This graduation project, "Layers of Belonging," addresses the challenge of designing a civic center in Buiksloterham, Amsterdam-Noord, an area experiencing rapid gentrification and socio-economic shifts. It critically examines contemporary practices of historical representation and community expression in architecture, introducing a layered design strategy that intertwines historical narratives with present and future narratives. The intervention preserves and emphasizes historically significant architectural features and spatial qualities of the existing building, "De Ruimte," and integrates them with new architectural additions, allowing past and present to coexist dynamically. Central to the design is the concept of 'unification,' fostering interaction between the diverse, dividing users groups of Buiksloterham, makers and residents, through strategically placed communal and overlapping, interactive spaces. Moreover, the project balances architectural control and user appropriation, empowering users to personalize and take ownership of their spaces within defined architectural boundaries. Ultimately, "Layers of Belonging" proposes a nuanced, resilient model for integrating heritage, historical symbolism, social cohesion, and flexible design in rapidly transforming urban settings, aiming to protect both the tangible and intangible legacies of Amsterdam-Noord’s industrial communities.

This report discusses the principles of threshold spaces, which could potentially lead to more porous places in the city. The developments of neoliberalism and gentrification threaten to make the city increasingly polished. The scripts that determine how spaces should be used are more strictly imposed, creating a homogeneous streetscape. This can lead to the exclusion of population groups that no longer want or can relate to this "perfect city." These developments become visible in the future plans for the Buikslotermeerplein in the North district. A situation threatens to arise in which the original residents disappear, and no connection is made with the future residents of Buikslotermeerplein. Buildings that do not fit into the "perfect" scripts, such as the Bowling on the Buikslotermeerplein, are in danger of being lost, while these buildings form the character and social anchor of the neighborhood. In order to make the Bowling future-proof for the expected changes this report searches for a new strategy for the Bowling, based on threshold spaces. Through the theoretical framework, which delves deeper into the political and social context, a theoretical foundation is formed for the remainder of the report. This framework shows that threshold spaces are important intermediate spaces in the urban and built environment. They consist of ambiguous spaces that can be both private and promote social interactions. Examples include niches, canopies, arcades, gateways and spaces at entrances. The collective memories of a place, formed by the rhythmic discontinuity, can encourage users to form new relationships, and thereby reinforcing the threshold space. Within the interior, threshold spaces translate into important pieces of furniture that promote the flexibility of the space.

Through case studies, fieldwork and interviews, threshold spaces are analyzed and how they manifest themselves in the reality of Amsterdam-North. This shows that types of thresholds, such as arcades, niches and canopies in combination with multiple zones and floor textures, promote the placement of elements and increase the adaptability of the space. Furthermore, the case studies show that programming, routing, various patterns, height differences, stages and interior elements make the space a threshold space. In doing so, they provide a more porous place within the urban fabric and at the building level. The personal experiences of the residents of Amsterdam-North support these findings, as evidenced by the interviews conducted.

This year, the graduation studio of Urban Architecture focusses on the development of a suburban area. The aim is to turn this low town into a downtown in which the pioneering spirit of generosity and reciprocity survives.
The project envisions a possible future for a collection of factory buildings located on the former can and rim factory terrain of Hoboken, Antwerp. Based on thorough research about leftover materials, reuse networks and reuse craftmanship the project proposes the building of Herbouwhuis.
Herbouwhuis is a reuse cycle centre, consisting of:
- Herbouwschool: reuse cycle school
- Bureau Herbouw: architecture, building and research office
- Herbouwateliers: ateliers for reuse artists
The proposal of Herbouwhuis fits within the design of a 300.000 m2 masterplan that centers around Lageweg. The masterplan approaches the site as part of Antwerp’s social, cultural and material ecosystem. Inspired by the pioneering community at Blikfabriek, it proposes a strategy of reconfiguration, building on existing qualities of the industrial heritage and material flows. Using time to its advantage, the plan aims to establish a culture of care by reusing discarded materials the city produces. The masterplan operates as a demolition contractor, recycling centre and thrift shop at once. By focussing on exchange points at the edge of industry and neighbourhood it increases the contact surface between materials and residents.
The design project consists of three acts, each representing a different phase.
Act 1 elicits the methodology, taking the existing situation as a serious starting point and using reuse craftmanship and improvisation to intervene and open up.
Act 2 shows what the building site would look like on a bigger scale and how the methodology leads to an architecture that tries to connect to its neighbouring developments.
Act 3 envisions Herbouwhuis in operation. It illustrates how the architecture of Herbouwhuis facilitates materials and agents to flow through, interact and go their own way.
The design of Herbouwhuis went together with the design of a curriculum for Herbouwschool. This curriculum was derived from a manifesto and education programme for Bauhaus by Walter Gropius, dating back to 1919.
My aim is that the growing reuse network and places like Herbouwhuis exponentially elevate the amount of reuse architecture in the urban landscape. That it becomes common sense to think in cycles and value the potential of leftover materials. As a reuse architect I’d like to be transparent about the origins of the materials I use, because it informs the user and might inspire others to turn waste into gift.

