The paper examines the relationship between the public transport network and urban diversity in Amsterdam using urban mapping and data analysis. The paper presents a hierarchical analysis of the urban diversity outcome, which is based on the computation of the average diversity scores for each geographical area. The Simpson index is used to measure urban diversity combined with the Urban Network Analysis Toolbox to isolate geographical areas. The diversity is ranked using the number of amenities per function, with the index ranging from zero to one, where higher values indicate greater diversity. The areas exhibiting the highest degree of urban diversity are those located within two-hundred meters of the Noord-Zuidlijn, followed by those situated within a similar distance from metro line 51. The third category is comprised of areas located within a two-hundred-meter radius of the tram stops, while the least diverse areas are the ones lying between the metro and tram network. The study concludes that the causal relationship between the tram and metro network and urban diversity cannot be definitively established based on the findings of this research. Nonetheless, the present study confirms the existence of a correlation between the two.

The building industry is one of the largest producers of waste materials worldwide. Construction waste can include various materials such as concrete, wood, glass, metals, plastics, and hazardous materials. These wastes streams can pose significant environmental challenges and contribute to pollution and depletion of natural resources. However, they can also be considered potential resources that can be reused, recycled and/or repurposed, contributing to a circular economy and sustainable development. Dealing with construction waste in the built environment has become a crucial aspect of contemporary architecture. It requires a balance between the need for resource efficiency and waste reduction on the one hand, and the design and functionality of buildings on the other. However, waste could also be considered to be a potential ‘raw material’. From this perspective it is to be argued if ‘waste’ is a valid term? Maybe is the way society interprets ‘waste’ just a perception based upon a sincere lack of knowledge how to transform and reuse these residues?
This paper examines the issue of construction waste and whether the perceptions associated with the term are related to the actual reality or are the result of a severe bias.
The research question of this thesis is: Are waste materials in the built environment a problem (pollution) or a solution (resource)?

This thesis will explore two different perspectives on the urgency of sustainable design in the built environment. The first perspective is Mark Wigley’s call for the imagination of ‘non-extractive architecture’ as outlined in his essay ‘Returning The Gift: Running Architecture in Reverse’. The second perspective is Richard Buckminster Fuller’s lecture titled ‘World Man’, delivered in 1966 at Princeton University School of Architecture.
According to Wigley, ecological responsibility and energy efficiency are not equivalent, which contradicts Fuller’s philosophy of ‘doing more-and-more with less-and-less’ to ensure human survival and evolution. This thesis aims to explore this contradiction by comparing these two perspectives from the past and present and answer the research question: What are the key differences & similarities in conveying the urge for sustainable design in the past & present, studied by the use of two outstanding voices?

The thesis will examine how the different social and political contexts of both figures, as well as their use of language and rhetoric, influenced their messages and empowered their audience. Through discussing the lessons that can be learned from both perspectives, a deeper understanding of the evolution of sustainable design will be gained, and the insights can be useful for developing a sustainable design process for the future.

Although both Fuller and Wigley use language as a tool to communicate their ideas, their rhetorical strategies differ significantly. Fuller’s lecture has a spontaneous and seemingly unorganized style, while Wigley’s essay employs rhetorical questions and vivid adjectives to captivate his audience.
Wigley’s essay ‘Returning the Gift’ appears to learn from Buckminster Fuller’s sustainability approach in architecture. While Wigley agrees with Fuller’s objective of achieving more with less until everything can be done with nothing, he suggests that we should expand beyond Fuller’s technological fix to address sustainability challenges and interact with wider social and economic systems that generate ecological issues. Wigley also illustrates Fuller’s concept of how local activities have global effects. Lastly, Wigley suggests running architecture in reverse to consider what might come after architecture, since architecture is deeply involved in extractive economies.
In order to promote a more sustainable design process, it is crucial to raise awareness about the various perspectives on energy use, sustainable design approaches, and the definition of sustainability itself. By doing so, we can acknowledge and learn from the mistakes we have made in the past. If we trust in Fuller’s philosophy, this increased awareness may lead to a positive shift in our behavior, resulting in more conscious actions and a more sustainable design process in the future.

