Abstract
Beauty is not always the work of an intelligent cause. Movement often determines, both in a being considered in isolation and in various beings compared to one another, a prodigious multitude of surprising relationships. — Denis Diderot, Treatise on Beauty, 1772. Cities have been approached as systems for several decades, but only in recent years has their theorization shifted from a fundamentally static conception to one that sees them in continuous evolution, shaped by bottom-up processes that modify their structure. Viewing the city as a complex system and analyzing the present and future impact of digital technologies allows us to consider it as a network of interconnected subsystems—some composed of physical elements, others of immaterial or abstract components. Starting from this approach and drawing insights from history, we can hypothesize the conditions that might foster the emergence of beauty in the physical-digital city of the future and reflect on the most suitable planning and design strategies to nurture its development.
Presenters
Mario FoisStudent, Master's Degree, ISIA Roma Design, RM, Italy Loredana Di Lucchio
PhD, Full Professor in Design, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Planning, Design, Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Lorenzo Imbesi
Professor, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Design Across Time
KEYWORDS
Complex Systems, Digital, Organic City, Multilevel, Emerging Beauty, Future Visions
