Tracing Shadows and Shaping Futures: Exploring the Legacy and Future of Soviet-Era Housing in Riga

Despite nearly three decades having passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Soviet-era housing remains a significant component of major cities’ housing stocks. Often perceived as outdated and socially stigmatized, these housing estates surpass their intended lifespan, leading to difficulties in maintenance and renovation. In this study,...

Westergasfabriek: A Case Study Into Adaptive Reuse of post-industrial Heritage

Adaptive reuse can be defined in a multitude of ways, but in this case it refers to the renovation and revitalisation of a building or site into a new purpose brought forth by societal and urban needs. This concerns many different projects, yet this paper aims to explore the nature of post-industrial designs and how they may be developed into...

The Rise and Fall of Plan C: A Historical Analysis on Rotterdam’s Urban Development

Plan C, a landmark building in Rotterdam erected in 1889, represents a significant chapter in the city’s urban development. Amidst Rotterdam’s rapid modernization during the late 19th century, Plan C emerged as a multifunctional solution to address pressing traffic congestion issues and symbolized innovative urban renewal strategies. This...

The Destruction and Reconstruction of Aleppo’s Citadel: A Historical Analysis

The Citadel of Aleppo is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, and the greatest landmark of Aleppo. Located on top of a hill in the middle of the city, it stands as a symbol of resilience, having faced many challenges during various historical events through the centuries. This thesis analyses the architectural trajectory of Aleppo...

Characterisation of bacterial decay effects on wooden foundation piles across various historical periods

In the historic city centre of Amsterdam (NL), the predominant foundation system is comprised of wooden piles. Due to their placement below the water table, these foundations are susceptible to bacterial decay. This study aims to investigate and compare various methods for characterizing decay patterns within the cross sections of piles...

The stories behind the stones: How the intangible aspects of architectural heritage can serve as a guiding theme within the design process

This graduation study examined in an exploratory way how the ‘intangible’ aspects of architectural [built] heritage could be made ‘tangible’ by means of an innovative and strategic collaborative or ‘counter-mapping’-based methodology, in order to give the socio-cultural or intangible aspects of architectural heritage a more prominent place in...

Factors Linking Perceptions of Built Heritage Conservation and Subjective Wellbeing

This research aims to reveal and discuss state-of-the-art research addressing the relation between built heritage and individuals’ subjective wellbeing (SWB). Through a systematic literature review, fifty-one studies were analyzed. Even if limited, past research confirms the substantial relation between built heritage and subjective wellbeing...

Financialized Berlin: The Monetary Transformation of Housing, Architecture and Polity

A financialized real estate market is both an abstraction of global capital flows and a localized driver of gentrification. Under this premise, architectural form and urban design become a performance of contradicting value formations. Drawing on the methods of urban history, geography, architectural criticism and performative writing...

To Revive & To Remember: Re-imagine the use of Bezistan Passage, Belgrade, Serbia

The location of my graduation project takes place within the complex neighborhoods of downtown Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia. It sits at the beginning of Trg Nikole Pasica street, and lies at the intersection of two monumental squares (Nikola Pasic Square and Terazije Square and Terrace). It is an urban passage called the Bezistan (means...

The social greenhouse: Revitalising heritage through food, an example of circular food production within urban areas.

The graduation studio of Heritage and Architecture evolves around the revitalisation of the Hembrug area, which is located between Amsterdam and Zaanstad along the North Sea Canal. The site functioned as military production stores, testing site and as the logistical heart of the “Stelling van Amsterdam”, the defense line of Amsterdam. This...

Visual Content Analysis and Linked Data for Automatic Enrichment of Architecture-Related Images

Built form dominates the urban space where most people live and work and provides a visual reflection of the local, regional and global esthetical, social, cultural, technological and economic factors and values. Street-view images and historical photo archives are therefore an invaluable source for sociological or historical study; however,...

Negotiating heritage in danish public housing renovation

This paper presents a significant problem when it comes to the challenging task of safeguarding recentpast architectural heritage with reference to the democratization ideals propagated by the New Heritage paradigm. Based on controversy mapping relating to the renovation of a Danish 1950s high-rise complex of public housing, it discusses how...

Tirana new paradigm: From post-communist towards a sustainable city

This Graduation Project focuses on the urban regeneration of Tirana’s city centre. The chaotic transition from a communist regime towards a democratic system has generated several urban problems where the increasing informality predominates. This project works as a strategic vision which aims to create the spatial-economic conditions for a...

Waardestelling in de Nederlandse monumentenzorg 1981-2009

The special value that is attributed to historic buildings and structures is the foundation of built heritage conservation and preservation. National guidelines and international charters state that the cultural-historical values attributed to a monument must be leading in drawing up and assessing preservation plans for a monument. To indicate...

Interventions for the Sustainable Development of Architectural Heritage - The Example of the Soda Fabriek in Schiedam, NL

Existing historic buildings, remnants of a past long gone are often still highly operational in our time, most likely at the expense of the environment. Without interventions, their energy performance is outdated – provided they are used in a contemporary way - and they contribute to the over-consumption of energy and the increase of greenhouse...

Action Based Approach to Archaeological Reconstruction Projects: Case of the Karnak Temple in Egypt

The proposed paper deals with a numerical approach that could better assist the archaeologist in the archaeological reconstruction projects. The goal of our research is to explore and study the use of computerized tools in archaeological reconstruction projects of monumental architecture in order to propose new ways in which such technology can...