Reframing positions: Nederland, Nu Als Ontwerp: A discourse between architecture and politics

From Cottages to Concrete: Exchanges with North America in 1960s Finnish architecture through the work of Heikki & Mirja Castrén

The 1960s in Finland were a period of experimentation with concrete, steel, and color, that coincided with a period of rapid economic growth and urbanization. In the building industry, the role of the architect evolved to become a civil servant in a way, entrusted to alleviate shortages in housing and commercial space. Heikki Castrén and his...

Finding meaning in the profane: How libraries can evoke spiritual experiences

Religion is in decline and spirituality starts to take on a more prominent role instead. Although there are abundant religious spaces, this shift did not cause a development in architecture yet. Libraries have similar qualities to religious spaces, like the sense of community and the feeling of retreat, so it is interesting to research how this...

Capturing the atmosphere: Sep Ruf's architecture of reconstruction as a reflection of social change in post-war Munich

Sep Ruf (1908-1982) was one of the most significant architects of German post-war modernism and played a key role in the rebuilding of several cities after World War II, particularly Munich. Along with other German modernist architects and supporters of the New Building movement, Ruf sought to initiate an intellectual renewal of architecture as...

Exploring the Use of Color in Architecture: An Analysis of Luis Barragan and Le Corbusier’s Design Approaches and Their Influence on Educational Spaces

This paper studies the color application in architecture during the 20th century by Le Corbusier and Luis Barragan through a thorough analysis of case studies such as Cité Frugès, Unité d’Habitation, Casa Gilardi, and the Chapel for the Capuchinas, as well as relevant literature reviews. It then explores how color affects users’ perception of a...

‘We came to this land to build and be built’: How architecture influenced the formation of national identity of Israel and vice versa

Aliyah, the great Jewish migration resulting from popularization of Zionism, brought end to the Jewish diaspora in the form, in which it was known before. The massive migration brought large numbers of new settlers to the area of Palestine with the aim of (re)creating their country – Israel. A new country required new infrastructure,...

The Expression of Political Ideology in the Public Architecture of Hans Scharoun and Hermann Henselmann in post-war Berlin

The close relationship of architecture with power caused it to play an important role in the Cold War conflict between the capitalist West and socialist East side of Berlin after World War Two. This research investigates how architecture was used as an expression of political ideology in the public architecture of Hermann Henselmann and Hans...

Scheveningen: from a fishing village to the seaside resort

This history thesis aims to answer the question of how the development of modern tourism has affected the identity of Scheveningen at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The study is based on the analysis of predefined components of the identity of a place, based on research in the field of sociology, modern tourism and identity, as well as...

What They Left Behind: The influence of Jewish architects on Gdynia’s built environment during the Interwar period (1918-1939).

The Second Republic of Poland (1918-1939) was hopeful of rebuilding the nation. The country regained its independence after 123 years and got shaped by newly distributed borders in the Treaty of Riga. Following, 35% of the population identified themselves as ethnic minorities (14% Ukrainians, 10% Jews, 3% Belarusians and 2% Germans). The...

Being church in 2021: An architectural research of 21th century church typologies reconnecting to society

Research about church architecture in the past few centuries mainly focussed on reuse. In the past few years, the focus of a lot of church communities has shifted towards reconnecting with society. Architectural research about this topic in church context is still lacking. This is an opportunity for more research, since the physical built...

Daylight and archtitecture: The role of daylight in modernist architecture

In this history thesis, the role and use of daylight within modernist architecture is explained. Daylight differs not only throughout the day, but also in lattitude. This causes a different approach to the organization and shaping of a building, which is dependent on geography, culture and climate. On the basis of a comparative study, the...

The Rise of Barrier-free Architecture: An analysis of the architectural response to the evolution on of building codes and regulations following the Disability Rights Movement in the United States of America (1950s-1990s)

The building regulations that shape today’s standards of modern architecture have a remarkable historic background that may often be overlooked. What some young architects may perceive as guidelines that are constraining to the design process, are in fact the result of decades of activism for a more inclusive built environment. While...