While tools of prediction and simulation used by climatologists and planners are becoming more and more sophisticated, urban futures are increasingly uncertain. In this context, this conference examines the relations between urban and cultural production and the transforming tools and methods for forecasting and simulating climatic futures. It asks, how can cultural production respond to and use climate simulations, and what is the role of architecture, culture and art in envisioning multiple climatic futures?

The term simulation, which originates from the Latin “simulō” or “imitate”, has gained new meaning in recent decades, in which computer simulations have transfromed many scientific and cultural domains (Heymann, Gramelsberger, Mahony 2017). According to Jean Baudrillard’s renowned Simulacra and Simulation (1995), the simulation of reality contains more truth than reality itself. This symposium will therefore focus on simulation in the search for new insights into our uncertain climatic future, especially in cities.

Climatic prediction and simulation have invariably formed part of architecture and urban design. Technologies of simulation for anticipating the environmental and microclimatic effects of design solutions and so called “ecological design” were the prerequisites for rethinking the existing city. In the context of new environmental laboratories since the early 1960s, scientific knowledge on urban climates has been generated through simulation and experimentation (e.g. wind tunnels). Examples of the investigation of wind flows through simulation in closed physical experimental set-ups are the Micrometeorological Wind Tunnel at Colorado State University or the Environmental Simulation Lab in Berkeley, where the wind profiles of emerging high-rise districts have been investigated (Roesler 2022).

In the last decades, simulations in urban design are increasingly complexifying (Batty and Torrens 2005); new instruments and laboratories are playing a systematic role in the scientific anticipation and simulation of the future. At the same time, climate fiction (cli-fi) and ecocriticism have become established ways in which literature and culture reacts and engages with the climate crisis. Architecture and urban design have adopted speculative methods from cultural practices such as literature and film, imagining and planning for multiple scenarios and futures. Cultural production and critique has in turn been informed by urban climatology.

However, although architecture and urban design have turned towards the future as never before, there is a dearth of academic reflection on this turn, and on the significance of simulation technologies and climate speculation for cultural production that reflects on the climate crisis. This transdisciplinary conference asks about the role played by the prediction and simulation of the climate in urban design and cultural production past, present, and future. It will bring together architectural and urban historians, cultural and media theorists, science and technology studies scholars, historians of science and climatology to explore the new role of climate prediction and speculation in urban design and cultural production.

Panel 1: Games and Experiments

Andri Gerber: How to play CO2: Environmental games as ultimate simulations?

Andri Gerber explores the relationship between games, architecture, and urban design, referencing Jean Baudrillard’s ideas on simulation and simulacra. He argues that games function as simulations, translating aspects of reality into mechanics and themes, with architecture and urban environments often serving as references. However, while games influence how reality is represented, their impact on architectural and urban design has been limited. With increasing awareness of the climate crisis, environmental games present new opportunities for engagement and education but also face challenges. Games are powerful cultural and pedagogical tools, yet they simplify reality and often carry specific ideological biases. They are also technologically fixed, limiting player agency. By considering games as cultural practices, the discussion aims to assess their potential and limitations in shaping architectural thought. A historical perspective will be introduced, tracing the development of environmental games and the increasing complexity of their simulation models.

Anne Dippel: The Depths of Illusion. Knowing Reality Through Computer Simulations

In this talk Anne Dippel explores the decline of concept-based truth in the digital age, focusing on how computer simulations shape knowledge in physics. Using a media ethnography of the quantum physics double-slit experiment and its simulation, Anne Dippel introduces "operational realism" as a way to navigate digital epistemic challenges. The presentation, based on a recent book co-authored with Martin Warnke, examines the ethical implications of algorithmic world design and the role of media in knowledge production. Drawing from new materialism, media theory, and queer-feminist science and technology studies (STS), the talk reflects on different epistemic perspectives through a case study that blends theory and practice with humor and critical insights.

Panel 2: simulation as cultural technique

Marco Caracciolo: Weirded Urban Spaces in Contemporary Fiction and Video Games

Marco Caracciolo explores how the literary mode of the weird is uniquely suited to grappling with the uncertainty of the climate crisis. Originating in H.P. Lovecraft’s early 20th-century work and later reimagined by authors like Jeff VanderMeer and China Miéville, the weird blends science fiction and horror while emphasizing bodily atmospheres. Marco Caracciolo examines how the weirding of urban spaces in fiction enables the simulation of both empirical and affective instabilities caused by climate change. Using China Miéville’s The City & the City (2009) and the video game Alan Wake 2 (2023) as case studies, the talk argues that these narratives provide compelling frameworks for representing climate uncertainty in an emotionally resonant way.

