APRON City: A new form of structuralism

System Design in the built environment is one of the most influential design paradigms in architecture and construction. This paper seeks to amalgamate empirical design strategies with various architectural principles, including the notion of “open buildings” or “open-ended architecture,” as well as Structuralism, all within a computational...

Powering a Revolution: The Potential of Carnot Batteries in the Built Environment

The world needs reliable, sustainable, and longer duration energy storage solutions as the share of intermittent renewable energy increases in energy systems. Carnot batteries are a promising, emerging technological class of energy storage that store electricity in the form of thermal exergy. They can be made from abundant materials and existing...

Pin model as a design tool: Affordable upscaling of pin-type models for physical mass analysis of urban, rural, and complex building sites

Architects and urban planners still rely on physical models in the design process, particularly for urban contexts. However, developing such models can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, despite the abundance of digital information available. This study investigates the feasibility of using pin-type models, specifically in the concept and...

Statt Sofa: Closing the Gap between the Urban and the Domestic in Friedrichshain, Berlin

Society is getting more inclusive by the day. Both in terms of race as well as gender, sexuality, religion and so on. This trend of inclusion should find physical correspondence in the design of public spaces that are more accessible to a wider audience with different lifestyles and cultures. The studio of Public Building offered a platform to...

Boosting Urban Soil: Commons of Post-human urbanisation - Architecture, Materiality, Synergies

The ecological question is symptomatic of our time and a multi-disciplinary problem. The material manipulations produced by the architectural and urban design disciplines interfere with essential ecosystemic processes by introducing disruptive materialities and machinery. This work aimed to participate in shaping a solid foundation for the...

Belgrade Central Station: Waiting as a Place of Opportunities

Strategic activation of the 50 year old construction site of the Central Station of Belgrade by the implantation of a permanent service frame work fostering meanwhile uses and public life, while waiting for the possible arrival of a lighter private layer.

Future Bank: Revitalisation of the urban block

The graduation thesis deals with the architectural redevelopment of the National Bank of Belgium. It examines how this refurbishment can benefit the bank, the city of Brussels, and its inhabitants. <br/><br/>Built to its limits, the introverted character of the complex reflects the historical need to secure Belgium's financial reserves within...

Regulations Aware Motion Planning for Autonomous Surface Vessels in Urban Canals

With a growing number of citizens and tourists, the scarce public space, roads, and public transport in Amsterdam are experiencing rising pressure. Instead of utilizing the conventional transportation routes, Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs) could transport goods and people via the 165 canals present in Amsterdam. <br/>However, urban canals are...

The Potential of Urban Farming for Future Climate-proof neighbourhoods

Increasing burdens on the earth’s resource systems are affecting not only the well-being of the planet, but also affects human health, safety and security. The increasing population and the aggregation of people in dense urban pockets adds to the pressures on already complex and volatile global systems. Our systems need to adapt and be resilient...

Operationalizing Urban Resilience: A Machine Learning Approach

Acupunctural Renewal: Urban Housing, Mumbai.

In many of the processes of urban renewal the Social Space produced by the inhabitants of the existing communities is often overlooked. The project makes a claim for the recognition of this "type of space" and further develops strategies so that the built form can be adaptable and open to the constant production and reproduction of Social Space....

St. Elisabeth Ensemble: Not just a brick in the wall

This studio revolves around the revitalization of Nieuwstad, a part of historical Zutphen. The project focuses on the so called St. Elisabeth ensemble: a living facility that is directly connected with a historical chapel and remains of a medieval city wall. The aim of this project is to improve the urban and architectural qualities of a multi...

Exploring Human Activity Patterns Across Cities through Social Media Data

Cities are complex systems, a particular dimension largely contributing to the complexity of cities is detected in the multiplicity of the behaviour of people who inhabit. In the urban context, these behaviours can be inferred from human activities. Understanding the distinctions of these activities between cities is crucial. Previous works...

Chicago Urban Lab

In order to foster a real change in the decaying West Side of Chicago, a new approach has to be investigated in the relation between the business world and local communities. To be effective, the spaces related to working need to be rethought, according to new standard than the actual economic model. The practice is starting to metabolize new...

The Weather Maker

A research in optimizing the urban climate on individual user base in real time. Design exploration in the context of said personal comfort optimization.

Building Technology for climate change adaptation

If we look at the energy consumption of a household we see transport is number one. Open areas in a downtown area are not easy to find, which explains the long travel distance people make. Old harbors are located in the center of a city on the other hand are mostly wasteland. The rea- son is that the area has a high flood risk because it is...