This research aims to develop design guidelines that foster a healthy living environment in the Tarwewijk neighborhood of Rotterdam. The focus is on creating a project that not only enhances residents’ well-being but also contributes to local biodiversity. By integrating nature into the design, the study will explore how ecological strategies can positively impact residents. Understanding these design interventions will help create living spaces that promote healthier, more sustainable lifestyles for the community, ultimately aiming to prevent future issues related to well-being.

The research emphasizes that designing a healthy living environment is a multifaceted approach spanning various scales, each playing a vital role in enhancing the overall well-being of Tarwewijk residents. In neighborhoods like Tarwewijk, where health challenges and environmental concerns intersect, integrating nature and co-housing principles across various scales can create a supportive, resilient, and healthier environment. These elements not only improve the quality of life for individuals but also foster social cohesion, a sense of community, and biodiversity, key factors for long-term well-being. To address this, designers can incorporate various guidelines applicable at different scales to enhance residents’ well-being. ... Read more

This research explores how architectural interventions can foster urban resilience in post-disaster contexts, focusing on the Uzun Çarşı in Antakya after the 2023 Türkiye earthquake. Through fieldwork, discourse analysis, and ethnographic methods, the study examines how materiality, collective memory, and community agency drive recovery processes. Uzun Çarşı, despite severe destruction, demonstrated resilience through community-led spatial adaptation and the reactivation of everyday practices. The study proposes a community-driven reconstruction of a spice market, utilizing rubble as memory anchors and emphasizing participatory building processes. Rather than restoring a pre-disaster state, the design embraces transformation and continuity, highlighting resilience as an ongoing, dynamic process rooted in social, material, and spatial relations. ... Read more

There is a growing distance between humans and their material surroundings. The Oldambt region in North Groningen and its farming culture serves as an example. Despite numerous initiatives to regenerate this area in recent decades, these efforts have struggled to gain footing, due to a lack of connection with the landscape. The region requires a regenerative approach to new developments, with its abandoned farmyards presenting an opportunity. This led to the following research question: How can landscape stewardship contribute to a regenerative farmyard with a tectonic that depends on the regional landscape?
The research investigated three elements—landscape stewardship, tectonic, and the regional landscape—using the method of wandering, as a tool for observation and encounter. The design explored the emergence of a regenerative building culture rooted in the landscape, focusing on how farming as an ecological relationship with the landscape could support this development. The designer developed a set of design principles based on the three elements derived from the research. They can be applied to farmyards in the area. The three elements—regional landscape, landscape stewardship, and tectonic—are interrelated in research and design. The design aims to illustrate the interrelation of these elements in its architecture and their contribution to the regeneration and preservation of the Groninger landscape, encapsulated in the concept of “Het nieuwe Borgen.”

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Shanghai has experienced rapid urbanization over the past 30 years, with a large number of rural areas being transformed into semi-urbanized areas with mixed functions. The main drivers were top-down state-led development, market forces, and bottom-up rural industrialization. The scale and speed of this process have far exceeded expectations, leading to a series of socio-ecological problems such as population loss, industrial decline, and environmental pollution. Based on the analysis, this dissertation identifies two development directions: industrial restructuring and ecological protection, to cope with the uncertainty of population growth, a scenario-building approach is used to explore the optimal strategies under different circumstances. Design strategies are extracted through scenario evaluation and applied to strategic planning. ... Read more

Increasing density of housing in postwar neighbourhoods can simultaneously help in reducing housing shortages, address social-economic issues and enable a 2000-watt-society. Shifting household compositions have seen household sizes reduced and floor space usage increase, which corresponds to higher energy and material use. Reducing floor space usage per capita is a prerequisite for enabling sustainable housing. Usage of efficient principles from cooperative housing, such as sharing functions and spaces can allow for greatly reduced floor space usage per capita, without reducing quality of dwellings. The application of these principles in the postwar neighbourhood through transformation of existing buildings can be key in ensuring that they become suitable for a circular economy by 2050. ... Read more

