentrata sul rondone comune (Apus apus). Infine, passa dal quadro alla pratica, presentando scenari ipotetici e raccomandazioni progettuali per l’applicazione di questi concetti alla scala urbana. Trasversalmente a tali obiettivi, la metodologia in sei fasi costituisce l’ossatura del lavoro, traducendo le evidenze in azioni di progetto e consentendo un uso per fasi e un affinamento progressivo.In conclusione, questa tesi sostiene un cambio di paradigma nell’urbanistica e nell’architettura, ripensando le città come ecologie condivise che permettono la coesistenza multispecie. Oltre la sola funzionalità antropocentrica, promuove una coabitazione equilibrata ed equa e l’emergere di ecosistemi urbani inclusivi, capaci di favorire futuri sostenibili, resilienti e multispecie. Pur essendo interdisciplinare, il prototipo pone al centro il ruolo integrativo dell’architetto, al fine di garantire interventi fattibili e manutenibili, elevando la coabitazione multispecie a imperativo progettuale, culturale ed etico per la pratica contemporanea.