This thesis investigates the origins of the issues within the client and architect dynamic and dissects the reasons for miscommunication. With this understanding I investigate how method actors approach empathy and effectively communicate the physical and emotional aspects of their character. In dissecting the core elements of ‘the method’, I will apply these guidelines to a more realistic example through the case study of Nikki S. Lee in her work Projects (1997 - 2001) to see how the method techniques can be applied in realistic scenarios. Moreover, I apply these tactics to the client-architect dynamic and its ability to improve the way humans empathize with each other. In understanding the main reoccurring issues within the architect and client relationship and the origins of method acting, I apply these methodologies to a more realistic example: artist Nikki S. Lee. I analyze the works of Nikki S. Lee and dissect her multidisciplinary approach and creative process to understanding subcommunities. Through analyzing the photographs in Projects, I explore the process’s potential application to the initial architectural design phases. Through my research, I investigate how these cross-disciplinary approaches could aid in the design process to effectively create more responsive and mindful spaces. With these applications, could method acting techniques be applied to the design process? And if so, how would these methods be beneficial? This paper merges interviews, psychology research, photography, and architectural experiences to support my proposal for a new multidisciplinary inspired architectural design approach: extrospective design.

Nowadays, globalization is stressing local cultures and ways of living - what risks to be lost are the multiple forms of use of spaces and the meaning connected to their presence. There is an overall sensitivity over the conservation of buildings but less over little daily rituals and instinctual gestures connected with the real meaning of space: an immaterial heritage on the threshold of architecture and anthropology that both disciplines seem to have discarded. Forgotten by conventional conservation methods, I aim to portray this patrimony
through collective mapping. Based on an analysis of historical examples of collaborative cartography, I intend to develop an analytical framework allowing
anybody to contribute to this collection of images and stories of different societies of the world by submitting a space involving a name, a gesture, and a meaning related to a specific culture. The research results in an open-source, collective atlas - a new archive created by collecting contributions based on a questionnaire explaining features of untranslatable spaces necessary to identify them.

This research investigates whether urban areas can remain livable when permanently flooded, using the case study of Artex Compound in Malabon, Philippines. The study addresses several sub-questions, including the impact of permanent flooding on the existing urban structure, the relationship between water, greenery, and buildings, and the effect on people's lives. The findings provide insights into how to cope with permanent flooding and maintain the sustainability of urban areas.

Global warming and climate change have led to an increase in the frequency and severity of floods worldwide, with coastal cities and low-lying areas particularly vulnerable. By 2050, the number of people living in cities at risk of coastal flooding and sea-level rise could reach 150 million worldwide. Therefore, learning how to live in permanently flooded cities is essential for maintaining urban areas that would otherwise be uninhabitable.

The study uses a two-way approach combining quantitative and qualitative research to examine the Artex Compound. Quantitative analysis involves examining Google Earth historical maps to identify changes in the physical structure of the area, while qualitative analysis involves gathering information from documentaries and local newspapers to gain insight into the daily lives of residents. The study analyzes changes in typologies such as structures, water, and greenery to explore their correlations and relationships, and uses interviews to understand the residents experiences and perceptions of living in a permanently flooded area.

The results of the historical map study show that flooded urban areas are highly vulnerable to weather events, with significant impacts on greenery and water levels. The positive impact of greenery on the resilience of urban structures highlights the importance of incorporating green infrastructure into urban planning strategies. However, residents of permanently flooded areas face significant challenges, including limited job opportunities and access to clean water. Despite these challenges, many residents choose to stay because it is the only place they can afford to live.

Overall, the study highlights the complex challenges and opportunities of permanent flood cities, and underscores the importance of incorporating resilience and sustainability considerations into urban planning and policymaking. While further research is needed to develop a more nuanced understanding of the livability of permanent flood cities, this study provides a valuable starting point for future investigations.