The Hofbogen has already undergone significant redevelopment after being out of service since 2002. This includes the establishment of the Luchtsingel roof park in 2015 and the ongoing construction until 2024 to transform the empty roof of the Hofbogen line into a nature-inclusive park. Within this existing masterplan, the project seeks to add value by proposing a building addition to the Hofbogen infrastructure at the Bergweg station. One of the key challenges in designing a biodiverse park on a rooftop is water management. The engineering aspect of the project is crucial for working with the existing structure to create architecture that generates positive output for the park, the area, and its users. The project gives emphasis on the conscious choice of materials and is attentive to their lifecycle implications. In the context of the contemporary building industry, it is necessary to support the principles of reuse and demountability and the use of existing structures. Consequently, the project is designed to be constructed on top of an existing structure within the urban fabric, and represents a demountable building approach that utilizes highly adaptable building pieces capable of accommodating change. Overall, this graduation project aligns with the architectural engineering studio's focus on designing ecological and socially responsible architecture while contributing to a sustainable development of Rotterdam's urban landscape. ... Read more

Done under the Urban Architecture Graduation studio, this graduation project based in Maastricht, the Netherlands, delves into the theme of renewals in the city’s urban history, followed by a theoretical exploration of interstitial sites in areas which are in the process of transformation and simultaneous de-industrialization. Learning from the past renewals and present conditions of the northern industrial fringe of Maastricht, the design intervention on the former Sappi factory terrain, looks at how existing structures and the spaces between them can be repurposed and reused rather than direct demolition. It also looks at how careful architectural interventions can create harmonious relations between old and new developments and reshape urban environments while preserving traces of the site’s industrial past. ... Read more

As one of the most important ecosystems on the planet, the coastal zone accommodates a denser population than the hinterland and faces faster urbanization and higher population growth. Meanwhile, the coastal zone is exposed to several climate change disasters in the context of a sensitive environment dominated by water. It is considered with limited resources and capacities to respond to stress, thus the coastal zone is also one of the most vulnerable ecosystems. This master thesis in Landscape Architecture focuses on the Northern Java island, specifically Pekalongan city, Indonesia. The local see a dilemma between natural resources and batik development, for this dominant industry is highly reliant on water. Pekalongan people actively fight against natural disasters and try to boom the cultural significance. But, without understanding the natural process and resilience thinking, the interventions are slightly ineffective, and even could be counterproductive from a long-term perspective. Therefore the objective of the thesis is to create a resilient landscape framework to facilitate water safety and batik development in Pekalongan city by focusing on the three dominant water-related design assignments, known as water circulation, discharge capacity, and coastal protection. Moreover, the project aims to consolidate and enhance the cultural significance of batik and raise awareness of landscape potentials. Under the resilient landscape theoretical framework, with the guidance of landscape- based solutions, the project seeks to build a new relationship between people and nature to mitigate the threats of climate change disasters and batik development from a long term and sustainable perspective. Design research and research by design provide the methods to conduct the investigations. The design work is conducted in three different scales, proposing strategies on a regional scale; detailed elaboration on selected sites; infrastructure design. Besides, a toolbox is also included to provide inspirations and glues for coastal zones which face similar threats and dilemmas as Pekalongan city. ... Read more

You can find them in almost any major cultural city. Combinations of museum-clusters and public parks: museum-parks. What are the (urban) advantages of these cultural clusters in the middle of the city and what role does the museum-park play in the urban fabric? In this architectural study of museum-clusters, Sophie Kugel dissects four museum-parks on different topics, such as spatial composition, route and architectural representation. By creating drawings on different scales for each case study, all four museum-parks can be well compared in order to answer the research question: What is the interaction between the museum-park and the public space in the city and in what architectural way makes the museum-park use of the advantages of museumclustering? ... Read more

The Pearl River Delta region includes nine cities in Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangmen in Guangdong Province, with a total area of 56,000 square kilometers. It is one of the three largest urban agglomerations in China with the most developed industry and the densest population. Among them, Guangzhou is a representative city.

