This study introduces a bio-inspired computational approach to generating thermal comfort gradients in urban settings, with a focus on China’s monsoon climatic conditions. While traditional Urban Metabolism (UM) frameworks effectively track material flows, they tend to lack spatial resolution and overlook thermodynamic inefficiencies — a limitation the research terms ‘thermodynamic blindness.’ Drawing on historical typologies, it takes the Chinese sky-well as a morphological model, treating its passive ventilation as the basis of a branching system for localised climate regulation. The argument is that biological branching, expressed through morphological adaptation, offers a more resilient and performance-driven model for urban design than conventional mechanised approaches. By applying principles of biological branching and parametric morphogenesis through Lindenmayer systems (L-systems — recursive formal grammars that simulate plant growth patterns), the study develops fractal urban interfaces designed to enhance passive thermal management. The methodology employs a multi-scalar computational workflow combining generative design with environmental simulation, moving beyond biomimicry towards self-organising systems that address what the research calls ‘hydraulic metabolic rifts’ — discontinuities in the coupled flow of water and heat through urban fabric — and optimise water-thermal co-metabolism. These bio-morphological strategies are evaluated for their capacity to maintain internal environmental stability and improve human comfort without recourse to energy-intensive mechanical systems. Ultimately, the project seeks to reposition UM from a descriptive analytical tool into a projective design framework for thermally adaptive urbanism in monsoon regions.

Yifei Guan is a PhD candidate at the Architectural Association’s EmTech Studio. His research addresses thermal comfort rifts in monsoon climates by applying biological branching principles to architectural discipline. Yifei argues that metabolic pathways across scales must follow performance-oriented morphologies. With a background in environmental design education in London and China, he explores the built environment as a diachronic process, aiming for a co-evolution with nature to mitigate contemporary ecological crises.