With every second going by, another operation is automated. Even occurring in the field of architecture, mostly through parametric design, writing of computational scripts and mathematics. The latter being one of the first methodologies to be used for automating the process of designing. One of its pre-computer era pioneers, Luigi Walter Moretti (1907-1973), wrote extensively about parametric design and defined it as a new architecture that emerges through the rigorous use of mathematics, operational research and computation design. In 1960 at the Twelfth Milan Triennial Moretti presented a stadium design, which was completely constructed from mathematical equations. While Moretti advocated much for the automation and usage of mathematics, his written work on diverging from them is sparse. Even though creative interventions in a rigorous organisation are pivotal design elements. I would even argue that breaking or diverging a self-imposed set of rules, like equations, from time to time is vital for good architecture. Therefore, the rigorous methodology of Moretti can be questioned if the mathematical equations even allow these kinds of interventions and changes.

The impact and relation of creative interventions on the mathematical equations from Luigi Moretti’s Stadium are questioned, by asking the following research question; How does the outcome of the mathematical design of Luigi Moretti’s Stadium and its formulas, presented at the Twelfth Milan Triennial in 1960, respond to creative interference? The examination of Moretti’s views, methodology and football stadium entry for the 1960 Milan Triennial will be used as a point of departure within the first chapter. After the focus of the research will shift to recreating Moretti’s design for the stadium using the same mathematical methodology that he used. With which numerous creative interventions (changing variables, reformulating the equations or breaking the chain of equations) can be made at different stages of the calculation, to create differences in the outcome. The variations will be ordered and analysed as a whole. The results will be significant because they shed new light on the relationship between architectural automation and creative interference.

Dictionaries often define “Megastructure” as “a very large multi-story building or complex” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 2022). Somebody who first encounters the term must value such a definition; although it does not reflect the actual meaning that architects attach to the term. In the mid-twentieth century, the concept of Megastructure in architecture and urbanism has been developed into a much broader sense. Even though the idea of visionary mega-movements such as Japanese Metabolism and the British Archigram has been abandoned since mid-70’s, it has remained as a progressive concept in the field of architecture and urbanism. Integrating the two architecturally contrasting conditions together, such as large/small, permanent/transient, Megastructure transforms the uncertainty to architectural design. Thus, it raises the question of indeterminacy and adaptability over time. Therefore, the research asks how differently or similarly the ascent and decadence of the Megastructure trend is perceived back then and now. The final question to ask is: whether the concept of Megastructure is still relevant in the twenty-first century in the field of architecture and urbanism.

In this thesis, it is being examined how music influenced the design strategy of two renowned architects: Le Corbusier and Steven Holl. The projects that are analyzed regard the Philips Pavilion in Brussels (1958) and the Stretto House in Dallas Texas (1989-1992). The design of the Philips Pavilion followed from a number of concept try-outs that led to the physical translation of a “Poème électronique”, created by Edgar Varèse and Le Corbusier. An analysis of this building shows how sound and design are inevitably interwoven with each other in a practical way and it states Le Corbusier’s opinion about the interference of music and architecture.

The Stretta House displays the design of a piece of music in a more philosophical way. The continuous and discontinuous tonal properties of the concert of Bèla Bartok (1937) “Music for String Instruments, Percussions and Celesta” are interpreted as horizontal and vertical structures. Roof form, window proportions, sizing and open and closed spaces display the different instruments used in the concert. A mathematical analysis brings together the idea of these two art pieces: A symphony and a residential house.

By discussing the used design methods and reviewing these two case studies, general differences and similarities can be stated about design techniques inspired by music over a time span of 30 years. Therefore, an imaginary discourse between Le Corbusier and Steven Holl, based on citations and true quotes, illustrates what could have happened if the two architects would have been working together on the design of the Stretto House. A crucial moment in the conceptual design phase of the Stretto House shows a breakthrough in linking the two arts. The result is a better understanding on what architectural designing with music entails. Therefore the following research question is asked:

“How can the implementation of musical elements contribute to an architectural design concept?”

