The Bloemhof neighbourhood in South Rotterdam faces a critical challenge due to severe soilubsidence, leading to the structural failure of many buildings. This thesis explores how addressing subsidence can serve as a catalyst for sustainable urban transformation while prioritising community continuity and resilience. Unlike conventional redevelopment approaches that often result in displacement, this study introduces the concept of "undisplacement", which seeks to replace housing while preserving the neighbourhood’s social fabric. ... Read more

The Netherlands, in this case study, Rotterdam is dealing with a growing elderly population, a shortage of healthcare staff, and an increasing risk of dementia. These challenges are worsened by a housing shortage and the lack dementia-friendly housing and living environments. The municipality encourages elderly individuals to remain in their homes for as long as possible; however, current housing and living environment fails to meet the needs of those living with dementia. Moreover, policies such as “zorg en dwang” care and force, which is to protect people who are endangering themselves or others, is taking away the autonomy and freedom of movement of such a person. However, this clashes with the constitution policy that states that everyone is allowed to move freely.
This thesis explores the design of indoor and outdoor spaces that respect the autonomy and freedom of movement of people with dementia. The design vision seeks to integrate public, communal, and community functions with elderly housing, creating a seamless blend of private living spaces and shared environments. Enhancing nature to create a sense of freedom and autonomy. In the early stages of dementia, individuals can still maintain a level of independence but require assistance with daily tasks, which may be provided by family members or caregivers. During this phase, it is vital to support autonomy through well-designed spaces that facilitate social interaction and reduce confusion. As dementia progresses, the design must adapt to ensure environments remain familiar, safe, and accessible while avoiding elements that may cause distress. Personalized spaces, autonomy in decision-making (such as choosing where to eat), and the incorporation of social hubs, like cafes, help maintain identity and a sense of control.
Design guidelines emphasize safety, with wide entrances and corridoors, accessible outdoor spaces, and clear wayfinding to accommodate those with visual and mobility impairments. Community integration is important, with access to public transport, recreation, and services ensuring continued independence for as long as possible. Advocating for the autonomy of people with dementia, by shifting from traditional elderly homes and nursing homes to a design that allows individuals to have the perception of moving freely and remain part of a community while they still receive the care that they need. The importance when designing a building to include a view on nature and social interaction, creating spaces for community activities and social interaction to happen are crucial for autonomy and mobility freedom. ... Read more

This thesis explores the ways in which marketplaces and urban agriculture, can impact access to healthy, affordable food in Bospolder-Tussendijken, a neighbourhood in Rotterdam. With the rise of prosperity-related diseases attributed to poor nutrition, particularly in low socio-economic areas, food prices are increasing. To address these challenges, marketplaces and the integration of food production into urban settings could play an important role in mitigating this issue.

Through a combination of literature review and interviews, a framework was developed to analyze current practices regarding marketplaces and urban agriculture. Additionally, site visits and observations provided typological insights.

The research reveals that historically, marketplaces have been key drivers of urban growth, emphasizing social functions and affordability of food. However, in recent years, there has been a shift towards valuing experience over food itself. Regarding urban agriculture, its primary functions appear to be social, educational, and employment-related. Food production remains predominantly located outside or on the periphery of urban areas. By proposing the creation of a partially covered, multifunctional marketplace, the position of traditional week markets can be preserved for future generations, ensuring continued access to affordable, healthy nutrition. ... Read more

This research addresses the rising amount of homelessness in Rotterdam. Homelessness should be prevented in an early stage to avoid long term health issues. Home-seeking youth fall between the cracks of the system since there is a lack of social support for those between 18-23 years old with no official care indication. Because of this, It is hard for these youth to build a healthy future. The term “home-seeking youth” is used to reduce stigma on homelessness and emphasize their quest for stable housing.

The needs of home-seeking youth are explored in this study, which also considers ideas on how residential housing concepts can effectively address these needs. Research will be conducted through field research involving interviews with professionals, workshops with long-term homeless individuals, and workshops with vulnerable youth in Rotterdam to understand their housing needs and preferences.

