ECOLOPES – Designing Cities for Humans and Nature.
The ECOLOPES project is pioneering a new approach to urban architecture by transforming building surfaces—such as walls, facades, and roofs—into habitats that support multiple forms of life. Rather than simply reducing the negative impacts of urbanization, ECOLOPES envisions cities where humans, plants, animals, and microbial life can coexist and thrive together.
An “ecolope” is a specially designed building envelope that nurtures these four types of inhabitants. By integrating ecological knowledge into architectural planning, these structures foster biodiversity, enhance human well-being, and create more resilient urban ecosystems.
Central to the project is a computational model that combines ecological and architectural data, allowing designers to simulate and optimize interactions among the different species inhabiting a building. This approach ensures that human activity and biodiversity can coexist harmoniously in dense urban environments.
Urbanization has often fragmented natural habitats, leading to biodiversity loss and reduced access to ecosystem services. ECOLOPES aims to reverse this trend by embedding ecological principles directly into city design, promoting sustainable living and richer urban biodiversity.
ECOLOPES hosts regular free talks where experts discuss multi-species design, regenerative urban ecosystems, and the future of sustainable cities. The ECOLOPES website is also a rich source of information including recorded presentations, reports and posters. For more information or to join upcoming events, visit ecolopes.org.
ECOLOPES Partners:
The initiative is collaborative, involving universities such as the Technical University of Munich, Vienna University of Technology, and the University of Genoa, and it is funded through the European Union Horizon 2020 program (FET Open, grant 964414).
