Honigpoort: a community space for and by improvisation | bricolage

The shopping mall the Molenpoort (Nijmegen) was constructed in 1972 and is creating this hyperreality; an indoor world without rain, wind or snow. The invention of Victor Gruen, a foreign typology from America occupies all the negative space within the building block. Victor Gruen’s idea for the mall was a building where the community would...

Stitching up the community: The co-housing project in the Molenpoort

The co-housing project designed with the reused structure of the Molenpoort commercial centre from the 1970's. The future of the mall is currently being a matter of discussion since the municipality is planning to demolish the whole complex and introduce a completely new urban plan and functions in the area. The design proposal follows the...

Bricolage of Time and Space: A journey trough the transformation of The Molenpoort

Nijmegen, known as the oldest city in the Netherlands, shows many periods and events in history in its architecture. Ruins, walls and contrasts of styles are proof of events that had shaped the city as we can see it today. In the borders of the centre, The Molenpoort, a hybrid between a shopping mall and a passage that was before a place of...

Molenpoort, music and arts school: From pragmatism to sensitivity

Shopping Passage The Molenpoort in Nijmegen is an indoor shopping centre that in current times is struggling with decreasing visitor numbers and rapidly growing shop vacancies. The municipality of Nijmegen has plans to demolish the building completely, and create an outdoor -generic- shopping street with apartments on top. Research points out...

The Urban Game: Design of a Health Center in Nijmegen

The central point of the thesis is formulation and testing of a design method with a strong focus on the user activity and personal experience in the designed space. The design algorithm consists of a series of iterative steps based on architectural and sensorial sequences of activities.<br/>The experimental method was tested in the process of...

Gemeente Molenort

Design of a cohousing project based on partially existing structure of a former 50ies shopping mall. The existing structure is evaluated and freely approached with the open mindset of the bricoleur. The bricoleur as defined by Claude Levi Strauss works with the existing and uses what is at hand. The result is the formation of a new urban...

City Curriculum: Constructing a common place for culture and knowledge exchange

The city of Nijmegen is in a process of losing its unique identity and urban fabric, as a result of a continuous commodification by the interests of private investments. The rise of commercialization creates an environment of strangers where the emphasis lays on individual perspectives and activities, accessible only to particular social groups,...

Common Ground: Urban Architecture

Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, is characterised by its topography, scale, and liberal attitudes. Described as ‘old city, young vibe’, Nijmegen is known for its left-wing politics, stimulated by the presence of Radboud University. It has a heterogeneous population of different subcultures, social groups and nationalities that...

The Architecture of Altering: Revealing Molenpoort

Shopping malls are failing around the world. This global process highlights relevant questions about the future of our cities and the inclusion of the shopping heritage. Are these places valuable? How can these places offer a spatial quality within the city? Departments stores are the consequence of an absolute process which does not establish a...