Complex Projects Studio Beirut - Graduation Design of an urban sports centre in the dense area of Solidere (Downtown Beirut)

This thesis focusses on social housing oppurtunities in the urban city centre of Beirut after the explosion of the Harbour of August 2020. The focus of the paper is aimed at the lower and middle class Beirutis and aimes to connect different fragments of the city centre.

Made in Manhattan is a cluster of productive spaces based on historical manufacturing areas of New York. The projects intends intends to rediscover the industrial past of NY and translate it into contemporary forms, refreshing the identity of Manhattan in the 21st Century while contributing to a socially layered and more stable community in Hell's Kitchen. Adaptability, temporality and interactions are the key elements in the distribution of the program (ateliers for makers, workshops and spaces for promotion).

In the coming 80 years, the rise of productivity will result in two main directions: first, decentralization of work and production; second, economy turns its focus to emotion and wellness. So we claim that “Pleasure and Leisure are becoming the next leading economy.” We envision Amstel to be a (P)Leisure City. Within this context, the Fun Universe is an entertainment complex dedicated to producing, presenting and broadcasting all types of social entertaining and visual augmented activities including cinematic experience, interactive performing arts, immersive gaming etc. It is an urban scale "Westworld", a vertical theme park that contains various popular destinations.

The creative economy has grown fast these years because of the advanced science and technology. Employees have more flexible working schedule and environment. Co-working spaces rise because of creative economy and digital economy. This project concerns a building that hosts a neighbourhood hub for co-working and collective habitation in 2050 Amsterdam. The project is part of the strategy that transform the obsoleted railway embankment of the Spaarndammerbuurt in a public space, part of a new infrastructure of green and slow mobility. The building designed is also a connector between different urban conditions, and a visual theatre oriented on the urban qualities.

In 2050 the characteristics of the Port of Amsterdam will be totally changed. Enormous developments will change our area to a highly dense urban city. The Hemweg centrale will be closed down, but how can we create our energy then? The demand for energy will increase. New technique shows other ways of creating energy, like nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is a way of creating energy in the same way as the sun. With intense heat atoms will merge and in this progress the atoms will create a lot of energy. This new type of creating energy is safe, does not contribute to the greenhouses gases and the fuel is cheap and virtually limitless. But how to design a powerplant in a dense urban city? My powerplant will stand in a park and it will attract people with the additional function. Normally a powerplant is locked behind a fence. But there is a new movement, namely a more public powerplant. In 2050 this type will be a normal phenomenon. My powerplant will stand in a park and it will attract people with the additional function. In the building, just like a heart, the machine produces energy. This process is visible and the plinth is public. There is also a route through the building that explains the process of processing energy. All these characteristics are need for a powerplant that fits the need of 2050.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

Amsterdam Overamstel is a site in rapid transition from an area which is anno 2018 mainly focused on low value commercial spaces and infrastructure. Especially this infrastructure has a fragmenting effect on the location. These fragments do not have clear connections and a hierarchy inbetween. Combined with the planned densification this could lead to serious nuisance and possible unequal development.

In order to tackle this problem and densify in a sustainable way new connections and a new hierarchy has to be implemented. AORTA does this by making the public transport hub (a metro station) the center to the newly build neighborhood. In order to not just be a monofunctional hub, the station is combined with another public function. In this case a library.

The envelope of a library combined with a station asks for a recognizable and autonomous building. This goal is reached with the facade and shape of it. The facade is constructed of a LED screen al around with a gradient in it. This way the public functions inside still have a nice view over the location and the square in front.

As one of the most important and attractive city in Europe, Amsterdam has seen a great growth of its residents in the recent years. How to offer enough houses for the new arrivals will be a continuous question for the managers of the city. The densification process has already started. Wasted lands like abandoned houses and old industrial areas are transformed into new residential and working areas. This process leads to the questions: How can we densify Amsterdam in a sustainable way? What kind of built environment is necessary to benefit the urban fabric and create local values?

