This research explores how urban design can contribute to preserving and strengthening the historical and cultural identity of Küçükçekmece, a district in Istanbul facing rapid and large-scale urbanization. The focus is on finding a balance between heritage and modernization, emphasizing the importance of protecting local identity and traditions within a changing spatial and social context.

Through fieldwork and conversations with residents, the study reveals a deep pride in local heritage alongside growing concerns about the erosion of identity caused by large-scale developments. These insights underline the potential of urban design to act as a bridge between past and future by preserving the historical essence of the area while guiding sustainable and inclusive urban growth.

By approaching design not as a neutral intervention but as a cultural act rooted in place, this project proposes a site-specific strategy in which memory, space, and community are interwoven to shape a more resilient urban future.

This graduation thesis is focused on rapid urban growth faced by the town of Taman Melawati, Malaysia. The result of which is leading to the phenomena of fragmentation negatively impacting the urban environment such as congestion, sprawl, functional and demographic segregation. Through a design intervention, this thesis aims to propose a retrofitting of the existing urban structure to create a better connection for the existing residents and to reintegrate the structure of the town to become more cohesive.

Contemporary cities typically employ a linear metabolic model which relies on peripheral areas to support their growth and operation, often externalising waste and degradation to economically and ecologically vulnerable areas. Posing the hypothetical question, ‘What if the existing metabolic processes of extraction, production and disposal in Madrid’s periphery could be rethought, and a socially, economically and ecologically productive process could be instated for peripheral communities?’, this paper constructs a theoretical framework with which to understand systems of waste and inequality embedded in the city’s growth and operation, and analyses the historical patterns of growth which proliferated them. Following this understanding, contemporary problematic symptoms emerging from these patterns are identified, and a set of good practices is compiled which may effectively address them. This project takes a critical stance on the tabula rasa form of urban redevelopment commonly employed in Madrid and posits that an alternative model of urban development should be estalished, one which embraces plurality and uses existing built fabric and social, ecological and economic processes as a starting point

In the post-extraction landscapes of the Rheinisches Braunkohlerevier, the relationship between water and matter no longer follows natural rhythms—it is charged, reactive, and unfolding. Here, contamination is not a singular event but a condition that accumulates, binds, weathers, and seeps across geological and temporal scales. Conventional restoration frameworks respond with binary visions of compensation and separation. This thesis takes a different approach—remaining within the unsettled terrain, it traces the transformations already in motion.

Water, long drained to make space for mining, returns to a stratigraphy fractured and unsettled by decades of extraction. It moves through disrupted sediments, activating chemical reactions that carry heavy metals and acidity through soil, into groundwater, and toward the surface. Matter does not passively receive these flows; it absorbs, resists, and transforms them. This interaction forms the foundation of the thesis: a material practice rooted in territorial specificity, where design engages the dialogue between dissolution and deposition, contamination and gradual reconfiguration.

By reworking site-bound matter, the project proposes infrastructural prototypes that respond to their environment not through resistance, but through participation. Each intervention is situated, embedded in cycles of absorption, stasis, and release. Rather than proposing resolution, the thesis offers a framework for ongoing negotiation—where design operates within, rather than above, the entangled realities of water and matter.

This graduation project investigates how architectural design can foster social cohesion in the socio-economically challenged neighborhood of Sønderbro–Sundholm in Copenhagen, Denmark. The area faces significant spatial and social fragmentation, marked by underutilized public spaces, deteriorating infrastructure, and limited opportunities for inclusive interaction. Despite its current challenges, Sønderbro–Sundholm holds strong potential to evolve into a vibrant, green, and culturally rich district.

The project addresses a central question: How can architectural design enable social cohesion by stimulating dynamic forms of publicness and interaction in Sundholm? To answer this, the research explores three key sub-questions: (1) how to establish inclusive, adaptable spaces that challenge disconnection and balance the public/private divide to enhance well-being; (2) how personality-based design elements can support both physical and mental health; and (3) how sustainable architectural strategies can contribute to resilient, healthy urban environments.

By embracing a design approach that recognizes the sliding scales between public and private, and active and passive modes of engagement, the project aims to create a layered spatial system that accommodates diverse ways of life. Through this lens, architecture becomes a mediator—bridging divides, nurturing a sense of belonging, and laying the foundation for a more socially sustainable urban future.