The aim is to determine how a residential building can support the physical (socioeconomic security), mental (empowerment), and social (inclusion and cohesion) needs of youth seeking stable housing. Among these needs, social needs seem to play the most important role as they form a safety net for both mental and physical needs. The main need that home-seeking youth have is for a relationship with someone who can offer them unconditional support. Therefore, it is important that housing for youth includes access to an adult who can help them informally.

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This study addresses the imperative of enhancing social resilience in urban environments, with a focus on Rotterdam. The city faces diverse challenges, including environmental risks that impact social cohesion. In response, the municipality has formulated a ‘Resilient Rotterdam Strategy’ to bolster the city’s resistibility and recoverability. In this context, the importance of social interaction in fostering resilient communities is underscored, leading to the proposition of introducing makerspaces as “third spaces” to bridge the gap between formal and informal urban life. The study advocates for transforming mono-functional neighbourhoods into multifunctional ones by reintroducing urban manufacturing, particularly makerspaces, to promote social networks and enhance social resilience. ... Read more

Independent (i.e. single) mothers are stuck in a trifold of problems regarding housing, resources and labour after divorce, separation or unwedded childbirth. The lack of adequate permanent one-parent family housing puts them in a vicious circle of structural disadvantage. The inequality of opportunity has long term effects on the mother's sense of self, her parenting style and the opportunities for her child(ren), who is more susceptible to end up with the same problems.

This thesis is an exploration into the socio-spatial housing needs of independent mothers and to what extent collective living arrangements could provide an opportunity to balance work and family life effectively, through redefining traditional household structures. Through the lens of second wave feminist theory, the nuclear family is deconstructed, and the concept of collectivised household labour is explored. Drawing examples from other forms of non-nuclear households, including matriarchal tribes, self-work hotels, and eco-communities, the benefits of shared responsibilities of social support systems and efficiency are remarked. This theoretical study is juxtaposed against the practical research, consisting of interviews with assistance professionals, architects and empirical experts, from which a tight balance between community and privacy becomes significant. Thus, it is concluded that collective living arrangements have the possibility to empower independent mothers by expanding the meaning of a household, through dispersing the workload and sharing among each other. However, it remains important to realise that sustainable and supportive communities require room for the individual, like-minded people, rules and work for it to be effective. Collectivised household labour exists within a trade-off between radical intervention and practicality.

Overall, this research aims to contribute to the discourse on housing design by advocating for imaginations that empower, instead of stigmatizing and incorporating the voices of the people you are designing for. ... Read more

A vacant former school building in Hillesluis, Rotterdam-South, is transformed into dwellings specifically designed for residents of this area who are moving upward the ladder of social mobility (“sociale stijgers”). In order to enable them to climb up (or start on) the property ladder, research is conducted on their housing preferences. Three different public functions (social, cultural and for local businesses) are added to the programme, which results in a mixed-use building designed for the residents of the neighbourhood. ... Read more

To provide the current population of Bospolder - Tussendijken with a future perspective that tackles socio-demographic issues, they create Phase Change Material (PCM) Modules of waste products Frying oil and Mg2+ in the cooperative factory: 'Frituurfabriek' in the M4H. They have the opportunity to participate in society, to become owner of a factory, to earn salary and to bring back home the modules to sustain their homes. The accessible production process for this circular passive cooling element for housing renovations allows great crafts and educational development for the people. It attracts a wider public than pure the workers, since there is also a community centre, additional workshops and an extension of the BoTu neighbourhood, located on top of the factory. As a showcase this is designed as a full PCM building; no insulation but PCM ensures consistent interior climate. All together, this social concept of emancipating the population is tohave social impact by low-tech innovation, it relinks the historic M4H and BoTu relation and offers an alternative concept for architecture an (conservative) use of finite material use as sand. ... Read more