The main aim of my graduation project is to create a space that could help connect the different groups of people and benefit the local creative production. The building is a headquarter of the guild of creative industry of Amsterdam. The building includes four exhibition halls, workshops, working space, a hostel, a shopping street and a public park. The building is located beside new city boulevard (which will be downgraded from the current A10 highway), with the shopping street and the park connecting both sides.

My project provides an answer to the question how the creative production could help rebuild the social connection in the future context of densified city fabric. The project could inspire the city planners to reconsidering the relationships between the production and the citizens, which will be quite meaningful for a healthy and sustainable deification process in Amsterdam and other large cities.

The project acts as a way to bring production back to the city as a part of everyday life in the year 2050, in a time when industry has become individualised as a result of the fourth industrial revolution. At the same time, additive manufacturing (3D-printing) makes it possible to produce just about anything; from shoes and textiles to synthetic biological human tissues, blood cells and organs.

This type of production breaks down several barriers such as the two sides of supply and demand within sharing economy, but also the stance we take of the artificial and the genuine, technology-ecology and city-nature. What does it really mean to be human in a world where anything can be produced from synthesised DNA - is technological production just an extension of our biological selves?

By using the enclosed garden as a typology, the project incorporates production spaces on the lower floors and dwellings on the upper floors, creating a close relationship between living and working. It transpires from the urban to the natural and offers spaces for both individual and communal production within a complete man-made environment, reflecting on human cultivation and production within the historical concept of the garden bridging city and nature.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The image of Olympic Games is mixed. The Games are a monumental celebration, but its organisation and legacy are also seen as a threat to the sustainability of the city. This research distinguished three main actors, each with different aims for supporting the Games; The International Olympic committee, the host-city and the citizens of the host-city. Research showed that especially the wishes of the citizens are neglected in the organisation and legacy of the Olympics. This graduation project aims to enhance this citizens by researching the potentials for the Olympic legacy to enhance the social sustainability of the host city. If so, the Olympic Games can be of great additional value to the city and its inhabitants.

This research looks into the concepts of mega-event planning, Olympic legacy, urban regeneration and social sustainability and the interrelation between these concepts. Eventually it sets up a theoretical framework for enhancing social sustainability in decisions based on location, projects and legacy of the Olympic Games. To evaluate social sustainability in former Olympic Games, a case study to 2012 Olympics in London is conducted.

This knowledge is used to create a strategy and design for a future Olympic Games in the city district of Rotterdam South. The Olympic areas are located in Zuiderpark and Varkenoord North, with the neighbourhoods in-between as focus area. To counter the severe socio-economic and -spatial problems in this city district, a strategy consisting of seven proposals for a social Olympic legacy are implemented and further explored in design interventions. Eventually a design is made for Varkenoord North with use of these strategic proposals and changing the urban environment to a sport, transport and business node, creating a new identity as Feyenoord city. The area will be the representative image of a renewed Rotterdam South by using the Olympic Games for sustainable regeneration.

During the graduation research design principles for enhancing social sustainability within Olympic legacy are gathered and collected in a separate booklet “Towards an Olympic legacy for all” Book 02.

The aim of this project is to bring the forgotten land of the RingA10 back to the city, by transforming the one purpose space into a multifunctional place of its own identity. The project Kunstwerk Ring A10 aims to connect the highway, the city and the human creating the layer of “In the ring” between “the inside” and “the outside”
on the map of Amsterdam. This will be done using the participatory methods of
research and design with a specific focus on redefining identity and creating perception of place.

The thesis is a urban-research-based architectural design in Alamar, Havana, Cuba. Due to the special historical condition and cultural background of Cuba, the intervention into the urban context is generated from the analysis and anatomy of the specific community in Alamar. The design is a vocational school of urban farming, which is a sector representative not only in Alamar but also Cuba. The school is trying to connect the urban farming sector and the younger generation while being a helpdesk for the community. By serving both students and residents, the knowledge and spirits of Cuban people and urban farming sector is spread to the public and the yonger generation, stimulating the city to become more dynamic and better in the future.