Peter Krapp: Simulation as a cultural technique

In this talk Peter Krapp explores simulation as both a cultural technique and a means of preserving cultural memory through modeling, imitation, and serious play. He examines how simulation serves as a critique of the computer age, tracing its media history from ancient thought experiments to modern computing. Peter Krapp challenges common-sense realism as anti-speculative and highlights simulation’s role in shaping our understanding of mediated reality. The discussion also addresses the theoretical foundations of computing, particularly the ability of universal Turing machines to emulate one another, emphasizing the significance of simulation for digital heritage, archives, museums, and the preservation of digital culture.

Q&A:

With the speakers of Panels 1 and 2: Andri Gerber, Anne Dippel, Marco Caracciolo and Peter Krapp. Moderated by Noa Levin and Sascha Roesler.

Panel 3: simulating architecture futures

Angela Rout: Reimagining Data: New Approaches to Climate- Responsive

This presentation examines how data visualization and computational methods can be adapted for architecture, allowing practitioners to interpret complex information in spatially and visually intuitive ways. Architecture transforms observations into meaningful spaces for people and the environment, and with digital technologies and ubiquitous sensors, architects now have access to vast new data sources. Architectural data—ranging from observations to visual records—is dynamic and multidimensional. While scientific data analysis methods reveal patterns, they must be reimagined to align with the creative, context-driven nature of design. This lecture explores how redefining architectural data can lead to proactive, climate-responsive solutions that address both environmental and human needs.

Joshua Silver: Observing the Future: Digital Simulation to Sustain Networks of Design Practice

Joshua Silver explores how digital simulation practices help sustain precarious architectural design and construction, particularly in the face of uncertain work conditions and the climate crisis. Using the Los Angeles Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as a case study, he examines two simulation approaches: Transsolar’s "thermal comfort" consulting, which uses simulations to adapt design features to future climate uncertainties, and Kiran Consulting Group’s Discrete Event people flow simulations, which model building occupants as spatial problems to be solved. The paper concludes by reflecting on the limitations of simulations, including their rejection or failure to sustain the futures they propose.

panel 4: simulating urban futures

Dario Negueruela del Castillo: Simulating Urban Denkstile: Vision-Language Models as Theoretical Lenses for Uncertain Futures

This presentation introduces an innovative urban simulation approach that integrates data-driven digital twinning with critical urban theory. Utilizing advanced vision-language models (VLMs) enhanced with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), the method operationalizes the thought styles (Denkstile) of urban theorists like Henri Lefebvre, Walter Benjamin, and Georg Simmel, alongside contemporary paradigms such as assemblage theory and urban metabolism. Rather than merely aggregating data, this approach simulates the complex social, material, and discursive assemblages that shape cities, offering a historically grounded, multi-layered perspective on urban environments. Initial results demonstrate how AI-driven methods facilitate dialogues between theoretical frameworks and urban realities, providing a nuanced alternative to reductionist, purely data-driven models. By critically engaging with simulation as a cultural technique, this work contributes to speculative urban planning, exploring multiple climatic and urban futures while examining AI’s role in cultural production and urban climatology. Ultimately, this fusion of computational innovation and theoretical insight advances discussions on urban resilience, climate adaptation, and the future of cities amid environmental and technological change.

Orit Halpern: Planetary Experiments: Science, Life, and Politics in the Age of the Anthropocene

We are living in an era of planetary experimentation, where the boundaries between scientific laboratories and the world itself have dissolved, as noted by Bruno Latour. Large-scale scientific projects, such as the Event Horizon Telescope and the European Commission’s Destination Earth, exemplify this shift by using the entire planet as an experimental space. The concept of the Anthropocene further reinforces this notion, as human-caused global warming has been framed as both an unintended experiment and a problem requiring deliberate planetary-scale interventions. This paper examines how digital twinning technologies, particularly NVIDIA’s Earth 2 and the EU’s Destination Earth, are reshaping planetary management by automating data analysis and utilizing generative AI for climate crisis response. These developments signal a broader epistemic transformation in how knowledge is produced and life is governed in the digital age.

Q&A:

With the speakers of Panel 3 and 4: Angela Rout, Joshua Silver, Dario Negueruela del Castillo and Orit Halpern. Moderated by Noa Levin and Sascha Roesler.

ROUNDTABLE:

With all speakers of the day, followed by the conclusion by Sascha Roesler.