Contesting Territories: The significance of the Plein to the power contests between the Dutch government and the people

The thesis is going to unravel, in a spatial sense, the relationship between public space and the power in the Netherlands through the case of the Plein since the 1980s till now. By the analysis on the previous discussions and disputes over the design and use of the Plein, it aims to indicate the priorities of the government and the public in...

The Representation of Power Through Space: A Study of HSBC Building's Urban and Architectural Signifiers

The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Building stands as the headquarter of the most powerful bank in Hong Kong. Designed by the renowned architect Sir Norman Foster and celebrated as an icon of High-tech architecture, it holds a significant position among the city's landmarks. In addition to its significance, the HSBC Building...

The Politics of a Public Space: Taksim Square: An Exploration of How State Politics and Ideology Shape the Evolution of Urban Environments

The conservation of place-based memory is pivotal for both tangible and intangible heritage; however, the unyielding momentum of urban dynamics frequently propels cities into transformation, often overlooking the integration and assessment of personal and collective memories within urban preservation efforts. This investigation is propelled by...

Colonial and Slavery Memorials for the Future: How to complement the current landscape of colonial and slavery memorials in The Netherlands: learning from Monument Indië-Nederland.

We are living in an age of deconstructing history, realizing our past is not as black and white as we once thought it was. By slowly peeling off the different layers of the past, our historical awareness grows and we gain a broader perspective on what has actually happened. Movements such as Black Lives Matter have sharpened our lenses massively...

Remembrance to Repression: Public Space, memorial landscape and collective memory in post-WWII Vienna

In his influential work ‘On collective Memory’, French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs described an intrinsic relationship between the past and present, a reconfiguration of the perceived past through the lens of its current generation’s ideas and experiences. This represents an increasing challenge in the urban realm due to the growing amount of...

Do only the physical qualities of a public space influence the way it’s being used or the activities it hosts and do large-scale socioeconomic events of the past decade affect their function?: Human Activity in Public Spaces Before and During the Pandemic

The scope of this thesis is set to examine the immediate relation of a city’s public spaces to the daily life of its citizens and portray how this relationship evolves. The location under examination is the city center of Athens, Greece. Specifically, focus will be given on two major public squares, namely Syntagma square and Omonia square....

Spaces Beyond Ballroom: The impact of drag subculture on New York City's public space (1920-1990)

During the 1970s in New York, queer people of color consolidated a queer subculture commonly known as ballroom as a response to spatial and social oppression. At a time when problems such as the spread of AIDS, homelessness, drug abuse, and prostitution were heavily portrayed as inherently related to the queer community, trans people of color...

Women’s struggles against patriarchal violence: Debates on women’s safety in Latin American cities during the 1970s and 1980s

Struggles to end violence against women were at the core of activity of Latin American feminist movements in the 1970s and 1980s. In the rapidly transforming cities facing the process of hyper-urbanisation, the problem of street harassment, sexual abuse, and other forms of violence against women in public spaces escalated. Increasing social...

From Memorial Space to Place of Public: Increasing spatial vitality of memorials in Europe after World War II

After World War II, memorial architecture has changed from focusing on heroes and patriotism to mourning those who died in wars and disasters. Instead of only serving as reminders of pain or symbols of commemoration, in recent years some European memorials actually contribute to the liveliness of urban public space and find their new roles to...

Parks, Squares and Political Events:: Difference in accessibility for political events depending on ownership structures

Publicly accessible urban spaces in New York City are subject to different ownership models. Some are privately owned by corporations, which are called POPs. Others are publicly accessible urban spaces publicly owned by the Department of Parks and Recreation. Because there is little research about how the ownership structures of these two...

Identity within Diversity: Rethinking the notion of Megablock Planning Structures in the Metropolization process

This project displays an explorative attempt at redefining the megablock planning concept. The Greater Bay Area (GBA), as the site of interest, is undergoing rapid metropolization, with a risk of resulting in the formation of indistinguishable, generic urban structures. The fast development and the migration process have defined a region with...

Slowing Down in an Impulse-Permeated World: What we can learn from people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder regarding the design of (semi-public) spaces

There are more diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and the world is more and more demanding of our directed attention. This can lead to Directed Attention Fatigue which leads to heightened arousal. Per the Yerkes-Dodson Law, heightened arousal lowers performance in simple and especially in complex tasks. People who are diagnosed with autism...