KISDtalk with Dr. Malte Wagenfeld – Microclimate Narratives

In this KISDtalk “Microclimate Narratives: exploring atmospheric experiences to inform urban design”, Malte will be discussing recent research exploring how to keep – or make – cities walkable in context of climate change.

About the talk
The Climate Journey Narratives group has developed a novel methodology for exploring and assessing the suitability of urban fabric and infrastructure for active mobility, such as walking, during warm and hot summer conditions. Using a videographic “walk-along” narrative combined with data-driven analysis, we can capture real-time climate data as experienced by the walker. A specially developed mobile weather station, worn as a backpack, records ten types of microclimatic data, each GPS-tagged and logged every five seconds. During the walk, we discuss our sensory experiences of the climate and the city — for example, whether we feel hot or whether there is a pleasant breeze. This conversation is recorded by a chest-mounted video camera. By comparing the two datasets, we gain insights into the climatic experiences of walkers, which help inform design strategies for cities.

About Dr. Malte Wagenfeld
Dr. Malte Wagenfeld is an industrial designer, educator, researcher and curator whose experiential investigations, designs and texts have been internationally exhibited and published; he is currently Senior Lecturer and Program Manager at the Masters of Design, Innovation and Technology at RMIT University in Melbourne Australia. His passion is for building a deep understanding of how cultural, social, technological, and economic developments drive and are driven by design, and how we can leverage this knowledge to reimagine healthy and climate resilient urban environments for a minus zero carbon future. As well as designing physical ‘things’ his practice investigates how to design the ‘immaterial’, in particular the design of urban and interior climates and atmospheres; exploring experiential encounters with air; breezes, humidity, temperature, sound, light and smell.

Recent projects include Investigations into microclimatic urban environments in Munich, Melbourne and Barcelona (2022 – _2024), the exhibition Future Folds: contemporary investigations in origami (2024) ‘Dynamics of Air’ (2018), an international survey curated with Prof Jane Burry, Outside_IN (2018): an installation of dual interacting experiential atmospheres, ‘Supernature’ (2021), an animated theatre set design and production for the Australian Dance Theatre’s at the Adelaide festival and instrument designs for ‘Polar Force’ (Speak Percussion 2018 – _2020); an internationally touring live performance where natural phenomena are manipulated to capture the sounds of the Antarctic regions.

Pictures @ Dr. Malte Wagenfeld