In this project, Guangzhou, one of the most representative cities in the Pearl River Delta region, is selectedas the research area. The main goal is to solve the problem of waterlogging. After conducting literature research, site visit, and case study, this project will focus on solving the problem of waterlogging by constructing green-blue structures. At the same time, in the design project, the multi-scale design is carried out, from the Guangzhou scale, Panyu district scale, neighborhood scale to chosen site scale, more detailed planning and design are carried out step by step. Some industrial transformation sites are selected to expand the new green-blue structure.

Because the entire Pearl River Delta region has things in common in the terrain and development model, this method can be used as a reference for solving similar problems in other cities. ... Read more

The title of the research, and consequently the guiding principle behind the design, making is thinking, stemmed from a frustration with the often-held view that the latter is of greater importance than the former. That thinking, as our intellect of the mind, is of a superior motive to the things we do or make with our hands, and this is a condition which belongs to both society and the individual’s psychology. However, I believe this is not the case. I have the view that making is fundamental to our being and complements our thinking as its equal.
Part of the research was a search through history, to explore whether this distinction had always been made, and if not, why and how it had happened. The history of our intellectual developments is a long and very rich one, and it is the reason why we practice architecture the way we do today. It is essentially a question of representation: what architecture, and the other things of our making, represent, but also how those things are representative of the tools we use to make them. Yet the idea that the thing in question represents a larger, intellectual or philosophical field might not have always been the case. A contemporary art historian, makes an extraordinary case for an origin of architecture in the Archaic Greek temple which had to first exist before man could have the necessary perception of things to theorise about them. Like Heidegger before her, she reasons that it is in the beautifully made art work, through the human perception of depth, which belongs to all of our senses, that human beings can take the outlook upon themselves. In her argument, making is what allowed man to think.
But really, the most fundamental conclusion from the research, and essential to the project, was that things, and architecture most definitely is a thing—philosophically speaking—are defined by the matter from which they are made. Yet this is often a mistrusted truth. Our history has made us doubt this truth. That same history has given us the practice to which we adhere today, but for those of us who believe in the importance of things, and their importance as our frame of reference for a sense of being in the world, or as Heidegger would call it, a sense of dwelling, then how those things are made is an ethical and extremely important question.
However, to accept only our origin is to deny the rest of the human condition which belongs to the entirety of human history. Therefore, the scientific and political realm to which architecture now rightfully belongs, through our intellectual developments in representation, cannot be dismissed. Design then is about the mediation between the two—between our poetic, communicative origins, and our intellectual, instrumental present condition. In practice it is about the balance between thinking and making—our heads and our hands.
Along side the philosophical undertaking of the research a series of making exercises were undertaken. These four cubes were made with only two rules. Firstly, the shape, the cube. And secondly, the knowledge and potential of the material itself. These cubes were specifically about the making of things bound to their inherent material properties. They were made by the material guiding me, and not the other way around. This is the definition of making, thought of by its philosophical and etymological definition. In Greek poiesis means to make, but furthermore, and as Heidegger defined it, it means to bring something into being that did not exist before. It is the mimesis of nature. And so, the poet takes from the things that surround him and he makes them his own. This is how the architect acts ethically too—by making things appropriate to the place and for the people who they provide space.
And this was the very objective of the design thesis, Moments for Repose; Making Along the Pennine Way, to explore, through making, how one can act poetically.
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The Spoorzone in Delft is an area that was once occupied by the railway. The historic city grew organically, and later expanded around this transportation hub. Nowadays, the railway is situated in a tunnel underground. Leaving behind a substantial vacant plot in the middle of the city waiting to be reterritorialized. On one side is the historic city centre and on the other many neighbourhoods with their own identities. The Spoorzone finds itself in between territories; in between old and new, west and east, city and neighbourhoods.
Given the fact that we live in a rapid changing society, the question arises how to develop a substantial plot in the city in a durable way. How to approach a design project on a site that once was a border in between territories ànd is able to keep up with rapid changes that characterize our time. This project proposes a shift in thinking to approach the design as a dynamic process rather than a final image. This research and corresponding design project is about thinking in territories.

