To design a building, a city or a neighborhood with particular attention to environmental sustainability, it is necessary to have a holistic vision, and therefore not to consider the house or the urban agglomeration only as individual elements, but as parts of a complex and broader system, where numerous interrelated disciplines interpenetrate, according to a Vitruvian spirit of knowledge.
The holistic vision in architectural and urban design
In the context of architectural and urban planning it translates into the evaluation of multiple aspects according to both a single and overall vision, where complex issues such as energy, the social context, the natural and anthropic environment, the economy, find a unitary perspective on which to move the ideas of transformation, without negatively compromising the individual component parts.
This type of approach, in the specific context of architectural and, above all, urban planning with a view to environmental sustainability, is reflected in the figure of the Polis Maker (Polis = city; Maker = creator), i.e. an expert subject who, thanks to a “holistic” path of knowledge, is able to understand urban and territorial transformations with an overall vision and which includes, as has already been said in part, the urban planning, construction, sociological, cultural, historical, economic, biological, anthropological and ecology.
The Polis Maker: an interdisciplinary figure
A Polis Maker is a designer who understands the complexities of issues individually and as a whole; he is a city manager, a strategist and a facilitator who acts by foreseeing the transformations of urban phenomena, with a particular sensitivity towards human well-being and with an open mind to ecological education.
Understanding urban phenomena according to a holistic vision is fundamental in the process of resolving city problems and conflicts; with it a clear overall vision of architectural, social, economic, political and environmental imbalances is obtained, as well as the state of ecosystems and facilitates thoughtful decisions to implement sustainable interventions for the benefit of communities.
The growth of urban contexts, with the use of land, is the cause of the reduction of permeable surfaces, the consumption of goods and available resources, just as it is among the causes of pollution. It therefore generates a series of problems, and only a holistic view of the whole can help predict potential future risks and find solutions.
The function of the Polis Maker fits into this complex context, as an ideal consultant, evaluator, visionary, able to see the problems as a whole, the risks and the consequences before the decisions are implemented. In its interdisciplinary role, it analyzes the social, economic and environmental changes of the context, designs sustainable urban interventions, evaluates the impacts on the quality of life, manages complex projects from a financial and real estate point of view and makes strategic decisions.
Understanding the complexity to govern urban transformations
The figure of the Polis Maker was born at the end of the 1990s from the intuition of a group of enlightened minds from the institutional scientific and academic world, gathered at the Ambrosiana Library in Milan. From their reflections, an educational path was implemented which resulted in a multidisciplinary university Master’s degree, which began in 2002 under the aegis of the Polytechnic of Milan. Honorary president of the Master is prof. arch. Angelo Caruso from Spaccaforno, former professor of Economic Evaluation of Plans and Projects at the Engineering Faculty of the Polytechnic of Milan, one of the most authoritative figures among the founders. Today’s director is prof. Giovanni Lonati of the Polytechnic of Milan and deputy director is prof. Santiago Caprio, professor at the FADU University of Buenos Aires (Argentina).
The Master PolisMaker. Sustainable urban development and quality of life It takes place over the course of an academic year and is divided into six thematic areas, with two learning levels. The first is structured to train those who wish to acquire skills “in the strategic areas of urban transformation and sustainability, understanding the mechanisms that govern public and private choices and operate in the decision-making processes that impact cities and territories”. The second advanced level prepares professional figures who intend to strengthen “their role in decision-making processes, in the evaluation of alternatives and in the management of value in urban and territorial projects”. The next Master will be the XVI and will be held this year, as usual, at the Polytechnic of Milan.
The main teaching experiences of the Master and of the related workshops addressed in the past are reported in four publications published by Maggioli in the series Polytechnic:
