My graduation project seeks to create a community marketplace and elderly co-housing complex for Houthaven and Spaarndammer neighbourhood in Amsterdam that strengthen their connections with urban greenery and local hinterland. The design focus on implementing local biodegradable material and resource in architecture and programme.

One-third of the food produced is wasted while the demand for food is increasing worldwide. The food supply in the consumption phase is not only the last chain but also wastes the most. Yet the majority of residents in the Netherlands have still underestimated this number. Therefore, the design aims at recycling and reusing the food waste on the one hand, and on the other hand potentially reducing the waste by breaking the barrier that hinders consumers to be waste-conscious. Now in Amsterdam, the food waste is mostly categorized and processed as the general residue without official management for the food waste. Meanwhile, what have been emerging are several decentralized neighborhood-based projects that adopt a couple of current techniques (food circular, compost, biogas and biofuel conversion) to tackle the food waste issues, which encourages me to explore the potential of a small-scale intervention to influence the large picture. Therefore, the prototype applies an integral of these techniques, so that the food waste generated by restaurants can be recycled to provide biogas for the stoves, to generate electricity to power equipment for the building and the greenhouse, and to leave fertilizer and compost for the plants in the greenhouse. In varied circumstances, this modular prototype has the possibility to duplicate and grow according to different system boundaries. Plus, the structure and building elements for the construction of the prototype adopt only bio-based material, reclaimed material or standard demountable components, for a sustainable circularity to reduce construction waste and environmental contamination.

While the West-Port of Amsterdam is undergoing a big transformation to a more sustainable future-oriented industry, 70.000 new homes will be built right at the border of city and industry as part of development project Havenstad. The municipality has an ambition to realize a datacentre of 500MW capacity, which is four times the size of the Zeewolde datacentre. This project is an attempt to tackle both the spatial as the environmental impact of this industry. Through the research of metabolic energy flows it was found that up to 60% of energy can be recovered from liquid cooled datacentres in the form of waste-heat and by creating decentralized datacentres in public buildings, 65% of Amsterdam could be heated for ‘free’ by datacentre waste heat in 2040. De Centrale is an example of such a decentralized datacentre, within a public indoor swimming pool. Together with a mixed recreational and industrial program it manifests itself as an energyhub at the terrain of the old Hemweg coal plant. The 800 m2 datacentre produces the full heat-demand of the swimming pool, with a surplus which is used to heat the residential area of Havenstad. The landscape around the pool includes a helophyte filtering park, which cleans the harbour water and an urban beach offers a new public space to the city. Within the design, a symbiosis between port and city is established through form, scale, construction, materialization and composition of the façade.

As freshwater scarcity has become one of the most important environmental and social issues of the 21st century, the way the built environment interacts with water must be reconsidered. Today’s urban water cycle in Curaçao is characterized by linear, centralized, polluting, costly, time and energy consuming and does not contribute to cultural value. Architecture can play part in creating a more efficient and sustainable urban water system, while increasing the public awareness of issues related to the freshwater cycle. Heritage of water typologies and systems like water plantations, cisterns and wells give example of how Curaçao used decentralized micro water catchment systems (MWCS), in the pre-desalination period, to provide freshwater for the communities inhabiting it. In addition to the concept of these heritage inspired designs solutions (HIDS) the concept of current nature-based solutions (NBS), referring to ecosystem-based and biomimetic approaches, are analysed as alternatives. The integration of HIDS and NBS is a much-needed step forward towards an integrated and holistic approach of spatial planning and design in general and water related design and management in particular. ‘Regenerative Ruins’ focuses on the neighbourhood Otrobanda, centrally located in the capital Willemstad of the island Curaçao. The island has a rich history of urbanization in which the natural freshwater cycles have been neglected. As a result, the island is dependent to obtain its freshwater from a centralized desalination plant. The trend to live in the peri-urban area of Willemstad also led to an exodus of the formerly renowned labour district of Otrobanda, resulting in a cityscape dominated by decaying monuments. The project provides a solution to both problems by transforming a dilapidated monument into a regenerative decentralized freshwater production space, whereby the existing envelope becomes a central freshwater harvesting courtyard.