The goal of the project is to see architecture as dynamic. The main question therefore reads as follows: ‘How can an architect change its view on architecture from static to dynamic, and become able to trigger a perpetual re-assembling of space, by using territoriality as a working concept?’ The answer to this question will be explored by two ways of working. A theoretical and practical one. The practical part will be examined in the design project.

The research paper is the theoretical part and consist of a literature review in the field of philosophy (focussing on Deleuze and Guattari) and design studies. Concepts as territory and in-between are examined in detail to gain a basic understanding and help the reader to approach architecture from a different angle.
The main finding is that a building can be approached as subject producing. Encounters between the subject and the building are affective and determine what a body can do and what it can undergo. By thinking in territories, it is possible to discover affects and to open up multiple possible outcomes of encounters between subject and physical environment. By being able to see architecture as dynamic, a building can be seen as durable, because of being able to trigger a perpetual re-assembling of use of a space.

The design project proposes a living room for the city that is able to keep up with the rapid changing desires of our time and, additionally bridges the gap two between the different sides of Delft, inviting people to overcome this border. The design is based on a simple structure with set of frames. Variation of this structure are make up the whole building. The frames will affect its users, giving it limits to move in between. However can be can also be affected upon, keeping it open to future activities.

The project is organized along a structure that moves from explaining the tiniest ingredients of a territory to the reassembling in new circumstances. This is done by breaking down, including and excluding, and finally re-assembling the components of a territory. The transition from research to the design will be made by constantly following these steps and evaluating them.
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We all refer to it in our daily lives; we talk about a concert as having a good vibe, we talk about a social situation as being ‘gezellig’, we talk about the impression of a part of town as being gloomy and we even talk about the mood of a day as having a sense of anticipation. Atmosphere is a familiar conversational subject, but at the same time it is remarkably undefinable. We return to the use of the term constantly despite its ambiguous quality, or maybe even because of it. And this atmospheric description that seems to be applicable to every situation always concern a spatial sense of ambience.

Remarkably, the notion of atmosphere remains largely unaddressed in architectural education and practice. The appreciation for the art of building is still largely dependent upon the supremacy of it’s functional, aesthetic and conceptual value. The essential task of architecture to support human life by engaging with human experiential reality has been frequently overshadowed by these formal inclinations. Atmosphere could be defined as the very initial and immediate experience of space, and thus can be understood as a notion that addresses architectural quality. Fortunately, there has been a development in which architectural practices are showing a renewed interest in atmospheric quality in the built environment. Leading advocates of the value of the atmospheric dimension in architectural design include architect Peter Zumthor, architectural theorist Juhani Pallasmaa, philosopher Gernot Böhme and environmental sociologist Jean-Paul Thibaud.

Despite the fast-growing research field, the discussion on architectural atmosphere does entail a certain ambiguity. After all, the atmospheric experience is something personal, ephemeral and vague, but above all it is hard to conceptualise. We seem to be able to immediately sense the atmosphere of a place, but it seems to be very difficult to capture in text or design. We are able to intuitively recognise atmosphere, like when we recognise the essence of the weather in a glance, but we are not able to define, analyse or understand its phenomenological origin. The Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges captures this difference between intuitive and analytical identification as follows: ‘We might say that we know something only when we are unable to define it…This is what we know what poetry is. We know it so well that we cannot define it.’.