This project reimagines a former factory site, called the Blikfabriek, in Hoboken, Antwerp, as a vibrant social and cultural area. This project presents a potential new urban masterplan for the site and an architectural design for a community theater. The project begins with research into neighborhood dynamics, particularly the lack of inclusive public spaces. Responding to these insights, the group masterplan introduces a sequence of shared spaces along a new central axis that activates the site throughout the day.
Within this framework, the individual project transforms an old factory hall into a community theatre and drama school. This project is set in one of the abandoned factory halls. Key architectural elements of this hall, such as the orginal load bearing structure and the original brick facade are preserved as much as possible. A spacious theatre café forms the social heart of the building, opening onto a public square with flexible seating that invites casual interaction. Studios, rehearsal rooms, and study nooks provide quieter, inward-facing spaces for learning and reflection. The design of these spaces is rooted in researching and observing the community and residents in Hoboken.
By blending adaptive reuse with human-centered design, the project fosters community engagement, supporting both structured cultural programs and informal everyday use. It highlights architecture’s potential to strengthen social ties in diverse urban contexts.

This is a design for a 'public' water filtration system with bathhouse facilities and housing in an existing industrial building.

Onward Edges is a response to the urban architecture brief 'lowtown downtown', in which I tried to understand the relation between centre and periphery through the lens of an ecologist. Onward Edges is a project situated in the Blikfabriek, a characteristic edge of Antwerp, an undesired, vacant factory hall. However, the edge is not only that, on the contrary the edge facilitates many functions equally important to the city's functioning as the centre. This project aims to design a space for people to live with these functions we have pushed to the edge and tries to find architectural value in otherwise unseen (eco)systems, such as water filtration. To not only live, but become consious of these systems humans depend on and build a relation of care with water and water-bound life forms that ensure its quality. The project does this by making space for the ornament, which is an oppertunity for those that inhabit the space to find symbolical, emotional meaning to the place they call home.

The former site of Kloos Kinderdijk in Alblasserdam is transformed into a mixed-use area, combining housing, recreation, retail and public outdoor space. The aim is to create a liveable environment for the residents, the neighbours and visitors. The transformation combines the translation of the heritage values, the social needs of Alblasserdam and spatial improvements.

This project explores how continuous iterative drawing and model making can contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges and potentialities of an existing building in its relation to a new programme.
In Brussels, a post-industrial landscape split in 2. One side has flourished into one of the most bio-diverse places in the city. The other is filled with a multitude of smaller industrial buildings. At the edge of a railway track a warehouse from the 60s is repurposed into a vocational construction school. The circular ideology is embedded in the school by a recuperated material depot. Consequently, the project focuses on only intervening where needed, using quick & dry interventions as much as possible.
Through an extensive research consisting of drawing and model making the discrepancies between the challenges and potentialities of the existing building and the new programme are explored. This deep understanding; of what there is and what is needed, makes it possible to intervene efficiently in unexpected and playful ways.

This project focuses on sound in architecture and the urban environment. The location of this project is Friche Josaphat, a green and biodiverse area located in Brussels. Being a void over the last years, this place changed into a biodiverse landscape. The main question of this research is: what is the sound of the Friche? By listening and analyzing these sounds through making music, information about the context of the building site is gained. A sonic plan is made which serves as a base for the landscape design. A Sonic & sculpture park has been designed where the sounds of the Friche will be emphasized through adding more diversity in the landscape of the Friche and adding sculptures, sound art and places to listen to the sounds. The visitors center that is designed is one of the two entrances to this park. This building creates a gradient in sound from the urban environment of brussels to the park and introduces the visitor to sounds. The building also shows a gradient of materiality from urban to green. The visitors center is an educational place for people from the neighbourhood and contains a café and exhibition about sounds and green. After designing the building a new sonic plan is made, but then on building scale. Music is composed to emphasize the different atmospheres in the building.

