This thesis researched the form of asylum centres in the Netherlands from an urban design point of view and proposes a redesign of one of these centres. It provides a sophisticated overview of the functioning of current asylum centres and the influence of the form on the asylum seekers living there. A redesign of the asylum centre in Utrecht focuses on humanising the place by incorporating asylum seekers' desparate needs to become rooted again. A series of small interventions that redirect the private and collective spaces of the asylum towards public space makes this place into a 'place of becoming'.