Despite the elusive character of atmospheres, is it suggested by the intuitive recognition and appreciation of the atmospheric dimension that we are able to share this intuitive sense with a larger community. The atmospheric experience seems to have a collective quality about it. Therewith the atmospheric experience has the inherent quality to be as much the realm of the layman and daily use, as it is the realm of the expert and professional discourse. I believe that non-architects primarily sense the atmosphere of a place or building, opposed to appreciating distinct visible and formal concepts. Therewith non-architects have the advantage of approaching places and atmosphere more intuitively, whereas architects to often assume an intellectual and theoretical approach. Layman may not have the vocabulary to verbalise their sensitivities for the atmospheric dimension that is acquired through an architectural or artistic education, but the notion that the sensitivity for the atmospheric dimension is largely intuitive indicates that the actual sensitivity does not necessarily differ between layman and expert. And this exceptional transcending quality is why atmosphere may be the ultimate intermediary between architectural quality as perceived by the architects who design the architectural plan and architectural quality as perceived by the inhabitants of the architectural environment.

I believe that architectural atmospheres are more effective than the architectural discourse has been willing to rationally admit. I would even argue that the atmospheric dimension of a constructed environment is the key to architectural quality. Therefore in this research I would like to explore how the atmospheric dimension may attain its proper place in architectural design. The main question of the research considers:
How can an architect integrate atmospheric quality in the design of architecture and the built environment?

Dissecting this question into four parts, we will consecutively explore the phenomenon, the perception, the process and the plan. The research thesis will start with an introductory chapter in which we will look into what the perception of atmosphere entails. In chapter one we will look into the conditions under which atmosphere may be perceived. Subsequently we will look into the atmospheric dimension in relation to the design process, and finally we will explore its relation to the architectural realm.

Atmosphere by definition, seems to lack definition. This inherent paradox will echo throughout this research on how to construct atmosphere. The very act of analysing and defining the atmospheric phenomenon may result in the dissolution of its very quality. Therefore the research approach is built around the duality between an analytic and an intuitive approach. Even though the main body of this research considers a theoretical exploration of the atmospheric dimension in architectural design, I have sincerely attempted to protect the ambiguous quality and integrity of the atmospheric phenomenon. However in order to counteract this theoretical and analytical approach and to appreciate the personal, ephemeral and ambiguous qualities of an atmospheric experience I simultaneously kept a so-called atmospheric journal. This highly personal document, called Encountering Atmosphere - a personal account of the atmospheric dimension, contains memories, observations and encounters of atmospheric experiences. A multiplicity of sketches, images and words illustrate the way matter, light, rhythm, age, imperfection, fragility and life move me to evoke a rich emotive response to space and matter that seems to be the essence of atmosphere.

Furthermore, I aim to integrate the acquired knowledge on the integration of atmospheric quality in the design of the built environment in the subsequent design project of my graduation. I aim to have absorbed the acquired theoretical knowledge on this topic in a way that makes it part of the subconscious dimension of the design process, ultimately allowing me to intuitively integrate atmospheric quality in my own architectural design. My search for the integration of atmospheric quality in the design of architecture and the built environment will not end at the closing of this document, but will continue as I explore its application during my own design process. I aspire both the research project and the design project to accumulate the knowledge and experience to provide me, and hopefully others, to find the essence of the atmospheric dimension in architectural design. ... Read more

Anytime, anywhere, anything your heart desires is just a few clicks away. Online shopping has surged over the past decade, whilst the shopping area around the corner is dealing with vacancies and decay. Consequently, the appearance and livability of cities decline with the dilapidation of what should be the heart of people’s public life.

The problem of retail vacancy has been addressed by multiple actors in retail, real estate, and management branches, which all agree that leisure and experience play an important role in the revitalization of these shopping areas. Shopping is not just about the purchase of products anymore, it is about the full leisure experience it provides, from arrival to departure —and beyond.