Rhythm, proportion, harmony, unity, sound projection and other elements are key points that should be taken into account when designing. Holl and Le Corbusier strive to find a balanced interaction between order and disorder in their designs to create harmony. By comparing the definition of harmony in a musical structure with the definition in the field of architecture, new innovative ideas and alternative design approaches concluded in a reflection and conclusion of the imaginary discourse. There has been some experimenting with this concept before, so by reflecting on previous studies and critically analyzing the discourse between Le Corbusier and Steven Holl, a creative way of conceptual designing will be established. Learning from different arts like music opens possibilities to review and change existing design methods.

Quantifying and mapping urban diversity is a newly emerging field of research. In this present thesis, I build on past and ongoing research. I expand diversity mapping to the mapping of commuter diversity. In particular, I map commuter diversity in New York City as a case study, and I demonstrate that areas with tall buildings are the most diverse. In addition, I suggest that commuter diversity correlates with urban diversity more broadly, which may be useful in the study of diversity where commuter data is most easily available. My thesis comes with a GitHub page that provides data and code and makes it easy for anyone interested to replicate the results.

In the winter of 1970, Rem Koolhaas visited the architecture collective Superstudio, and he expressed great appreciation towards the studio’s founders Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia. What ensued was a long time of correspondence, especially between Koolhaas and Natalini. They gravitated toward each other, and they celebrated their shared perspectives on architectural design. That is until Koolhaas found out that they silently disagreed in critical moments, and their friendship began to cool off.
This thesis recounts the story of Rem Koolhaas and the architecture collective Superstudio. It delineates how the two crossed paths, how and why they sympathized, what their greatest contradiction was, and how their mutual affinity was partly based on a misunderstanding. Their greatest contradiction regarded the grid and their diverging position was informed by disagreements on multiple levels, on the value of history for example. In this thesis, the juxtaposition of their positions is combined with recently published archival material, giving insight into their personal relationship as well. It appears that in architecture, affinity can start with misinterpretation and it does not have to end with a stupefying consensus either.

The first Skyscraper was developed in 1885 in Chicago, the home insurance building. Soon this type of building became a symbol of power and representation which started to migrate within America and then to the other parts of the world. As technology improved new types of skyscraper facades were introduced which migrated as people were inspired. A persistent issue that can be seen throughout the migration is the unchanged urban implementation of these buildings. The street life and the way it interacts with the building have not been clearly addressed. Many architects have addressed these issues on their own way, but this connection between both the spaces varies with their location and context and has to be addressed with respect to that. Netherlands is a country which has a strong urban street life connection, outdoor social and interaction spaces such as markets, outdoor cafes, bars and restaurants can be found throughout the cities. Rotterdam is one such city where in spite of the urbanization and the modern architecture, the spirit of Rotterdam remains outdoors with a good social interaction. However, the modern High-rise buildings in certain parts of the city still stands as an isolated entity in the neighborhood severing the urban street life connection with the building. Now understanding the significance of the urban street life connection, Rotterdam’s High-rise vision 2019 states the need for spaces for social integration in the plinth of the building. This thesis researches effective ways to do this with respect to the context of the Netherlands and its inhabitants and proposes a mixed use skyscraper in Delfshaven.

Every space has its own atmosphere. This atmosphere consists of elements that stimulate a person's various senses, and the person slowly feels the collection of these elements and recognizes them as the atmosphere of space. This study focuses on what elements make up this atmosphere, how they approach and influence people, and how they will be applied to create space. In addition, it raises the question of ‘Does the atmosphere remain the same when a particular atmosphere is moved to another place and recreated as it is?’. To address this, this project sets up a space and analyses the features by studying the elements that make up the atmosphere of that space. It then creates a new atmosphere by looking for a new place to place such elements. In this process, the space that had its own atmosphere, the place to newly deploy, and the appropriate program are determined. Therefore, based on an understanding of atmosphere, this study explores how the atmosphere affects the formation of space, what kind of building “migration of atmosphere” might be, and furthermore, how this atmosphere of new building makes relationship to the surrounding environment and how it affects society.

