Climate change is intensifying hydrological extremes in the Netherlands, where flooding and drought increasingly occur in close succession. In cities such as Eindhoven, water systems are primarily designed to rapidly discharge excess water, contributing to water scarcity and the spatial invisibility of water in daily urban life. At the same time, growing housing demand raises questions about how living environments can engage more constructively with water systems.
This graduation project explores how architecture can contribute to these challenges by redefining the relationship between housing, landscape, and water infrastructure. Introducing the concept of inertia, the project investigates how architectural and landscape systems can slow down, buffer, store, purify, and reuse water over time, transforming hydrological processes into inhabitable spatial conditions. Using Eindhoven as a case study, the project combines research-by-design across landscape, urban, and building scales. The resulting proposal introduces an adaptive housing landscape alongside the canal, integrating wetlands, recreational water bodies, ecological purification systems, and collective housing into one interconnected framework. ... Read more

This thesis investigates the reconstruction of Ålesund following the catastrophic fire of 1904, with a focus on the role of German architectural influence, particularly Jugendstil, in reshaping the city’s urban identity. In the aftermath of the fire, Ålesund underwent a comprehensive rebuilding process that resulted in the emergence of a distinctive architectural character, unprecedented in the Norwegian context. Central to this transformation was the involvement of German-trained Norwegian architects and the symbolic contribution of Emperor Wilhelm II, whose humanitarian aid and diplomatic presence reinforced German-Norwegian cultural ties.

Through a combination of historical analysis, archival research, field studies, and qualitative interviews, this study examines how the stylistic vocabulary of German Jugendstil was adapted to Ålesund’s local context. While the architectural forms drew from international trends, they were modified through the use of native materials, motifs rooted in Norwegian vernacular traditions, and responses to pragmatic needs such as fire safety and urban planning efficiency.

The thesis further explores how this imported architectural language became embedded within the city’s evolving cultural identity. Initially perceived as foreign and met with ambivalence, the Jugendstil legacy of Ålesund has, over time, been reinterpreted through processes of collective memory, heritage preservation, and cultural tourism. By situating Ålesund within broader debates on architectural globalization and identity formation, the research offers a critical case study of how post-disaster reconstruction can catalyze long-term redefinitions of place and belonging.
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