The rapid, ongoing and forthcoming climatic and ecological changes, coupled with the acceleration of population growth, raise serious concerns regarding the capacity of existing urban systems to adapt. At the same time, these conditions present a significant opportunity to reconsider ecology-based design through the superblock. The research departs from a critical reflection on Hilberseimer’s Decentralized City and Soleri’s Arcology, both of which considered the city and the superblock as a single and unified ecological system.From this broader context, the study narrows its focus to the investigation of ecology and its subfield, the ecosystem, and more specifically to three dominant areas of research: ecology, computational ecology and urban design. Through the integration of System Dynamics modelling into the design process, the research investigates the implementation of ecological parameters together with morphological and metabolic parameters and processes.The methodology is tested through the development of a computational design model that integrates the System Dynamics model and the evolutionary design model. These models are examined through a series of design experiments focused on a superblock integrated with the dynamic flows of climatic and ecological systems. In this way, the research explores how urban form can be informed by ecological intelligence not as a static condition, but as a responsive and evolving system.The outcome of the design method is a multidimensional datascape that opens new possibilities within urban design and planning. By coupling environmental dynamics with computational design, the research proposes a framework for producing urban systems that are more robust and more capable of responding to ongoing changes in environmental conditions.

Aiman Tabony is a researcher and architect at Dr Tabony Architects, the Nazareth-based practice founded by his father in the 1960s. Over the past two decades he has led the office’s architectural agenda, with a focus on public buildings. He taught at the Technion in Haifa from 2012 to 2013 and later completed his PhD at the Architectural Association. His research examines computation, ecology and fabrication, with particular attention to dynamic systems in architecture and urban design.