As part of the Urban Architecture Graduation Studio, this project explores the transition and its sequences when moving from inner-city Brussels to urban greenery, focusing on Josaphat Friche—"the last green in town." In response, Le Nouveau Blue was designed. Using water as both a thematic and spatial medium, an old warehouse was transformed into a spa and Olympic pool, embodying the interplay and transition between contrasting elements: urban & natural, dry & wet, warm & cold, and old & new. The adaptive reuse approach preserves the existing concrete structure while integrating new structural elements, creating a dynamic architectural dialogue. The design and research balance preservation and innovation, ultimately connecting the neighborhood’s new development to its biodiverse landscape.

The site of this year’s Urban Architecture graduation studio was the Friche Josaphat. This is a terrain vague of 24 hectares in the northeast of Brussels, in the neighbourhood of Schaerbeek. In the 1920’s a marshalling yard was built on the site, however when marshalling yards were not needed anymore in the 1990s, it closed. It was cleaned and covered with sand and is now overgrown with vegetation. The program I proposed is located on the northwestern border of the Friche where it is bordered by a stretch of trees, behind which lays a long row of houses.
At one point this row of buildings leaves a gap which opens up the border of the Friche. Because of this gap and the big unused space, this site has the potential for a sequence of spaces connecting the neighbourhood and the Friche with a small public square and a front square.
The motion of the sequence and the sequence of spaces sparked my interest early this year. Therefore the research that I did throughout the year focused on understanding sequences, not only in architecture, but also in other art disciplines. To understand what makes existing urban spaces with sequences work well and liveable, I explored the sequence of spaces of four sites that illustrate a sequence. These are often spaces that have evolved over time and have gradually developed into comfortable spaces to be in.
Furthermore, I researched art disciplines that use sequences such as music, dance, film and animation. In these disciplines anticipation and suspense are often created to evoke a certain feeling in the spectator. Through this research, I wanted to explore how this could be translated into architecture. This resulted in the choreography of a new sequence of spaces made of the features that I found in the different sites I analysed, as well as the findings into the creation of anticipation and suspense in other art disciplines.
This choreography ultimately resulted in the composition of a sequence of spaces in my design, which consists of a connecting street, a small public square, a front square, an entrance with a sightline, a garden on the hill and the Friche.

As Brussels is struggling with a housing crisis and many eviction problems, I chose a program that provides home and purpose for homeless people and brings the community together through gardening and farming activities. By choreographing this sequence of spaces and creating anticipation and suspense, people in need of a home and others from the neighbourhood can be attracted to the site and brought together. In that way, an intimate, human-scale, and safe space can offer comfort to diverse groups of people.

This research and design proposal explores the tension between regulated and “wild” states in urban spaces, highlighting how the hyper-controlled nature of contemporary cities, particularly in Western Europe, diminishes the agency and participation of urban dwellers. Modern urban environments often prioritize efficiency and order, leaving little room for spontaneity or contest, and resulting in spaces that are disconnected from the inherent needs and desires of their users. Architects frequently design spaces to meet specific, pre-determined requirements, further reinforcing this lack of user influence and ownership. This disconnect contributes to a broader societal condition where individuals feel repressed and detached from their urban surroundings. By examining the potential for increased user agency and spontaneous interaction within urban spaces, the research advocates for a shift in design approaches to foster community, inclusivity, and a sense of belonging. The author reflects on personal experiences of urban alienation and draws inspiration from the site of La Friche, and surrounding Brussels to propose strategies for raising awareness about the importance of inclusive, diverse, urban design in contemporary Western cities.

This graduation projects aims to raise a discussion around the urgency of restoring connection between humans and nature, especially in our current day cities. Dealing with a post-industrial site in Brussels that turned into an accidental nature reserve, it tries to mediate between the need for housing and the importance of nature in cities. It proposes a program of nature education, where education becomes a missing link between the city and the landscape, adopting the landscape as a botanical garden of sorts. In a spatial sense, it tries to form a connection between the city and the landscape through a sequence of different defined garden spaces, transitioning from an urban architectural language into a more rural expression.

