Feel the Context! Ex situ Horizon Reconstruction in Mountain Landscapes for Bioclimatic Design

Bioclimatic design aims to create environmentally harmonious structures by integrating with local climate. This approach relies on passive and active strategies for sustainability, emphasising factors like proper orientation, natural light utilisation, and understanding solar movement. Sun charts assist in analysing the sun's path, crucial for architects and urban planners. Traditional on-site methods using a compass and clinometer are time-consuming, prompting the adoption of digital approaches, such as GIS and 3D modelling. This study proposes an off-site procedure combining QGIS to estimate visibility parameters for nearby and distant obstructions, enhancing accuracy and efficiency, and Grasshopper components to finally plot a Waldram diagram. The workflow, developed and tested in the mountain landscape of the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy), combines on-site and digital data, underscoring the importance of precise skyline delineation for effective bioclimatic design.