· · · Institutional Repository

Due to a merger of the eight villages and cities around and including Antwerp in the early 80’s into a unified Antwerp, the existing governmental facilities became the new districts district houses. This merger changed the way the district council and staff is organised dramatically. A new approach for the way a district house is organised should be envisioned within Deurnes fragmented context. The location is located on a junction between Hugh apartment towers, the historical center of Deurne and the old church and vicar. A small urban intervention creates a new square on one of Deurnes primary axis, the Turnhoutsebaan. This road is connecting Deurne physically and visually with Antwerp, creating a symbolic gesture towards the district house and its city.

This research highlights the gap between the official rhetoric and the political reality of democratic decentralisation and bottom-up planning using an indepth study of the metropolitan planning process in Kolkata, India. The key question that I address here is: how do elected officials at different governmental levels, professional planners, and ordinary citizens interact in the process of metropolitan planning, and which players dominate the process? I focus on the dynamic interactions between planners and the operation of the political process that shapes this reality. The empirical material for this case study includes interviews with actors involved in the metropolitan planning process in Kolkata, documents in the form of study reports, master plans, minutes of meetings, and official memos produced by the planning agency and by other organisations and individuals involved with metropolitan planning in Kolkata. Archival data from local and national newspapers were also used to substantiate some of the information gathered from other sources. My analysis of the case illustrates the following: (1) there are differences in the real motives for the state to pursue decentralisation and what it claims to be behind its decentralisation policy; (2) the planning process is unlikely to be truly bottom-up if power is concentrated within any one political party; (3) external funding, either from international agencies or higher levels of government, has the potential to force change in the local and regional structures of decision making so that the voices of ordinary people can be included in public decision making; (4) for the effective implementation of bottom-up approaches to metropolitan planning the planning bureaucracy needs to be independent of the political class; (5) bottom-up planning requires that planning capacity be built from a grassroots level. This requires devolution of both responsibilities and means/resources to carry out those responsibilities to the lowest level of planning; (6) the politicisation of decision making along party lines limits planning from the bottom up. Political parties in Kolkata and West Bengal are hierarchical organisations where members are accountable mainly to those above them. Therefore they are unlikely to become advocates for multiple constituencies and effective agents of change for bottom-up planning processes.

The project looks for urban design tools to develop a sustainable urban structure for shrinking Heerlen. Through a set of interventions at different scales, it brings formal and informal processes together,emphasizes regional identity, uses landscape and geomorphology as a determinant of urban development.

Research and Design for a mixed used building in Berlin on the Tacheles site. The research focusses on the phenomenon of laboratory spaces: bottom up used superfluous (previously unused) space with a creative function. The design of the building mimics the characteristics of the urban conditions of these laboratory spaces. A generous amount os space is created to be colonized by the inhabitants of Berlin...

This graduate project is called “Freedom VIC for Urban VIC Team”, which is dealing with the Village in the City (VIC) transformation in Shenzhen China, focusing on the transformation of VIC (the “ghetto” area), in Shenzhen’s current society. This project derives from the current situation that there are 251 VICs in the inner city of Shenzhen, and those areas are always be regarded as a negative place, “ghetto” place from official perspective. As a result, government always make “Top-down” transformation in VIC area which aims to improve the physical qualities in VIC but erase all the values of VIC. Therefore, the project is aiming to find out better approach for VIC transformation by finding both the negative and positive values of VIC from social, physical and cultural aspects.

This graduate project is called “Freedom VIC for Urban VIC Team”, which is dealing with the Village in the City (VIC) transformation in Shenzhen China, focusing on the transformation of VIC (the “ghetto” area), in Shenzhen’s current society. This project derives from the current situation that there are 251 VICs in the inner city of Shenzhen, and those areas are always be regarded as a negative place, “ghetto” place from official perspective. As a result, government always make “Top-down” transformation in VIC area which aims to improve the physical qualities in VIC but erase all the values of VIC. Therefore, the project is aiming to find out better approach for VIC transformation by finding both the negative and positive values of VIC from social, physical and cultural aspects.