Cities have never belonged only to humans, non-humans have always been city dwellers, too. However, the ongoing urbanization and significant usage of natural resources have led to a major impact on climate change and species decay. In the world of the Anthropocene, it becomes essential to engage in a critical re-evaluation of our position as architects, wherein we contemplate the manner in which we design environments to be inherently accessible for all – humans and non-human actors. The increasing belief among city dwellers that humans and non-human entities share a mutually interconnected moral, physical, and spiritual realm indicates a novel aspect in our relationship with non-human beings and life in general.

To engage other-than-humans in the city life, it requires not only spatial change, but a major shift in the way of thinking of to whom the space belongs to. It is a complex task that involve different individuals together by engaging in a dialog and interactive actions. Richard Sennett highlight the challenge that togetherness faces today, when modern politics emphasizes unity and similarity, which often leads to a preference for simple and easily identifiable groups, rather than embracing diversity and complexity.

The Common Ground calls for a space in the city, where humans can reconnect with nature, where embracing diversity is be possible. How to shift the purpose of architecture from being a border for humans and non-human actors to connect them together, while preserving a rich biodiversity existing on the site? The research explores what we all have in common, how we can share the ground, how to create a city of Empathy.

In an abandoned field in Brussels, where different species of plants and animals took over, wasteland ‘Friche Josaphat’ stirs the imagination and opens up many possibilities for the future of this land. This vacant lot is like a ‘hetero-topia’, a place that is extra-ordinary, outside the everyday, an ‘other space’ where things become possible.

The studio theme of ‘Last Green in Town’ encouraged us to engage with La Friche Josaphat, an urban wasteland that has grown into a greenfield in the middle of the city. The lack of human engagement has allowed biodiversity to naturally take over the wasteland, creating a wilderness, unknown to the city beyond its borders. Around the Friche, nature exists mostly in conventional forms (parks, gardens, sports fields etc.) which are products of narrow utilitarian approaches, with few exceptions of human-nature synergies. These make it evident that different perceptions of urban nature have produced diverse urban cultures of nature, few of which validate the interdependence of nature and humans while most treat nature as a distinct entity needing a functional purpose.
The thesis roots itself firmly in the ‘as found’ conditions and delves into site-specific research, in an attempt to understand the evolution of the existing urban culture of nature over time. Using this research, the thesis attempts to develop a project that validates the past, sensitively deals with the present 'as found' conditions and situates itself within the site for a symbiotic evolution of humans and nature in the future. The programs evolve from the site, responding to the urban conditions and mediating between the urban and the wild. The community centre brings the urban closer to the wild friche, while the research and education centre undertakes the task of creating and imparting knowledge of the biodiversity within the friche to the people beyond the borders. The programs work in tandem to create a flow of energies between the friche and the city, while carefully allowing sensitive accidental and incidental micro engagements between humans and nature.

Brussels breathes the football atmosphere, and simultaneously deals with issues of tension. Communities of football fans are encountering difficulties to place themselves in the city. The interplay of containing and relieving forces constantly generates dilemmas. Over time, these dilemmas reveal themselves as revolving around the universal values of freedom versus security in the city. This turned out to be the playing field of architectural exploration.

The project intents to understand which borders are present in Brussels football spheres. To understand systems of behavior in order to examine how large supporter groups interact with the concept of the border within Brussels’ football networks. A repeating element in this research is that of the reinvented use of space, where extensions are made, functions are changed, and unique performances are displayed.

In all of this research, the author did not impose himself. He stood, took pictures, observed, and recorded. He left it alone and did not intervene. This is the main characteristic of the site - a coexistence of borders, and a state of nothingness. The project intends to maintain this, respect it, without directly solving issues. To create a space where it can happen.

Three design principles emerged. The first: dealing with boundaries - a search for “soft where you can, harsh where you must.” The second: dealing with ritual - the sequence of events in time. A quest to give space to the natural course and growth of things by providing a base for it. The third: dealing with agency - a search for what agency of actors means for design.

The proposal follows, as it is called, ‘a ritual journey’ along the railway in the Friche: rethinking forms of experience, tension, and therefore interrelations - not only within rival supporter groups but also their harmonious coexistence with public life.

