The European building stock is an aging infrastructure, mainly built prior to building codes. Furthermore, 65% of these buildings are located in seismic regions, which need to be both energetic and seismically retrofitted to comply with performance targets. Given this, this manuscript presents integrated constructive solutions that combine both energy efficiency improvement and seismic strengthening. The goal and novelty is to design and to evaluate one-shot, compatible, noninvasive, and complementary solutions applied to the façades of buildings with a minimum cost. To do so, different constraints have been borne in mind: the urban environment, achievable seismic and energy performance targets, and reduced construction costs. The method was applied to an old Spanish neighbourhood constructed in the 1960s. Different retrofitting packages were proposed for an unreinforced masonry case study building. A sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effects of each configuration. A benefit/cost ratio was proposed to comparatively assess and to rank the solutions. The results of the seismoenergetic performance assessment showed that improving the behaviour of walls leads to higher benefit ratios than improving the openings. However, this latter strategy generates much lower construction costs. Integrating seismic into energetic retrofitting solutions supposes negligible additional costs but can improve the seismic behaviour of buildings by up to 240%. The optimal solution was the addition of higher ratios of steel grids and intermediate profiles in openings while adding thermal insulation in walls and renovating the window frames with PVC and standard 4/6/4 double glazing.

The urban configuration in the Mediterranean area, which has noticeable solar radiation and significant thermal oscillation, is one of the factors that affect the microclimate and the urban heat island phenomenon of the cities located in that zone. To contribute to the improvement of urban comfort, this work presents an experimental methodological proposal for the analysis and multicriteria optimization of performance indicators using a parametric workflow through Grasshopper. This workflow can lead to the development of a set of environmental design criteria as support tools in the design of the urban configuration. The methodology is based on the quantification of two parameters on the analysis and management of daylight in interior spaces by means of dynamic metrics and, on the other hand, on the evaluation of hygrothermal conditions and the urban heat island effect, which affect both the daytime comfort of passersby and the nighttime comfort of dwellings. This study considers the most typical variables of urban layout, both morphological and material. The case study analyzed is located in the city of Seville (Spain), which has a significant percentage of its contemporary buildings without a suitable adaptation to local climate conditions. The results obtained from the case study prove the potential of the proposed methodology to evaluate and optimize lighting and thermal performance at the neighbourhood scale. Thus, it provides urban planners with a powerful decision support tool for both urban expansion and urban renewal.

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The demographic, political, social and economic evolution of the last 40 years has shown how difficult it has been for the residential architecture of the 1960s to adapt to the needs of the turn of the century, in many cases suffering abandonment by the administration and the citizens themselves. However, these architectural ensembles, grouped together in the so-called “barriadas” (neighbourhoods), represented a change of era and a conceptual transformation in the way the city was built. This has led various international organisations to consider the need to study and protect them. The El Plantinar neighbourhood, located in the city of Seville, is one of these architectural complexes that are in a situation of vulnerability. The aim of this article is to propose a research methodology that, from different scales and with the incorporation of new players, allows us to understand these modern assets in their maximum dimension and to define their unique heritage. The methodology is structured in two phases. In the first phase, a general study of the neighbourhood is carried out on three scales: urban, object-typological and perceptive. In the second phase, the cultural attributes of the urban ensemble, of a patrimonial nature to which values can be assigned, are identified. The results provide very heterogeneous attributes that contribute to enrich the neighbourhood beyond the traditional scientific-technical and objectual vision that accompanies the assets of the modern period. The conclusions indicate that a methodology that takes into account different approaches and scales is necessary to incorporate these neighbourhoods solidly into the heritage landscape.

The role of architects in urban design is quite unknown in society and the significance of architecture is relegated, in most cases, to the building. Fundamental aspects such as the width of the streets, the vegetation, the height of the buildings or the pavement seem alien to architecture. Even its impact on energy efficiency and user comfort, not only on public roads but also inside buildings, is often ignored. This idea of separation between architecture and efficient urban design is also that of those who start the degree in Architecture. Therefore, the objective of this teaching experience is to provoke a critical reflection of the students on these issues prior to the start of the degree, carrying out a workshop in the Zero Course in Architecture in which the active participation of the student is encouraged. El papel de arquitectos y arquitectas en el diseño urbano es bastante desconocido en la sociedad y el alcance de la arquitectura queda relegado, en la mayoría de los casos, al edificio. Aspectos fundamentales como el ancho de las calles, la vegetación, la altura de los edificios o el pavimento parecen ajenos a la arquitectura. Incluso su repercusión en la eficiencia energética y el confort de los usuarios, no solo en la vía pública sino también en el interior de edificios, es ignorada en muchas ocasiones. Esta idea de separación entra arquitectura y diseño urbano eficiente es también la de aquellos que inician el grado en Arquitectura. Por tanto, el objetivo de esta experiencia docente es provocar una reflexión crítica del alumnado sobre estos temas previa al inicio del grado, realizando para ello un taller en el Curso Cero en Arquitectura en el que se fomenta una participación activa del estudiantado.