The main problématique of the site -Ciudad Juarez and the graduation studio was to investigate into the various issues contributing to the emerging phenomenon of abandoned housing in Mexico. In addition to poor urban planning, there is a fundamentally flawed system in the manner in which social housing is conceived, designed, produced, inhabited and devalued in Mexico. These factors create a cycle of decay and dysfunction of which abandoned housing becomes one of the many spatial consequences. The goal of the thesis project was to come up with a strategic proposal and interventions which can provide counter or alternative proposals to the current situation of decay and allow for a socio-economic platform to develop from within the community. The project investigates into how urban agriculture or in this case peri-urban (peripheral urban) agriculture and other related programs serve as a ‘bottom-up’ strategy to tackle the ‘top-down’ issues in Juarez. A matrix with a toolbox for production and an inventory of open space explores the possibility of creating continuous productive landscapes and new urban infills from voids and forms the first step towards orgainizing the city towards the creation of productive landscapes. This not only provides food for the community but also allows for transforming the current urban landscape in Riberas Del Bravo by transforming the ‘terrain vague’ – the abandoned houses, fallow land, unused urban spaces into productive, green spaces through urban farms, community gardens, community kitchens and greenhouses. Architectural expression of the primarily utilitarian buildings which develop during the phase-wise development of the strategy take into consideration local, easily available materials and passive climate concepts. The project also investigates into the role of various stakeholders and urban actors involved in the various stages of the institutionalization of urban agriculture in Ciudad Juarez to develop a multi-stakeholder platform for implementation of urban agriculture.

The housing stock in the Netherlands is not up to date when it comes to the energy ambitions of the government. The covenant Meer met Minder urges for the CO2 reduction of 30% in the built environment in between 2008 and 2020. This means that 2,4 million buildings in the country have to be energy renovated within a set time limit. Housing corporations and local governments try to energy renovate houses in large-scale projects targeting whole neighborhoods or complexes of buildings. For corporations, 70% of the tenants has to agree with the renovations, a number that is often not reached. Residents, however, are not quite as ambitious as the government. Energy renovations in their houses are supposed to save money, improve the environment, improve the comfort of the house and the indoor air quality, but these benefits are not yet convincing enough to accept energy renovations. An energy efficient house is an intangible product that is not adopted easily by residents. In this graduation project, the factors behind the decision for energy renovations are explored. A method is made to explore the factors behind the acceptance of energy renovations in a neighborhood; knowledge, attitude and intention of residents. Because of this, a more effective target group segmentation can be made, which enhances the chance of a successful renovation project, in this case more energy renovated houses.

This graduation project offers an alternative to the tradition in top-down planning in the Netherlands. The test-case for this strategy is the transformation of former industry area ‘Schieoevers’ in Delft. Both a spatial framework and a policy framework are created to support bottom up development of this project location. The spatial framework is an urban design of the main networks and the policy framework are the rules for developing an area enclosed by this network. The bottom up development is a form of self-organization in which a group of private and public initiatives can develop an area (unit) of the project location. The ‘Schieoevers’ will be developed into a pedestrian-based neighbourhood with a mix of living and working on a small scale. The rules for self-organization should guide the development in this desired direction. To test the bottom up strategy for densification three games where organized to simulate the self-organization process.

The main problématique of the site -Ciudad Juarez and the graduation studio was to investigate into the various issues contributing to the emerging phenomenon of abandoned housing in Mexico. In addition to poor urban planning, there is a fundamentally flawed system in the manner in which social housing is conceived, designed, produced, inhabited and devalued in Mexico. These factors create a cycle of decay and dysfunction of which abandoned housing becomes one of the many spatial consequences. The goal of the thesis project was to come up with a strategic proposal and interventions which can provide counter or alternative proposals to the current situation of decay and allow for a socio-economic platform to develop from within the community. The project investigates into how urban agriculture or in this case peri-urban (peripheral urban) agriculture and other related programs serve as a ‘bottom-up’ strategy to tackle the ‘top-down’ issues in Juarez. A matrix with a toolbox for production and an inventory of open space explores the possibility of creating continuous productive landscapes and new urban infills from voids and forms the first step towards orgainizing the city towards the creation of productive landscapes. This not only provides food for the community but also allows for transforming the current urban landscape in Riberas Del Bravo by transforming the ‘terrain vague’ – the abandoned houses, fallow land, unused urban spaces into productive, green spaces through urban farms, community gardens, community kitchens and greenhouses. Architectural expression of the primarily utilitarian buildings which develop during the phase-wise development of the strategy take into consideration local, easily available materials and passive climate concept. The project also looks at the role of various stakeholders and urban actors involved in the various stages of the institutionalization of urban agriculture in the site.

