Revitalizing Philipsburg

Revitalizing Philipsburg: Towards a sustainable, densified, and vibrant neighbourhood.

Hendriks, Céline (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment)

Schroën, Job (graduation committee)
van der Zaag, Engbert (mentor)
Smit, Mo (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

2020-06-22

In 2017 the island Sint Maarten was hit by hurricane Irma. Approximately ninety-one per cent of the build environment was damaged. This made the existing housing shortage, caused by a growing population, even more significant. Now, three years later, the residential area of Philipsburg is mostly deserted. With the departure of its residents, the sense of community in the neighbourhood also vanished. Throughout history the island is connected to natural disasters. To rebuild after a natural disaster, self-building was commonly used within the local building culture. However, this tradition disappeared in the last three decades. This research is looking into opportunities to reintroduce a form of organized self-help housing (OSHH), to contribute to the answer against the housing shortage and turn this district of Philipsburg into a lively neighbourhood again. Within OSHH the community have to build themselves, so residents need to have time to realize the project. Unfortunately, this is not the way things are done on the island, so the project will not be accomplished. A possible solution is found in the bottom-up approach of a Collective Private Commissioning (CPO). The design objective during this project is to examine whether urban densification is an opportunity to meet the demand for extra housing. This is often accompanied by extra paved surface which can provoke the heat island effect. Due to the hot climate and the urbanization, residents prefer to stay in their homes with the air-conditioning on. Within this project the goal is to reduce heat accumulation and stimulate the outdoor life. This combination can reintroduce and encourage the social interaction and strengthen the sense of community on Philipsburg.

Caribbean
Sint Maarten
Philipsburg
Natural Disasters
Housing Shortage
Self-Help Housing (SHH)
Traditional domestic architecture
Contemporary domestic architecture
Balloon Frame System
Urban Densification
Heat Island Effect
Reduction Of Heat Accumulation
Passive cooling
Vegetation
Social Cohesion
Future Resilient Community

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5983bb61-d422-4da5-959d-1ba7086e1c4f

Student theses

master thesis

© 2020 Céline Hendriks