Designing atmospheres: thermal perception in Dutch urban squares

This project depicted microclimate perception of people in Dutch squares through on-site measurements and interviews with thousands of visitors of the squares. It showed that a range of microclimate problems exist in many Dutch squares, especially related to wind nuisance. The overwhelming media coverage of this research indicated that this study addresses an important issue: taking microclimate into account was forgotten in the design of most Dutch squares. Accordingly, various design solutions were shaped and tested through Envi-met in a research through designing process. This project extended earlier, first phenomenological approaches to urban climate perception with a spatial dimension. New research methods to depict people’s thermal perception, such as mental mapping, were introduced and have inspired many researchers in the past years. Link to PhD thesis: PhD Sanda Lenzholzer, full text