Abstract:
In recent decades, the scale of urbanization has grown significantly, resulting in most of the globe’s people living in urban regions. Because of these rapid expansions, the cities are now facing new urban challenges, such as traffic congestion, resource depletion, infrastructure strain, and environmental degradation. Such is the case of Tirana, the capital of Albania, as it is the densest city of the country, and according to statistics, one of the most polluted ones in Europe with a very low quality of life index. To solve these issues created by rapid urbanization, architects and designers need to simultaneously address and take into consideration multiple design factors that require energy, time, money, and experience. Generative Design can serve as a tool to help urban designers and architects navigate different design options while instantaneously considering a multitude of planning aspects such as walkability, accessibility to public spaces, carbon emissions, solar gain, green areas, etc. This study focused on the New Boulevard of Tirana which is currently being developed according to the Grimshaw Masterplan. This research intended to explore the generative design framework by applying it to the selected area to see the applicability of this process in the Albanian context. The urban analyses were conducted by using ArcGIS. Three scenarios were generated using Autodesk Forma and then were compared to the Grimshaw proposal in terms of area metrics, daylight potential, microclimate conditions, and solar energy potential. The proposed framework aims to assist urban designers and architects in making better design decisions.