Due to the strong increase in densification in cities worldwide and the takeover of infrastructure, the public domains in the city often lose their intrinsic tranquility. In a bustling working city like Rotterdam, the public quiet and social places are under pressure. The focus of this graduation plan lies on the urban neighborhoods Bospolder and Tussendijken, characterized by many different nationalities, ages and backgrounds, which often causes mutual misunderstanding and frustration among residents. From the field analysis and research it emerged that there is a lack of quiet social meeting places in the neighborhood. In this graduation plan a distinction is made between the hard and the Soft City. The Soft City is characterized by soft architecture that invites its users to appropriate the space and in this way enters into a relationship with its users. The hard city shows itself in the entire planned city; the almost inhuman city. The focus of the graduation research and design is on the 'Soft City': a changeable intermedia between people and architecture. The addition of a new soft elements, based on the idea of 'the Soft City', could strengthen the identity, peace and connection amongst citizens of the districts and thus offer a solution to the mutual misunderstanding, feelings of insecurity and frustration among residents. The design assignment will result in three interventions of public quiet meeting places at different scale levels in the urban fabric of Bospolder/Tussendijken. ... Read more

A research on how to design affordable and sustainable housing for those affected by the gap in the housing market. It is getting more and more difficult for certain people to find suitable and affordable housing. They earn too much for social housing, but too little for the private sector or an owner-occupied housing. Especially in the city this group of people is slowly pushed out and sometimes forced to find housing elsewhere. This has a negative effect on the personal and financial growth of this people, but also on the economic, social and sustainable growth of the city itself.
This research has been divided in three parts; [1] The gap in the housing market (the issue and its consequences), [2] the post-war neighbourhood, Zuidwijk (the social-historical context), and [3] sustainability (people, planet, prosperity). The target groups, those affected by the gap in the housing market, play a big role within this research. This is necessary to understand for whom you are designing and what needs to be done to solve the issue; this is part of the social sustainability. Certain questions need to be answered: who are they; what issues do they encounter; what are their living requirements; what can they actually afford?
Design principals, requirements and limitations will follow from each research parts. These may summarise and translate the finding in each chapter and can be used as tools when coming to a design.
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Woningbouw project in het centrum van Amsterdam, waarbij tuinieren en wonen gecombineerd worden. ... Read more

This project will house the next generation of technology and startups. The design will reflect what is held on the inside through a computational design strategy progressing nonstandard architecture. The site will first be analyzed in terms of people flow, (where people come from, where they are most likely to go, where they are most likely to stay, etc) solar, wind and climate analysis, along with the local, visual and physical connections. These inputs will be used to define the boundary of the building within the site. They will also be used to define certain parameters of the building itself, such as heights, views, certain directions of structure, etc. Once the boundary is created, the program is determined and placed on the site. The overall design and form will be derived from spatial analysis of the required program. This will start with the analysis of what functions are required in a multi use tech exhibition and startup center. Once the programs and functions are taken into account, the analysis of the spaces, functions and uses will be cross referenced and tagged in order to determine which spaces need to be close to each other and which ones can be farther away. This will be accomplished through a script that places the individual programmatic spaces within the boundary in close proximity to other spaces that are required to be close. Once these spaces are defined and the areas are set, swarm logic, people flow simulation and environmental factors will shape the form and connect the spaces. The swarm logic will start from specific areas on the site where people can enter and connect the ground to the building and interior spaces. The autonomous agents will create a trail that will define other architectural elements critical to the design of the center. These would include public/ semi public spaces that lead the visitor into the building. People flow analysis will be used to create the internal flows of people in the tech and exhibition center as well as the external to internal flows and vice versa. The wind analysis will help to streamline the form so that the wind will not create extra stresses across the building, rather flow along the structure. The environment, climate and other factors will be taken in to account in order to create a low impact building that concentrates on performance driven aspects, revolving around and showcasing the tech industry.

In the micro/meso scale, the buildings skin and construction components will be explored to derive a new way to use Carbon Fiber (or composites) in the construction field. This part will fall under the category of Design to Robotic Production. The goal for this portion is to explore and create a self supported or minimally supported carbon fiber structure (or composite structure) that would integrate the systems, structure and aesthetics into the building pieces. Through the use of programming and biomimicry, the composites would be designed in a way that is structurally sound, aesthetically pleasing and performance oriented. The design of the building will incorporate Robotic Building technologies, as the whole building would be designed and built through the use of robotic manufacturing practices. ... Read more