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Argument › No. 18/2026

Seasons in the City: Hibernation Or Invitation? Adaptive Urban Design in a Warming Temperate Climate

https://doi.org/10.54508/Argument.18.05

  • / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning Bucharest, RO

Abstract

The term anotimpuri in the Romanian language literally denotes times of the year—referred to as seasons in many other languages. Within the temperate-continental climate, the annual rhythms of variation in light, temperature, and vegetation are active forces that fundamentally transform how people perceive, utilize, and experience architectural spaces. By exploring this continuous and dynamic dialogue between the built environment and natural cycles, the theory of architecture and urbanism evolved to consider seasonal transformations, anticipating and integrating them into city design. Divergences between various climatic geographies explain fluctuations in human perceptions of temporality alongside the emergence of specific philosophies and traditions within local cultures.

The spatial elements of human settlements reflect both time and weather through form, materiality, openness, and flexibility. The interdisciplinary approach of this study synthesizes foundations of psychology, physiology, climatology, architecture, and urban engineering to provide solutions to the problem of seasonal weather shifts compromising human wellbeing. The paper proposes and analyses suitable materials locally as a core strategy for urban climate adaptation. The scope is to prove that public spaces can remain active year-round via hybrid climate shelters, exploring architectural homeostasis as a higher level of biophilic design. Ultimately, the article outlines aspects that can be improved using AI technology in the management and implementation of urban projects.

Keywords

cyclical variability, architectural homeostasis, temperate-continental climate, biophilic capital, predictive urbanism.

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