The project responds to the human need to escape and connect the hectic urban rhythms of Schaerbeek’ residents with those of nature and pastoral life. It seeks these spaces of escape within the fabric of the ever-evolving city. Walking is the means of exploration, linking the different patches of our cities and helping us to both escape and discover more.
The overwhelming and relentless pace of urban life causes stress and harms mental health, taking away any sense of comfort in daily life. Our cities have large gaps and leftover areas that create divisions between different patches, depriving residents of their use and enjoy-ment. The "Josaphat Commons" and the theater "Les Nouveaux Disparus" act as catalysts, entities that, despite the wall and territorial divisions, see the potential of these spaces and open the way for exploration of the wasteland, making it accessible to the surrounding com-munity.
These two catalysts are given a place in the project, along with an organization that facilitates walking therapy within the urban green space of the Friche. This collaboration helps bridge the gap between the city and leftover green areas, encouraging people to enter and explore previously inaccessible territory and escape the chaos of the city. Bridge and Square.

Places with high densities of people are characterized by an urban infrastructure dependent on the economically efficient movement of people and matter. Moving from one place to another as quickly as possible. In the history of Liège, economic material transfers have led to social transfers. The results are a rearrangement of the social composition & properties, and stress and exhaustion of the people and the earth.

I am of the city but somehow not in it. I am of the earth but somehow not on it.

This design project is reacting to the movements of the place (and its history) and is offering a transitional path leading to a moment of standstill. Preventing exhaustion of both human and earth. The path leads a movement from the time-ruled urban landscape to an open space, where freedom of movement and a different perception of time can be experienced. The composed walk and turning point embody a tension between hovering and grasping, lightness and weight, movement and stillness. The turning point of the path is represented by a light and bright interior space where the physical activity temporarily comes to rest.

The escape from the efficient urban infrastructure creates the possibility of reorientation. This can create awareness to change the relationship between people, and between people and their topographical position. A shift from creating and claiming properties and territories to maintaining a reciprocal relationship.

The street is perhaps the most prosaic of the city’s public realm, allowing us to view the very ordinary practices of life and livelihood – a space to move or pause, to meet friends, post a letter, to buy goods and is composed of an amalgamation of rooms along it. Due to the possibility of maneuvering, it tends to exhibit the external spatial reinforcements taken to mark a person’s position. This makes a street not a linear study but a system of social and spatial labyrinths. Hence, the street gives a peek at not only what was and what is, but also the lived realities of allegiance and participation by understanding the social and cultural formations occurring within itself. This is observed by unfolding the street to understand the levels of interactions (or scenes) within the layers between the building and street.
The thesis focuses on the field between architecture and urbanism, on the domain between public and private. It is an attempt to bring an interactive notion to ‘street’ and its role in the design of urban areas and smaller architecture projects. It aims to reinforce the quality of open space within and between the built structures and the existing corridors by blurring the borders of inside and outside.

This project delves into the transformative potential of human-centric architecture as a catalyst for social connection, urban revitalization, and empowerment in the neighborhood of Droixhe in Liège, Belgium. Drawing inspiration from the collective Les Amis de L'Étang, comprising 15 social organizations, the research explores the concealed narratives behind facades and the daily lives of the communities residing in the neighborhood. Uncovering a pressing need for suitable spaces and housing tailored to the requirements of marginalized women and poorly represented social organizations within the modernistic ensemble of Droixhe, the site specific project proposes a women's house as a multi-functional complex, re-interpreting the role of the public, communal and domestic space. Aiming to promote social safety and empowerment for women, the project at the same time revitalizes and enhances the neighborhood through its public functions, with it's community kitchen as main urban connector. By transcending conventional design paradigms and activating curiosity through architecture, this proposal seeks to invigorate Droixhe, forging a vibrant, inclusive living environment that empowers its inhabitants.

