Preservation through Adaptation: Revitalising St Barbara church with a focus on preservation and choice of materials

The upcoming circular economy has consequences for the application of materials within the building sector, which requires a different mindset and way of designing from the architect. The aim of this research is to develop a Circularity Overview in which the materials of a building can be assessed for circularity and environmental impact. The...

Stitching Palimpsest - Revitalising the former Maranathakerk in Castricum

This thesis explores the use of the palimpsest as a theoretical framework for adapting a heritage building. The research studies the former Maranatherkerk in Castricum, Noord-Holland. Set against a backdrop of ever-increasing secularisation in the Netherlands, the former Maranathakerk characterises the struggle faced by many decommissioned...

The story lives on: Optimizing Narrative driven Design for a Zero-Waste conversion of ex churches.

In Europe Christianity faces steady decline, causing dwindling attendance at<br/>churches. As a result congregations are no longer able to afford the upkeep for their churches, forcing them to end services in these buildings. This caused many grand and historic church buildings to become vacant, and means that many will follow in the near future...

Life in the Shadow of the Atlantikwall: Designing a Reconciliation Landscape for the Places in Between in The Hague

Although not widely known, The Hague emerged as one of the most impaired cities in the Netherlands after World War II (Mellink, Saal &amp; Van Schuppen, 2017). Bombings on Statenkwartier and Bezuidenhout left part of the city in ashes (Van Der Boom, 1995; Verbaan, 2011), but also the construction of the Atlantikwall left its marks on the urban...

Urban Happiness: How urbanists should carry out citizens’ participation during the design process to improve citizens their lives

Social inequility is still part of the current world, not only in the poorer countries but also in the wealthiest once. With the use of gentrification it was tried to hide the poverty by improving the quality of neighbourhoods. Although this improved the liveability and wealthiness of a neighbourhood, it did not improve the lifes of the former...

Regenerative Ruins: Reevaluating and implementing decentralized freshwater harvesting techniques as a tool to transform decaying monuments in the urban context of Willemstad, Curaçao

As freshwater scarcity has become one of the most important environmental and social issues of the 21st century, the way the built environment interacts with water must be reconsidered. Today’s urban water cycle in Curaçao is characterized by linear, centralized, polluting, costly, time and energy consuming and does not contribute to cultural...

UNDOCUMENTED: From Liminal Politics to Intimate Spaces

The protagonist of this work is the rightless, displaced person - a population of individuals in transition, hidden like a shadow in the contemporary city. Departing from the active oppression of this considerable group from the fabric of the city and the ways in which architecture contributes to enclosing or dividing populations, this work...

Inclusive public space: Improving inclusivity through spatial design in Tarwewijk

This research focuses on how to improve levels of inclusivity through spatial design in hyper-diverse and socio-spatial segregated neighbourhoods in order to improve the liveability in urban areas and is conducted in the neighbourhood Tarwewijk in Rotterdam-Zuid. The research has according to theory identified three design values which became...

Regeneration through creativity: Dynamics of a post-socialist, Eastern European society and the possibilities of a creativity-led regeneration in Budapest

The last decades in the spatial development of the cities in Eastern Europe can be described as a complex outcome of the institutional and societal changes after the era change in 1989. During this time the economy of these countries was transformed from a central-planning-controlled system based on state ownership to a neoliberal one, where...

Bringing back movement in Skydebanehaven: Designing a public condenser in the district Vesterbro in Copenhagen

Designing a public condenser in the district of Vesterbro in Copenhagen. As the theme of the project 'movement' increases the group of various people of different ages and cultures. Bringing back sport facilities and greenery improves both healthy living and reducing gentrification.

Living Together: Design a Parisian Neighbourhood both for Tourists and Residents

How to improve the residents living quality while developing tourism in a historical inner city neighbourhood? With its profound historical development and events, Paris has been shaped as a super glorious political centre, the most attractive tourist destination and the most beautiful city in the world. The tourism industry promised the...

Post-War Refurbishment: Making post-war era houses sustainable

The Netherlands faces climate change due to global warming and earthquakes due to gas production. To decrease both earthquakes and CO2 production, the government aims to half the gas production in the coming four years and aims for an entire stop by 2030. Over 80% of Dutch houses are heated with gas; 20% were built in the late post-war era (1960...