Create a system to re-organise public space in Kowloon City, Hong Kong - reduce the fragmentation of open spaces - connect different microcosmos to the ‘whole’ -highlight the qualities of public space the space ‘in between’ -allow the dynamics to invade Kai Tak

De titel ‘Op zoek naar een nieuw ruraal ideaal’ staat voor een strategie met als doel een zelfstandige en duurzame dorpsgemeenschap te scheppen bestaande uit oorspronkelijke bewoners en nieuwkomers. De strategie is toegespitst op het aansporen en betrekken van de lokale bevolking en omvat drie elementen; een reizende kermis als initiator, een ambitiekaart als communicatiemiddel en multifunctionele gebouwen als instrumenten.

Post-Exodus or the involuntary prisoners of Architecture, is a project about corrupt well intended top-down pretentions. A project about when utopia becomes dystopia. About when the built environment becomes out of tune with experienced and desired reality. Accumulating to the point of large scale vacancy and crisis. The focus of the project will be the case of the Kleiburg flat, the last untouched piece of Bijlmer ideology. The project was done in the graduation lab 'Design as Politics' with the underlying theme 'In the Ghetto', in which a personal view on the definition of a ghetto was encouraged. In this project the ghetto is described as an urban area that resonates with negative associations, as a segregated area often associated with the social-economic-weaker section. Due to the unpopularity of the urban area, real-estate values drop, investors and project-developers stay away. Conditions deteriorate. For those who want to leave the ghetto but can not afford to do so, the ghetto becomes an urban prison. The title of the project plays with the idea of architecture's ability to manifest dreams and desires. As the exodus took place and people moved towards the better, they left behind the old. The exodus was for those who could afford to leave; those unable to escape the undesired urban conditions where left behind. Post-Exodus focuses on these deprived areas, on these places of undesired architecture. It searches how to become a desired place once again, even when the means are limited. The research investigates a South-American Prison situated in Bolivia, in the capital city of La Paz. In the old city center, on the old colonial spanish grid the prison of San Pedro stands. Hidden behind the stucco walls, upon passing the guarded gate, a unexpected vivid community is revealed; the self-regulating inmate population of San Pedro. The prison was inspired by the panopticon model (Pentonville, London) of Jeremy Bentham. Built around the nineteen hundreds, this ideological prison model proved to be one of unrealistic utopia. The penitentiary system could not live up to the build expectations. The conditions of the inmate population deteriorated inside the prison walls. Without a welfare state or governmental subsidies the prisoners where appointed to their own ability to take matters into their own hands. Escape was not an option, the solution had to come from within... The do-it-yourself attitude of the prisoners resulted in an unique bottom-up transformation of the old prison model. Over time the prisoners slowly adapted the building to fit their basic needs, constantly fighting for their rights and defending every square inch. They held no nostalgia of the past, adapting to the new reality of their needs, adapting the build environment at best to survive. Over time San Pedro Prison developed its own logic, a mini-society with its own micro-economy, micro-policies, democratic elections, a prison real-estate market, cafes, restaurants, fitness area, sauna's, pool halls, tv corners, shops, dentist, churches, ceremony square, football competitions, tourism, workplaces, jobs and even more.. The San Pedro Prison inspires to look in a different way at the built environment we inhabit. It inspires to think in a different way about our attitude towards buildings. It inspires to think in a different way about architecture. It inspires to see how in the worst conceivable conditions, the prisoners of San Pedro where able to transform their built environment into a more favorable condition, to suit their lives and needs better. Transformation as a continues process, attuning to the ever changing times. Kleiburg is dead, it's ideology faded in the face of reality. Time has changed, Kleiburg stood still. If Kleiburg is not to parish in irrelevance it must once more become a part of our dreams and desires. Emergent societal trends and changes must then form the basis of its transformation. In times of financial crisis, unpredictability and uncertainty the means are limited. The answers must not be sought in the top-down financial power of big project developers but in the power of the ordinary people; the power of the people dwelling and working in and around Kleiburg. The design investigates a bottom-up approach, a do-it-yourself attitude, a gradual growth towards a new future. To clarify such a development a scenario was written in which the existing local social and urban fabric where extrapolated into the Kleiburg building. The initial conditions are dictated by the structural possibilities of the Kleiburg flat itself. The installation of the 'Gate' marks the presence of an underlying democratic process. Spatial hierarchy determines the relationship of space and influence of individuals/collectives on the built environment. In a set of projects possibilities are designed, each design telling a different story, each story exploring a new theme, each theme adding to a bigger scale. By the time we look back at all the different designs we will witness the emergence of museum. A Bottom-Up-Museum symbolizing the deconstruction of the prestigious 'starchitect' object, reconstructed by ordinary people.