In the ever-evolving world of architecture and construction, there is a growing recognition of the urgent need to embrace sustainable and circular practices. As the challenges of climate change and resource depletion become increasingly apparent, architects and designers have a unique opportunity and responsibility to shape the future of our built environment. It is within this context that I followed the Urban Architecture Graduation Studio, leading to my project called "Re:Generation Liège", in wich I aim to reimagine local building culture as a showcase for a circular generation of architecture, while revitalizing an abandoned industrial site.
At its core, "Re:Generation Liège" seeks to challenge the prevailing linear model of resource consumption in our field of Architecture, while trying to create architecture that is culturally fitting, encouraging social life and in symbiosis with nature. By harnessing the principles of circularity and sustainability, this project strives to create a harmonious interplay between human habitation, natural resources, and the surrounding environment.
The city of Liège, with its rich architectural heritage and vibrant cultural identity, serves as the backdrop for this project. By leveraging the unique physical, economic and socio-cultural characteristics of the local context, "Re:Generation Liège" aims to demonstrate how a circular economy can be boosted in this specific context, through showcasing the potential of adaptive reuse, component reuse and reuse-focused public program.

Unappreciated by the public, and ambiguous with its history, Brutalism has its followers, among designers and architects yet it is still a stylistic outcast. La tour de Droixhe, the high-rise at hand, thus, is seen not only as heritage but also as a lonely giant towering over the city of Liège, Belgium. This brutalist social housing development presents itself as an example of many other similar cases across Europe where brutalist buildings are met with discontent from the public and with growing mismanagement, they often face a certain demolition, therefore this project explored both within design and programme why should we save ugly buildings and how to change their fate. Taking on the original message of brutalism as an ethical approach, the project brings in the possibilities of enhancing social cohesion in the case of high-rise housing. Answering the challenges that living off-the-ground creates through designing clusters within the tower working on the premise of cooperative living. Humanising brutalism and reclaiming its aesthetics as unique and worth building on and upon.

Liège with its post-industrial identity has a long history as an important manufacturing center in Europe for steel making and coal mining. However, the segregation between production and the city, has made the industry detached from the urban condition and the everyday life. Today, whilst new urban productive typologies were spotted in Liège that offered chances for hybrid and innovative making, manufacturing found its root to thrive in the city – and this is what we identified – a new industrial urbanism.

“A good city has industry.”

This design project argues that industry should be part of the city. It aims to develop a new factory type with the involvement of human scale and everyday life in the current urban setting to eliminate segregation between human and machines, and thus suggests a mixed-use program with a focus of work and production.

So, how can production be visible and fit into the city?

The design approach is to go hybrid, to combine production and consumption activities, and to have a closer loop from producers to consumers. The project hopes to achieve a productive co-existence of different functions within a building.

Today’s concerns are not only about how to design a factory building working efficiently as a machine, but also the social aspect of a factory, for example, the human factors which guide the spatial design for circulation and interactions for the workers, neighbors and commuters.

“Made in Liège”, the project is strategically located next to the Bressoux train station entrance area, at the intersection of the railway and a bridge, thereby forming an important urban transition between the industrial area of Droixhe and the neighborhood of Bressoux.

Having a long and linear shape in connection with an existing bridge, the building is almost like a train with many carriages, which you can enter separately, and they have their own identity but still be able to work together. In different carriages, it responds to different researched aspects (productive urbanism, working environment, social interactions) under the topic “Human & Machine”. When different cabinets come together, it becomes a mini city in one building.

The thesis aims to investigate the role of the built environment with the help of design elements, in promoting mental health among young adults. The study will focus on how architectural design choices can contribute to- wards normalization and de-institutionalisation of mental healthcare facilities for the youth. The academic paper aims to explore the impact of the built environment on mental health in an ever changing modern society. The research will examine several literature studies, academic writings, case studies and primary sources through fieldwork, observations and interviews. Social and environmental factors which might influence the youth and how design choices can address these factors will also be analyzed. Overall, the thesis seeks to provide insights on how architects can create spaces that not only prevent mental illnesses but also promote mental wellbeing among young adults. While mental health is a very prominent topic currently, this thesis aims at providing an alternative approach towards the topic through architecture.

