This talk treats “terraforming” as the design of speculative interfaces where cities meet living systems. Immersive data interaction, through on site sensing and mixed reality review, turns dynamic signals into design material. Generative workflows translate sea level rise projections, hydrology, and seasonal behaviors into spatial strategies that can evolve. Rather than fixing outcomes, the lecture proposes a set of approach lenses for more than human design: Temporal Scaffolds (forms that track cycles), Migratory Boundaries (edges that move with water and season), and Algorithmic Seedbeds (rule sets that grow multiple viable futures). The aim is to cultivate frameworks that choreograph co-adaptation, enabling new typologies of co living across climate zones without presuming a single solution.

Pia Fricker
Pia Fricker serves as Professor and Vice Head of the Department of Architecture at Aalto University, Finland. She holds the Professorship of Computational Design in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism and directs the interdisciplinary Major in Urban Studies and Planning Programme. Pia Fricker’s research and teaching link urban design and landscape architecture with the principles of computational design culture, envisioning future-oriented solutions for complex environmental challenges with a particular focus on climate adaptation. This approach places a strong emphasis on the creative integration of cutting-edge technologies, particularly at the forefront of AI-driven methodologies. Her current research projects explore immersive, data-driven design methods for dynamic urban landscapes and collaborative design environments in the realm of Mixed Reality. She is the academic lead of CCA Aalto, part of the international CCA Center for Climate Adaptation network initiated by Pratt Institute. Pia Fricker holds a PhD in Architecture and a postgraduate degree in Computer Aided Architectural Design from ETH Zurich. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the National Design Centre Singapore, the National Library of Singapore, the Museum of Modern Art (Finland), as well as a part of Helsinki Design Week.