Today, Rotterdam’s city is observed as a mosaic of diverse cultures representing various characters and atmospheres. Recently, the research ‘Coming to Terms with Superdiversity: The Case of Rotterdam’ gives a historical account of Rotterdam’s diversity since the 1600s to present day to try and understand how diversity formed and shifted within society. The findings recorded are represented through interviews, empirical graphs and maps highlighting ethnicities, incomes and other social sciences. However, do not investigate how diversity exists within architecture and form. Therefore, this study uses the knowledge gained from ‘Coming to terms with superdiversity’ to understand how spatial diversity forms in the built environment, explicitly questioning ‘How can understanding the temporality of spatial diversity inform the way we design new spatial interventions?’. The question is tackled by creating a catalogue of maps based on the lessons learnt and new parameters to investigate the most spatially diverse area within the Western Archipelago site (WA). Thus, the series of maps create a visual narrative of the existing spatial diversity and enables the user to generate a design framework by highlighting critical areas for development and design potentials.

A research article about the migration of workspaces and the shaping of its next migration where the position of digitalisation is re-evaluated as an active actor in its design instead of a decorative spatial fill-in.

The research revealed a pressing need for change in today’s food production and consumption. The rising global population will demand so much food, that there is not enough land on earth to produce this. The research also showed a possible solution: clean meat. Lab grown meat is more efficient in every way, compared to traditional meat. The problem found is that people are hesitant to try clean meat. It is an unknown technique and very different from the usual consumed food. This is where C.E.L. will come in.

The process of clean meat production is suited for an urban environment. This means it can be brought to the people that need convincing. The research showed that making the process transparent creates knowledge amongst consumers and that will lead to willingness and loyalty for the product. The second way to persuade hesitant consumers is giving choices instead of forcing a choice on them. The concept combines these two aspects by creating a market hall integrated with a food lab: Coolhaven Exhibition Lab.

Three decades after the reunification of Germany, the History of a nation standing on the cutting line of a binary world continues to unfold and reveal its complexities. Today, many traits underlying two opposing ideologies persist in reminding the time when East and West Germany followed different paths. The condition of women is one of those. GDR’s socialist politics put the nation in a pioneering position in the way towards gender equality and women’s independency, particularly in their relation to work . In the context of cold war, visual arts played a prominent role in the construction and spreading of ideologies. From US Comics to Socialist Realism, artists participated in shaping the narrative of a binary world. German Democratic Republic, as a young nation part of the soviet bloc, was no exception. The reconstruction of East Germany was done under the light of artworks spreading the vision of the socialist ideal. Surfing on the thin line between pure Art and propaganda, countless creations, such as the notorious Unser Sandmännchen [Our Sandman] , influenced the way East German society pictured itself and envisioned the future. Given those two simple observations, it is worth wondering how GDR progressive politics regarding women’s condition reverberated in the artistic sphere, a key-element in the shaping of East German society. To this end, this article will be mainly investigating a unique data set. On the occasion of the ninth National Art Exhibition of the GDR, held in 1982, artists willing to participate were required to fill a standardized application form. This collection almost 3000 forms constitutes a sample of comparable primary data. The research will be based on the analysis of this data, the goal being to extract geographical, temporal, political, and social data, with a focus on gender distribution. As an authoritarian government adept of propaganda, the SED (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands [Social Unity Party of Germany]) inevitably throws a veil of uncertainty on internal social and political studies, for the eye of the researcher . The examination of raw data will allow to outline tendencies, without having to deal with state influenced studies. This will hopefully help to achieve a higher degree of trust in the depiction of basic trends in the artistic community in the GDR. Using observation and data analysis as the driver of this research, the goal is as well to develop a contextual theory on how to deal with this data, as well as how to build reliable knowledge and investigation methodology from it.