This project proposes a mixed-use public building designed to stimulate social interaction and support personal development in the complex urban context of Sundholm. From 1909 to 1980, Sundholm used to be a closed asylum for criminals, who were put there to do forced labour, but even though the gate has been removed, the neighbourhood, characterised by social institutions, homeless people and a marginalised community, remains isolated from its surrounding context. By improving the neighbourhood’s connectivity and introducing a new meeting space for crafting, learning, and sharing, the building becomes a space where children, artists, the homeless, the elderly, and families can meet through a programme of craft and sharing. This design explores the boundaries of resilience by applying flexible design strategies to improve the building’s social and functional adaptability. Through a flexible and resilient approach, the architecture adapts to shifting users, seasons, and activities. It supports various fixed crafting functions, and temporary events like markets or exhibitions. This is achieved by strategically using unprogrammed spaces, adaptive boundaries, and user-adaptive elements. The result is a public condenser that doesn’t just serve its community today, but evolves with it.

The design brief calls for a public condenser — a space that concentrates and amplifies public life. In this research, the public condenser is envisioned not merely as a place of gathering, but as a catalyst for lifelong learning, rooted in both social and ecological dimensions.
At its heart lies the concept of the “seed” — a symbolic and spatial starting point:
• Ecologically, the seed fosters biodiversity, creating a cradle where human and more-than-human lives intertwine.
• Socially, it bridges divides, nurturing kinship across generations and communities.
To realize this vision, the proposal introduces a multi-layered intervention: an urban-scale socio-ecological corridor, a public condenser, and a prototypical design.
Architecture as Catalyst: Interventions Across Scales (XS, S, M, L)
The project embraces multiplicity in design, with interventions at different scales that respond to the needs of diverse communities and ecosystems.

XS — Nesting and Non-Human Sanctuary
At the smallest scale, the design fosters human–nature interdependence by creating sanctuaries for non-human life. Ethical micro-farms — including guano, feather, worm, and insect farms — along with façade-integrated nests, enhance urban biodiversity. These interventions address overlooked ecosystems and promote coexistence within the built environment.

S — In-between Spaces for Reflection and Recovery
For individuals facing mental health challenges, architecture holds the power to heal or harm. This scale introduces small, quiet spaces designed for reflection, self-care, and mental well-being — not as isolating enclosures, but as supportive environments that foster recovery and personal growth.

M — Public Typologies for Education, Creativity, and Healing
At the mid-scale, the Public Condenser offers communal spaces that promote learning, creativity, and cultural exchange. Children participate in play-based education, guided by university student mentors through storytelling, art, and therapeutic activities. These intergenerational interactions nurture mental health, intellectual development, and social cohesion. Outdoor areas for sports and recreation further reconnect people with nature and with each other.

L — The Learning Field / Green Mile Garden
At the largest scale, the project envisions the Green Mile Garden — a continuous green corridor linking Ørestad Fælled, the University, and Sundholm. This urban thread fosters movement, interaction, and unity, bridging marginalized areas with the wider city. It weaves ecological and human elements into a shared landscape of connection, renewal, and resilience.

The graduation project, "From Exhaustion to Resilience," is set in Sønderbro, a neighbourhood of Copenhagen. Initial research and site visit identified the primary challenge as a sense of exhaustion experienced by the residents, connected to their social interactions and urban environment. Inspired by Gilles Deleuze’s conceptualization of exhaustion, the term here describes a state of complete depletion and lack of possibilities, relating both to the urban environment and the social interactions within the community. Consequently, the main issue that the project addresses is how a public condenser can disrupt this exhausted context to generate new and previously unimaginable possibilities.
The design utilizes two guiding principles throughout the different scales to generate these new possibilities. The first is termed “the spectacular everyday”, it entails treating the everyday patterns and things in life as something spectacular and a source of new possibilities. The second principle focuses on turning boundaries into borders, edges shaped by interaction, as from this interaction new possibilities can emerge.
The final design functions as a framework, featuring both internal and external infrastructure that facilitate and support the everyday and turn it into something spectacular. In addition to this, the design establishes new borders full of interaction. By establishing these qualities, the design successfully disrupts the exhausted condition of Sønderbro, generating resilience and new and unimagined possibilities.
The final design functions as a framework, integrating both internal and external infrastructure that facilitate and support the everyday and turn it into something spectacular. In addition to this, the design establishes new borders full of interaction. By incorporating these qualities, the building successfully disrupts the exhausted context of Sønderbro, generating resilience and new and unimagined possibilities.