This research approaches the subject from a designer point of view. The design of the environment plays a large role in the experience of a place. By observing people using, and interacting with, their environment in Dutch inner city shopping areas, it explores which spatial aspects influence the shopping/leisure experience. The resulting framework is used in the redesign of a shopping area into a space for leisure. ... Read more

Being ill, treatment at health centres causes anxiety and stress with children. This has a negative effect on their wellbeing, healing process and more important, their cognitive, motoric and social development. The goal of this thesis is to describe a set of generic properties for the built environment to reduce this negative effect by stimulating the imagination of children, aged 3 to 6 years. The generic properties are derived from the analyses of spatial elements, present during activities, in which the imagination is active: playing and perceiving art. Through play they develop their motoric, social and cognitive skills, including their imagination. In addition, not all children in healthcare institutions are able to play, therefore also perceiving art is studied. Through observations at different play areas and the (spatial) analyses of these areas, playgrounds (designed by Aldo van Eyck), fantasy worlds of children and different artworks a set of properties is determined; a place which stimulates the imagination must be created by the composition of different elements. In this composition their scale, number, variety and interrelationship are taken into account. Each of these elements can be described by their properties: height & planar differences, contrast, whether they can exists of loose materials, can be manipulated or that they support enclosure. The composition of these elements and the abstraction of their shape creates a framework of information. Certain aspects are visible and other aren’t. This results in the stimulation of the imagination. These results are translated into a design tool and forms the starting point for the design of a treatment and prevention centre for obese or overweight children. Obesity is a problem which has increased the past few years and probably will become bigger. This centre is located in Zuidwijk, Rotterdam. The percentage of children with obesity is higher in this area than in other parts of Rotterdam or The Netherlands. This centre exists of a treatment centre, sport centre and restaurant. The centre doesn’t only focus on the treatment of children, but also on the prevention and the promotion of a healthy life style of the children, their families and the neighbourhood ... Read more

Scattering and mixing their roles, tools, space and knowledge, letting them interact with the environment, and translating it into a spatial intervention.
This graduation project is about merging together two of my interests and passions and making an architectural project out of it. But also much more than that.
Being involved in Theatre and Architecture as two distinct fields has led me to the point I wanted to merge the them to allow the possibility of fueling each other from different backgrounds and points of view.

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This thesis is made during my graduation project within the studio Explore Lab at the Technical University of Delft on the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences. Since the writing of my first master thesis, the fascination for the topic arose. At the Architectural Theory department under guidance of Andrej Radman I wrote; ‘Biomimicry: Mimicking biology in architecture to achieve sustainable development’. Although there was so much more in this thesis then just the idea of using nature’s ingenious solutions to serve human needs. I was already thinking in a much broader sense how we ever ended up in this climatological crisis? And how we could be able to solve it? Are we as individuals even able to change anything within this metastable system? With these questions in mind I dived into a research process with Peter Koorstra my research mentor, nevertheless he also gave guidance during the design process. The thesis is an elaboration of my first master thesis and functions as a source for design occurred parallel to my graduation project; ‘The Temple of the Natural Delights’. Robert Nottrot and Jan van de Voort supervised the design, even though they were also involved in the thinking process of this thesis. Through research a specific kind of philosophy is developed, to achieve a certain goal. The architectural design is just an imagined posture of this philosophy on a moment of time. ... Read more

The graduation project is located on the island of Aruba, a former Dutch colony. In the late 20’s the Lago oil refinery was established on the South-eastern end of the island contributing to the rapid urbanisation of the local culture, resources and a more profound built environment. In 1985 the economy of Aruba suffered due to a reduced worldwide demand for oil . This brought the island to direct its economy towards tourism. The Capital city became a port of call for Caribbean cruise ships and the northern coast accommodated luxury hotels. Since 2009 the oil refinery has discontinued operations, meaning that tourism is the only promising sector, making the island fully reliant on tourism. Recessions in countries that are main suppliers to the Aruban economy reverberate heavily and demonstrate the fragile state of the dependent tourism industry. More than 88% of Arubas total GDP is contributed by the tourism industry. This dependency on tourism and the influence of the oil refinery also brought with it a loss in culture identity and connection with its sister
islands. ... Read more