Many industrial buildings had remained the situation of vacancy since the late 1970s, reusing has become a term to be used as a sustainable method of preserving the cultural identity of these industrial buildings in order to prolong their life-span. The Hembrug site is a plot which was formed in the 19th century by reclamation of land in the coastal area between Amsterdam and Zaandam. It was taken into use in 1895, as a weapon production base. However, the production came to a standstill in the 1990s, after which the factories were finally closed in 2003. The government decided to develop the mixed terrain for living, culture, nature and business in the coming years. However, industrial buildings on the site from industrial era are not adequate for the spatial and functional requirements in the contemporary society. Compare to demolition, renovation not only honors the past but also means looking into the future. It can help to create more space, reduce energy consumption and preserve the cultural value while bringing the building up to the latest technical standards. My research focus on finding the suitable renovation strategies to the industrial heritage buildings, case study was used as the fundamental methodology while the descriptive research helped to summarized them into three main prototypes with the perspective of the spatial order between the existing building and its new intervention. The research findings are applied to the Hembrug Site and the design process also follows the strategies as well.

To reduce carbon emissions and restrict global average temperature rise, coal power plants are being decommissioned in the EU under the Paris Agreement. In the next few decades, defunct coal-powered plants would pop up all over the EU and the world. This raises concerns regarding the modern industrial landscapes, their possibilities and opportunities. New strategies and frameworks are required to protect and highlight our modern industrial heritage. The thesis explores the possibilities of integrating defunct coal power plants into the city by using existing structures and materials on-site; an idea to conserve the local distinctiveness and landscape generating an enhanced sense of place. The thesis presents design principles to re-purpose non-functioning modern industrial landscapes (coal-powered plants) to integrate them within the expanding city and create a multi-cultural hot-spot promoting a circular and sustainable future.

With the current energy transition in full effect smart ways to integrate sustainable systems are a must. Instead of looking at individual solutions per household or building, this thesis explores the possibilities of a neighbourhood energy system and how it can benefit the community. The social impact of large sustainable measures are often neglected, while if they are taken into account during the development, a mutual benefit can be achieved. The architect plays a key role in this integration process and can be the bridge between often separated developments. This thesis is one example of a concept which can be applied everywhere, but is still able to produce unique and exiting architecture for each individual project. By looking at the possibilities of a context, integrated with the necessities of the energy transition and combined with solutions for social challenges, architecture can provide the symbiosis among these topics to create a mutual benefit on a local, but also on a broader scale.

This report covers the development of the Blade Barrier: A sound barrier constructed using decommissioned wind turbine blades. The ever-growing wind industry faces a composite waste problem. Wind turbine blades only last a few decades, and are difficult and therefore not economically desirable to recycle. One proposed solution to this issue, is to repurpose the blades. Over the last years, several small-scale projects (such as playgrounds and urban furniture) have been realised that show how these high-end objects can serve new purposes successfully. As the wind industry has grown exponentially over the last two decades, the resulting composite waste stream is expected to follow this same growth in the coming decades. For this reason, more impactful solutions are required. To this end, the Blade Barrier is proposed by Blade Made, a spinoff startup from Superuse Studios. A roadside sound barrier has the potential to incorporate a large number of blades into its construction, and extend their life-in-service for another two to five decades, simultaneously eliminating the need for virgin materials. The blades represent the starting point of the project, while the sound barrier is the final goal. The project is about connecting these two points through various research and design methods. Analysing the blades offers an understanding of the opportunities and limitations of the material, while research into sound barrier design yields insights into what makes a well-performing barrier. Throughout the project, the expertise of experts has been consulted to be able to expand this understanding and make well-grounded design decisions. Based on this research a design vision is formulated, focussing on aesthetics, circularity and scalability. After the creation of three concepts, the idea for a green urban corridor was selected. This concept has the potential to transcend the simple idea of a sound barrier, and fulfil multiple purposes. It could offer a cleaner and more biodiverse urban area, and create an enjoyable surrounding on the resident side of the barrier. Through an iterative process, this concept was further developed. The result is a design that is adaptive to the availability of blades and the requirements of the barrier location. Acoustic simulations are used to validate the performance of the design, and physical prototyping steps were taken in order to elaborate upon the production process. Vegetation is incorporated into the design to enhance its aesthetics and acoustics, and to stimulate biodiversity. The design is applied to a location in Rotterdam to show how it integrates within the urban environment. The flexibility of the design enables it to be constructed in various different locations with varying types of blades. This way, it offers a solution to the blade waste problem anywhere on the planet. The design was presented to the wind industry at the 2022 WindEurope conference in Bilbao. The design was received well there, and several parties are currently in touch with Blade Made to explore the possibilities for the construction of a Blade Barrier. To this end, the report concludes with several recommendations toward the realisation of the design.