This graduation thesis explores architecture as a cinematic tool to induce interaction, emotional response, and social cohesion in fragmented urban contexts. Set in Sundholm, Copenhagen, a site suspended between care and neglect, order and disorder, the project seeks to mediate opposing conditions and foster moments of encounter across vulnerable societal groups. Sundholm today exists as a palimpsest: a former institutional landscape now challenged by physical disconnection, stigmatization, and socio-economic stratification. Yet, within these ruptures lies the potential for architecture to act as a bridge.

Through a research by design methodology, the project investigates how spatial sequencing and montage theory, rooted in the work of Sergei Eisenstein and Bernard Tschumi, can be spatialized as tools for healing and coexistence. In this approach, the city is read not as a static composition, but as a sequence of dramatic episodes. Architecture is thus not the backdrop but the medium through which social contradictions can be staged, softened, or reconfigured. The project poses the central question: how can induction, inspired by cinematic montage, be introduced as an architectural tool to promote social cohesion in fragmented urban space?

The proposed design is a Public Condenser, a hybrid cultural and social infrastructure that curates layered programs through episodic transitions. It is both porous and programmatically dense, allowing everyday rituals such as gardening, making, cooking, and resting to become shared experiences. The building narrates a story of Sundholm through spatial gradients, from dark to light, compressed to open, loud to quiet. This fluctuation in intensity and pace stimulates interactivity and self-awareness while allowing users to adapt according to need and state of mind. The architecture enables co-presence without forced participation, inviting its users—children, addicts, elderly, families—to encounter the other, or withdraw when necessary.

Cinematic techniques such as juxtaposition, rhythm, and the Kuleshov effect are reinterpreted architecturally through shifting thresholds, visual cues, and temporal variations in spatial experience. The use of nature through vertical gardens, water features, and crafted material transitions adds a sensory layer of calm and spatial legibility. The project also draws from neuropsychological and phenomenological research, suggesting that both addicts and children are neurologically and emotionally reactive to spatial cues, making architectural sensitivity not only desirable but necessary.

The design strategy is developed through layered media: storyboards, diagrams, interviews, and speculative collages that map behavioral sequences in urban space. These methods are used to construct a spatial narrative that does not eliminate chaos but renders it navigable. By framing social collisions as opportunities for spatial induction rather than barriers, the project reframes architecture as an active player in constructing shared memory and public imagination.

Ultimately, this thesis proposes a spatial scenography of the public, a cultural framework where architecture acts not as shelter or spectacle, but as a script for resilient coexistence. It is an attempt to curate space as an emotional, political, and social experience, one that embraces the complexity of contemporary urban life and transforms it into a meaningful sequence of interactions.

In contemporary urbanism, cities must be resilient and adaptable to remain livable. Climate change, demographic shifts, and evolving cultural patterns demand flexible approaches to architectural and urban design (Holling, 1973; Brand, 1994). Sundholm exemplifies these challenges as a fragmented neighborhood with a clear yet disconnected identity. Often viewed as a space where Copenhagen’s “unwanted layers” are placed, Sundholm reveals a delicate coherence next to its reputation. a blend of cultures, identities, and characteristics that are fluid and ever-changing. Traditional strategies of homogenization risk erasing the unique character of the area, contradicting the wishes of its residents.

The proposed Public Condenser embraces Sundholm’s fluid identity, transforming its fragmented nature into a strength. Instead of imposing a static, top-down vision, the design creates a setting where residents can shape their environment over time. The project’s core concept revolves around continuity. Instead of trying to completely reshape the neighbourhood, the idea is to build on the strengths the area already has. There are already good initiatives to make Sundholm a better place, but thease ideals must be exploited and followed through. By continuing this trend, we continue the progress of Sundholm as a whole. A central open pathway connects these clusters, promoting interaction while maintaining flexibility.