The herring gull is a bird species with a red dot on its beak. Its chicks are fully dependant on their mother for the first phase of their life, and resultantly develop a clear instinct towards the beak of their mother as this is their known source of sustenance. Interestingly enough the chicks respond with the same excitement when an object is brought about which only assimilates the beak, characteristically with the red dot. Studies showed that the chicks reacted just as much towards simply a stick with a red dot on it, and even more so to a stick with several dots or a larger red dot painted on. Qualities which in fact are never seen in the exact same manner on their mother’s beak from which the actual desired food would be brought. Despite the contrast between a herring gull chick and a more developed, presumably intelligent, human being, the anecdote conveys an important principle of the visual arts. As the chicks are deluded by the familiar yet amplified stimulus, so does the human mind build excitement and apparent interest for that which is the most visually stimulating, irrespective of the true understanding of the perceived subject. This same ideology has several instances where it is exploited in the built environment of today.

Alternative forms of dwelling, and collaborative housing models in particular, are again gaining an increasing amount of interest in the architectural discourse. Although not a new topic, there is a noticeable lack of research on how existing cohousing projects, that were established decades ago, have developed in practice. Among other counties in northern Europe, the Netherlands experienced a rise of cohousing communities in the early nineteen-eighties, many of which still exist today. One example for this is the project of Centraal Wonen Delft, which was chosen as a case study for this thesis. Completed in 1981, it was part of a larger national movement called Centraal Wonen (CW) and was particularly experimental in its layout and spatial organization in the context of that time.
As society shifts continuosly over time, the design intentions of CW Delft might no longer comply with the lifestyle of its residents fourty years after completion. To test this hypothesis the author conducted interviews with multiple residents and two of the founders. Further, the results of qualitative research methods including field notes, observations and photographic documentation were compared to historical documents, such as blueprints and images. The results showed that, while many of the initial intentions of collaborative living do not match the outcomes observed today, CW Delft as a whole can yet be seen as a successful project that is home to a thriving and diverse community to this day.
The observations suggest that, together with its residents, the project was able to naturally evolve in time, particularly when the design of shared spaces was not too strongly attached to a certain ideology. On this basis, the design of spatial concepts in cohousing should consider a flexible approach that is not tied to specific social structures.

This thesis takes the Southern Italian city of Matera as a case study to analyse the role urban diversity plays in the growth of cities. The analysis focuses on tracking changes in intensity and distribution of urban diversity in representative moments of Matera’s development, from the expansion of the vernacular neighbourhood of the Sassi with the 1950s introduction of modernist architecture, through the present-day. Whilst the historic center of the city, dating back to the Neolithic, has experienced remarkable economic growth and continues to thrive under the impulse of international recognition, the more peripheral modernist neighbourhoods are in decline, despite their widely acknowledged architectural and cultural value. Provided as a political answer to the lack of suitable and affordable housing after World War II, these often forgotten neighbourhoods are representative of the Italian re-construction efforts, guided by Adriano Olivetti’s Community Movement and designed by a team of architects, lead by Ludovico Quaroni and Luigi Piccinato, under the theoretical framework of Friedrich G. Friedmann. Initially intended to recreate the forms of aggregations and social ties of the Sassi in modern forms of living, neighbourhoods such as La Martella, Borgo Venusio and Spine Bianche have experienced progressive decline, whilst the historic center of Matera has been object of public investment and continues to be a sought destination. This research will enquire the role urban diversity has played in this discrepancy in order to derive conclusions that might inform present and future urban planning policies. The Diversity Index Method developed by Dan C. Baciu and Callum Birchall (Baciu, Birchall, 2021) applied to primary historic records will be used alongside secondary literature to analyse the different urban configurations to find patterns that lead to urban density or isolation. The preliminary argument is that diversity of both building uses and outdoor public infrastructure leads to growth and urban vitality, whereas mono-functional developments lead to isolation and decline.