On the periphery of a dike, a maritime industrial area between Alblasserdam and Kinderdijk in the Netherlands, a former windmill and ship manufacturer operated during the 19th and 20th centuries. This narrow 250-meter-long hall, known as Kloos Kinderdijk, is defined by its spectacular length and characterised by its spacious and light atmosphere. It is situated between two contrasting Dutch landscapes: on one side, the typical sophisticated, delicate, horizontal polder landscape with UNESCO World Heritage windmills at Kinderdijk; and on the other side, the robust river landscape, once pivotal for the maritime industry and still significant today. Kloos is one of the few remaining shipyards. However, not for long as Kloos is now waiting to be demolished. With the demolition of this building, the last visible maritime-industrial remnant will be lost.

Maritime-industrial heritage is in danger of being lost. It is crucial to transform these sites with a reinterpretation towards the future. This research is a new way of thinking about heritage and moves away from conservative preservation methods. It illustrates how undervalued buildings can be saved, reinterpreted for future significance, and thereby gain visibility by adding value through a more radical architectural adaptive-reuse approach.

In the case of Kloos Kinderdijk, the area has struggled with water issues for years, and these problems are expected to worsen due to rising sea levels. Therefore, Kloos' design involved building a floating volume above the existing. This floating volume is flood-resistant, maintains the spatial openness of the polder landscape, and offers panoramic views of both the polder and river landscape. The construction of the floating volume radically breaks through the existing structure, to enhance the building's visibility from the river landscape.

With the rapid development of the Internet and the gradual penetration of online shopping into people's lives, COVID has accelerated the popularity of online shopping. People have found that it is convenient and varied, and traditional shopping centres are facing the impact of these e-commerce companies. This study explores the characteristics of brick-and-mortar shopping centres that cannot be replaced by online shopping from the perspective of perception. It selects Bogaard Shopping Centre and the Mall of the Netherlands as case studies to investigate the association between perception and architectural social space.

This paper explores the dual challenge of vacancy in post-war shopping malls and the lack of green spaces in urban areas. It proposes biophilic design as a solution to revitalize malls and address environmental issues. The paper emphasizes the importance of preserving the unique identity or 'spirit of place' while implementing biophilic transformations. The central question is: ‘How can biophilic design enhance the value and spirit of place in a post-war shopping mall?’. Through a comprehensive methodology, including literature reviews and a case study of Winkelcentrum Leyweg, the paper highlights the potential of biophilic design to enrich heritage, well-being, and sustainability. The results emphasize the importance of adopting a well-balanced approach that takes into account the unique Spirit of place of each shopping mall.

In the Netherlands, shopping centres are abun¬dant. Whether they are large-scale malls or small neighbourhood centres, they are woven into the fabric of Dutch society. But recently and in the future many malls will be facing the prospect of vacancy. A response therefore is needed. This design was created for the Leyweg in the Hague, and exemplary neighbourhood mall of the Netherlands. The design is focused on the social sustainability of a mall, a future proof design that could be applied to the many small scale shopping malls in the Netherlands. It is designed as a centre in the neighbourhood for people to come together, to meet each other, not solely as an incentive to seduce people to buy as much as possible. By bringing multiple functions in the mix, such as dance, study, work and community spaces, the mall becomes an centre point for the vicinity and attracts a large, diverse audience. It is made for people to just simply be there, to explore, to bring an incentive to wander.