The design integrates principles of seasonal adaptability, adaptive reuse, material transformation, and evolving light conditions. It redefines the relationship between architecture and identity, making change a central design principle rather than an afterthought. By celebrating multiplicity, continuity and embracing whats already there, this project aims to serve as a model for future urban interventions. The findings will not only shape Sundholm’s Public Condenser but also inspire approaches that embrace the ever-evolving nature of urban life.

Sundholm, a historically marginalized quarter within Amagerbro, faces severe social and spatial challenges, including economic disparity, societal marginalization, and a lack of connectivity with its surroundings. Once an isolated social welfare institution district, the nieghbourhood continues to struggle with its negative reputation and physical disconnection, limiting its potential for urban renewal. The project aims to transform Sundholm into a socially sustainable and dynamic urban environment by introducing a public condenser that promotes interaction and inclusivity.

A key research focus is understanding how architectural morphology and topography can shape movement patterns and social encounters. The design proposes an open, accessible public space that integrates a wellness and sports center, cultural hall, and media unit along a central axis, which functions as the primary structuring element, encouraging movement, flow, and interaction across diverse socioeconomic groups, as well as introducing the project’s street presence on main boundary roads. By implementing strategic spatial porosity, effective pedestrian circulation, and diverse intensity zones, the project seeks to create an environment that naturally invites both local residents and outsiders, encouraging new social constellations.

The project also emphasizes environmental and economic sustainability. By incorporating
a nature-inclusive design startegy, the public condenser will connect human and non-human actors, thereby contributing to urban biodiversity. Furthermore, passive design strategies and modular construction techniques will be explored to ensure resource-conscious material use.

Finally, this project envisions Sundholm as a vibrant and inclusive urban district, where the
interplay of movement, porosity, and spatial intensity promotes a thriving public realm. By strategically designing for flow and social interaction, the public condenser will act as a catalyst for the area’s revitalization, strengthening its identity while making it an attractive and safe environment for all.

the research investigates the role of public architectural design in enhancing well-being and safety in socio-economically challenged neighborhoods, with a focus on Sundholm, Copenhagen. The study is grounded in the “5 Ways to Well-being” framework, emphasizing community connection, active spaces, and accessible design. Additionally, Neuro-architecture is implemented, to stimulate the well-being not only on a conscious but also unconscious level. The proposal is the design for a public condenser fostering inclusivity and comfortvwhile enhancing well-being and health, thereby improving social cohesion and residents’ quality of life.

The Public Condenser marks a pivotal step in challenging the negative narrative surrounding social life in Sundholm. Known for its history of marginalized groups facing barriers to public participation, the neighborhood calls for an architectural intervention that actively encourages social interaction among strangers. This project introduces a public program and design that foster spontaneous encounters and community engagement.

The Public Condenser aims to shift both the perception and behavior associated with Sundholm. At the heart of the design is the transformation of a former boundary, once defined by fences, barriers, and both physical and ideological separations between people and the institutional fabric of the area. By reimagining the entrance around a former gatehouse, the project makes the neighborhood more open and inviting to passersby, dismantling previous divisions.

Crucially, the Public Condenser is conceived as an extension of the existing Sundholm House 8. Currently used by NGOs and the municipality as a meeting and workspace bridging municipal functions and the southern part of Copenhagen, the addition brings new spatial capacity and renewed public identity to the site. Through its scale and civic character, the extension elevates the status of these important functions.

The interior design is grounded in the principles of both literal and phenomenal transparency. Promoting a visual and spatial continuity between interior and exterior environments. Constructed with timber cross-beams and Y-shaped columns, the architecture supports a fluid spatial experience. Staircases double as social meeting points, allowing different spaces to connect without requiring formal circulation. In doing so, the project unifies two aims: enabling genuine social inclusion while also creating moments of social attraction, together forming the singular purpose of the Public Condenser.