Psychiatric clinics where patients live are only used when the patient cannot
live on their own anymore. Stays are kept as short as possible and patients are
stimulated to reintegrate and live on their own again (GGZ Noord-Holland-
Noord, n.d.). For patients with the prospect of moving out again, this now often
fails, because the difference between living in a clinic and living in your own
home is too big. The architecture does not fully support aspects of giving and
taking autonomy, which can result in patients feeling helpless (Evans, 2003).
This research aims to make it easier for patients admitted to psychiatric clinics
to reintegrate into out-patient care and their own home, by finding ways in
which architecture can increase the autonomy that patients in clinics have.
For this research, the subject of feeling at home is taken from J. Habraken
(1961), who says that a place can only feel like a home when you are able to
build, to change it to your preferences. The paper by Golembiewski (2010) is
used as it directly posed architectural guidelines. There is no research yet that
combines elements of architecture and the built environment into guidelines
to increase the feeling of autonomy for patients admitted to psychiatric clinics.
Part of the research is done by a case study analysis, in which 5 psychiatric
clinics in The Netherlands will be ranked points in five different categories,
with a maximum of five points. The categories are: Room for activity within,
Activities in surroundings, Possibility to choose your whereabouts, Possibility
to personalize and Stigmatization. Another part of the research is done by by
interviews and observations in a Field Work. Three interviews were done with
members of staff and there have also been observations directed to finding
out people’s needs, wishes and relationship with the building.
The research resulted in 17 architectural guidelines that architects can use
in order to design psychiatric clinics and increase the amount of autonomy
patients have. Within the guidelines, there is a clash between those that make
sure safety and privacy is provided within the building and thosethat stimulate
social contact and activities. It is both important to comfort patients as well
as prepare them to live on their own.

Key words: Autonomy, personalization, temporary co-living, psychiatric clinics,
inpatient healthcare facilities, patient-centred healthcare.

Youth care has undergone a significant transformation in 2015. Secure residential youth care is one of the areas that is currently experiencing difficulties as a result. Research has shown that the conditions in secure facilities often negatively affect the residents. Furthermore, young adults often find it difficult to adjust to independence once they leave the facility. Youth care organisations are currently closing these large secure institutions, and creating small, more customized alternatives called small-scale residential youth care. This type of care accommodates minors who are unable to make use of lighter types of care due to their complex problems and behaviour.

Many have studied the design of healthcare environments. Others have concentrated on the design of mental healthcare facilities or healthcare environments for children and young adults. However, the majority of research still appears to be focused on the design of hospitals and other formal healthcare settings, such as psychiatric facilities. Research on the design of residential care for young adults with mental and behavioural disorders is scarce. There is a need for more specific research and knowledge on this topic. Therefore, this research aims to discover: What location conditions and architectural and built environment features can support the design of open and secure small-scale residential facilities for youth care and increase user autonomy and social interaction? During this research, the following themes will be discussed: location conditions, architectural features, level of autonomy and social interaction.

Four small-scale youth care homes were visited. Analysis of the buildings, semi-structured interviews with caretakers and conversations with residents were conducted. The research showed that users preferred a neighbourhood setting close to public transport and general amenities. Architectural features included spaces that are flexible and adaptable to different users, a domestic and normalised setting, the right balance between privacy and security, sufficient facilities for leisure and materials that are low maintenance. The research showed that autonomy could be enhanced by including safety measures to prevent (self-)injury, as few security measures as possible, security measures as invisible as possible, adaptable and customisable security and safety levels and easily personalisable spaces. Social interaction could be improved by providing opportunities to meet with neighbours and to interact with the social network and other users.

The driving force for this research was the rising need for additional supported living housing for intellectually disabled adults steering towards their social inclusion; besides all the efforts so far, there is a strong necessity to improve the architectural environment offered to this population.
The study of the relevant literature and the fieldwork conducted based on ethnographic methodology guided this inquiry towards biophilic design, a tool that can improve the quality of life of residents in supported living settings.
Taking into consideration the rights of this vulnerable group to independent living, social interaction and well-being, the main research question that guided the whole process leading to the formulation of the qualities on which the design process will be based was: how can biophilic design be implemented to improve the quality of life of adults with intellectual disabilities who live in supported living environments?
The findings of this research indicate that a small-scale living facility located in the heart of a neighborhood, accessible by public transportation and close to public functions, seems ideal for intellectually disabled residents who live in supported living arrangements. The program can benefit from hybridity, combining dwellings with recreational and therapeutic facilities that can enhance the health and well-being of both the intellectually disabled population and the neighborhood community.