In Europe Christianity faces steady decline, causing dwindling attendance at
churches. As a result congregations are no longer able to afford the upkeep for their churches, forcing them to end services in these buildings. This caused many grand and historic church buildings to become vacant, and means that many will follow in the near future. Because many of these churches have deep ties to the local community and historically served a very public role, fitting new functions are needed to keep these building sustainable and part of their community. To find an answer to this question, specifically relating to 19th century neogothic churches of the catholic counter reform, the following paper will research the basic principles of (Neo)Gothicism and the methods and process behind the creation of such a church and its furnishings. The aim of the research is to establish the relation between the interior, the symbols and the architecture itself to understand how they together conveyed the story of Christianity, and how this could possibly be adapted for a use after Christianity or how this can be used to establish a fitting new purpose for these churches. As part of a graduation project this research will put the main focus on the RK Barbarakerk, a church going vacant in Culemborg in the Netherlands. By diving in to the construction history and theory of the time the main principles of Gothicism will be established and an understanding of the relation between the architecture, furnishings and symbols will be gained. Then by observing the features of the Barbarakerk, these principles can be contextualized. Finally by comparing existing converted churches to see how they reacted to existing history, symbolism and iconography, illustrate their methods of storytelling through architecture. Finally showing the integral narrative nature of the (Neo)Gothic architecture being able to indicate their own most fitting future.

More and more churches are closing, facing vacancy, or even being demolished at an alarming rate, as a result of the declining amount of ecclesiastical in the Netherlands. While many churches are being repurposed, this isn’t always easy, as repurposing is an extremely emotional process for the local community. The locals hope to maintain their Sense of Place towards the church buildings and when this is endangered, they go as far as placing restrictions on business dealings. One of these churches is the Grote- of Mariakerk in Meppel. Instead of the local’s Sense of Place being a roadblock, this paper aims to find a way of working with their emotional bond. By measuring the residents of Meppel’s Sense of Place towards the church, and defining the limits to which the form and function of the building can be changed, without diminishing or damaging the local’s Sense of Place. By doing so, hopefully finding a way of repurposing the Grote- of Mariakerk with their Sense of Place instead of against it.

Churches have always been the centre of Dutch society to gather under one roof (De Kruijf & De Roest, 2010). Due to the secularization of the Netherlands, church vacancy is increasing. Currently, churches still fulfill a central function within a city, village or neighborhood (Kerkmagazine, 2022). The Grote- of Mariakerk is one of them, and the vacancy of buildings in such prominent areas of the city will detract from social and physical quality of these areas (De Kruijf & De Roest, 2010). The church should not withdraw from the public domain (Kennedy, J. C. K., 2010). A transformation towards a public interior could avoid this. Kloos (1993) describes public interiors as buildings in which the city’s public space is continued. The social and functional diversity of urban buildings is reflected in their façades (Jürgenhake, 2014), especially around their interior and exterior; the ‘transition zone’ (Gehl, 2011). Therefore this paper focuses on the role of the transition zone when transforming the Grote- of Mariakerk towards a public interior, whilst maintaining its heritage values. By combining literature research , case studies, and field research, the role of the transition zone in public interiors is clarified. By analysing the existing transition zones of the Grote- of Mariakerk and linking them with the criteria of a public interior, opportunities and challenges for the transformation towards a public interior result in design approaches regarding the transition zone.

This thesis explores the use of the palimpsest as a theoretical framework for adapting a heritage building. The research studies the former Maranatherkerk in Castricum, Noord-Holland. Set against a backdrop of ever-increasing secularisation in the Netherlands, the former Maranathakerk characterises the struggle faced by many decommissioned churches today - that of a tendency for stakeholders to choose demolition over adaptation. Despite the successful establishment of an upstart school community within the former church in recent years, the site nonetheless faces imminent demolition and redevelopment by the municipality. The focus of the thesis is thus twofold: to propose an extension to the former church and champion it as a permanent home for the school community; and to position the palimpsest as a theoretical framework in guiding the architectural design. The latter builds upon previous discourse on the palimpsest in linguistics, postcolonial theory, archaeology, and drawing theory, and applies this to architectural design in a novel manner. In a palimpsest, the interplay of successive layers transforms the collective into a new whole. The retention of imperfect erasures of past layers forms a crucial part of this transformation. The thesis posits that the valuation of heritage is a subjective process. Rather than attempting to establish 'limits of change' or merely preserving past traces, the existing is taken as is and as a whole and used to study ways in which past layers of the building have influenced the present usage of the site. By investigating and cataloguing the ways the different time layers interact with the life within the building: its phenomenological meanings, characteristics, usage, and everyday rituals, a toolbox for palimpsestuous adaption is formulated. In the final extension proposal, these palimpsestuous fragments are developed and architecturally highlighted in both spatial layout and material detail, encouraging future users and visitors to experience the many past lives of the site and add their own traces onto the tapestry.