Gradients of Comfort explores how architecture might propose a more layered and adaptive understanding of comfort - one that acknowledges its fragility, but sees in that fragility the potential for richer sensory experience and more resilient public architecture. Today, comfort is typically defined in absolute terms, where anything outside a narrow band marked on comfort charts is labeled as undesired. This view is embedded in the logic of contemporary building practice, where systems for heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation are treated as secondary, yet necessary add-ons - mechanical and concealed, but ultimately dominant in shaping spatial experience. In existing structures this often results in unsustainable technical solutions and economic strain.

Set in Hoboken, Antwerp, the project proposes the transformation of the former can factory known as Blikfabriek into permanent public and educational spaces. It asks how architecture can engage with existing conditions - rather than overwrite them - and how comfort might become a medium of negotiation between body and environment, rather than a fixed standard. In this way, the project contributes to the Urban Architecture graduation studio’s broader inquiry into how the halfway city might retain its civic dynamics and remain open to public life, even as the move toward permanence becomes inevitable.

“Comfort […] is in short supply. Not because the world is running out of it but because, in the face of the climate crisis, we have to collectively adjust to its going away” (Barber, 2019, p. 44). During the last century, the Western hemisphere has grown accustomed to high standards of comfort reliably enabled by the built environment. Within the realm of thermal comfort, fossil-fueled mechanical HVAC systems are expected to mitigate heat during warmer seasons and provide warmth throughout living and working spaces in winter months. However, the understanding of and measures to achieve thermal comfort are a construct of modern societies. And they come at a price: cooling and heating accounts for approximately 20% respectively 50% of building energy (Wang et al., 2023). Facing the challenges and implications of climate change, this paper aligns with Professor Barber's contention that the status quo on comfort needs to be revisited and it is architects who are “on the front lines”, who are responsible for “exploring life after” and to explore and build noncarbon possibilities for “a world at the edge of discomfort” (Barber, 2019, p.50).

The thesis delves into the historical evolution of comfort in the built environment, with a primary focus on thermal comfort and the overlooked influence of microclimates in our lives. The study explores the historical transition from vernacular ways of shaping interior microclimates through today's prevailing practices that are dependent on fossil fuels to contemporary movements to redefine our understanding and way of achieving thermal comfort. The exploration of thermal comfort has evolved throughout history, from ancient attempts of individuals who sought refuge from extreme climate conditions to sophisticated scientific models using multidisciplinary methods to answer simple questions – when do we feel comfortable and what is the amount of discomfort we can acclimatize to and embrace?

Barber, D. A. (2019). After Comfort, 45–50. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/a32k-mg16

Wang, F., Yang, B., Deng, Q., & Luo, M. (Eds.). (2023). Personal Comfort Systems for improving indoor thermal comfort and air quality. Springer Verlag, Singapor.