This research focuses on the renovation and densification of post-war neighborhoods, often characterized by a monoculture in both housing and green spaces. These areas lack variation and connectivity, which not only limits biodiversity but also reduces the quality of life for residents. The main research question is: Which regenerative design principles for the renovation and densification of a post-war
building contribute to the densification of biodiversity within the ecologies of the urban fabric? he aim is to demonstrate that urban densification does not have to come at the expense of biodiversity but instead offers opportunities for synergy. To answer this question, methods such as literature review, case studies, and ecological analyses were employed. By studying urban biotopes and the dynamics between humans and nature, design principles were developed to integrate biodiversity into existing urban structures. Key guidelines include location-specific design, introducing more variation and strengthening connections, or disconnections. The research shows that cities are not inherently detrimental to biodiversity but possess their own ecology where flora and fauna adapt. By applying regenerative principles, cities can be transformed into living environments that support both human well-being and biodiversity. A focus on natural habitats, such as nesting opportunities for birds and bats, makes buildings an integral part of the ecosystem. The conclusion is that urban densification offers an opportunity to combine biodiversity with human needs, provided that flora and fauna are included as key actors from the start of the design process. This research highlights the importance of regenerative designs that redefine cities as dynamic ecosystems. Recommendations include developing methods to measure biodiversity in urban projects and involving ecologists and residents in the design process. This research provides valuable insights for architects, urban planners, and policymakers striving for sustainable and biodiverse urban development.

The Cultural City Hub is a social condenser, that blends cultural and educational programs, but also multiple paths of life. In Dutch society, we see that over a quarter of the population relates to a different country, where one parent, both parents or themselves are born abroad.Therefore, we can conclude that ‘Culture’ means ‘Cultures’. When looking at education, the Dutch education system does not represent this multiplicity of cultures, therefore creating an imbalance within the system and society. The Cultural City Hub combines cultures and education into a Vertical Campus, creating the campus for the future.

The Vertical Campus as an Interface not only looks at how a campus can be created on a small footprint by introducing verticality, but more importantly how it can function as an interface by offering spaces for interaction between students and industry, public and private, individual and collective. While the different parts of the program are connected by a public backbone, a collective circulation space as a continuous element throughout the Vertical Campus, the learning environments themselves have become hybrid by introducing non-acadamic elements. Furthermore, these environments differ in which ways they encourage interaction by varying their architectural characteristics, which all together results in numerous surprising combinations.

Current waste management practices pose a significant threat to humans, animals and our environment, contributing greatly to environmental pollution. Furthermore, the speed and the way we consume and dispose of things is changing rapidly, leaving us with little time to react to this global issue; particularly in urban centres, seeing that the cities have become the centre of flows and exchanges. This thesis investigates how architecture can enhance these networks in order to enable necessary economic, environmental and social transformations. It challenges the linear production-consumption-waste model driven by capitalism and explores the potential for creating resilient, self-sustainable cities through circular network flows.
Focusing on Madrid, the project proposes the reintroduction of urban manufacturing within the city to establish sustainable (textile) material flows. By ‘weaving’ this new program into the city's existing urban and material fabric, and reclaiming the former industrial site, the project envisions a space dedicated to textile innovation. With the intention of extending to other industries in the future, fostering cross-industry synergies and potentially acting as a catalyst for broader sustainable practices.
Architecture has a potential to serve as a catalyst of the change, by embodying the principles of sustainable production, rethinking the flows of material and embracing the interconnectedness of systems, communities and environment. Considering the industrial history and context of the site, the project reimagines the underutilized area as an innovation hub, contributing to a more resilient urban future.

Despite the rich Islamic history of Madrid, remnants of its Islamic past are hardly visible anymore. Contemporary architecture both in and outside of Madrid is centred around pragmatism, in contrast to the rich tradition of Andalusí architecture and the
extensive degrees of symbolism interwoven with its characteristic buildings. It is impossible to copy the form language of Islamic architecture without acknowledging the underlying cultural and religious symbolism. This research paper will therefore focus on the way in which different forms of symbolism are translated into edifice within the tradition of Andalusí architecture, and on the role atmospheres play in this translation. This is done through literature review, case studies, and experimental design research. Following the historical importance of water within both the city of Madrid and Islamic architecture, a particular focus is placed on water as a bearer of symbolism and the phenomenological qualities of water are elaborated upon. Finally, the analysis of Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor will provide insights into the atmospheric-architectural design methodology, which is combined with the findings of the literature review to be applied to a contemporary design project.