The TU Delft (strategic framework 2018-2024) aims to have a CO2 neutral and circular campus that departs from the linear economy to closed material cycles by 2030, meaning that the campus becomes climate neutral. Currently, the TU Delft is accountable for 47.957 tCO2-eq emissions, uses 166.038 MWh of energy for electricity and heat , and is for approximately 5-15% circular. There is a need to improve in order to meet the goals set by the TU Delft. On campus the Applied Physics buildings consumes the most energy, equivalent to 12.873,2 MWh or 425 kWh/m2 in 2018 for electricity and heat combined. The technical state of the building is mediocre and is in need of a thorough renovation to meet the current standard. The goal of the graduation project is to develop a re-design and renovation strategy for the Applied Physics building, by re-using as many of the existing materials and closing the energy flows on a local level. Architecture – reuse existing The building is designed by the architecture firm Roosenburg, Verhave and Luyt and built in 1963. It has an area of 43.100 m2, making it one of the largest buildings on campus. The building is located in the centre of the campus next to the Aula and the Library. It is embedded in the urban fabric of the TU Delft with a 175-meter-long rhythmic façade facing toward the Mekelpark. The concrete façade has a sense of monumentality however, it has quite a closed look and is not overly inviting to visit. The new architecture starts from the existing building and the desire to reuse as many of the existing materials as possible to reduce the CO2 impact of the renovation. An inventory of the materials present in the structure and façade has been made. 93% of the materials analysed are in the concrete structure and therefore this will be completely reused. The remaining 7% of the materials are located in the façade and they will be carefully harvested. Prefab biobased façade panels, based on the existing structural grid, will be attached to the existing structure. On site the harvested materials will be re-used to clad the newly insulated façade. Energy flow To move away from an energy system that runs on fossil fuels, there is a need to introduce so called cyclifiers to create a closed loop system. Firstly, the energy consumption needs to be reduced by introducing a well-insulated façade and a smart building system that regulates the temperature and ventilation. The remaining energy needs to be produced sustainably. A biogas plant is introduced that turns waste into three valuable products, namely biogas, fertiliser and clean water. The biogas plant runs on waste from the sewer system as well as on algae, which are integrated in the roof of the atrium that is added to the building. The algae serve a triple purpose because they provide sun shading in summer, absorbed CO2 and are a renewable energy source. PV panels are added to the roof and facades of the building to produce even more renewable energy. The heat for the whole campus is supplied by a geothermal source connected to the already existing heat grid and a heat and cold storage is added to the building.

Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have played, and continue to play, a dominant role in global energy systems, and thereby in the social, economic and technological developments worldwide. Unfortunately, these energy sources have their negative side-effects: local air pollution and global CO2-emission. The latter has never been this high, resulting in an extra, more negative, important role for fossil fuels: in global warming. Not to mention that these fossil sources of energy are depletable resources; once we’ll be running out of them. The project ‘Repurposing the Port’ combines this issue with the challenge of port-cities to house the expected growth in number of citizens, reach their climate goals ánd bring back the former intimate connection of the city and the port. In this project the Petroleumhaven in Amsterdam, symbolically being the first port outside the city and the first fossil fuel-specialized port, is transformed to a future-proof, mixed-use neighborhood. In this transformation both the existing structure of the area, and the available building structures (and materials) are reused to make it a fully circular redevelopment. The flexible wooden building system provides for a community-driven realization and on top of that for a carbon-negative footprint of the project. To do so, the aboveground steel storage tanks (AST's) in the area are analyzed in the research paper, and used as the main starting point for the design project.

On September 6th 2017 hurricane Irma hit the island of Sint Maarten leaving 90% of the build environment destroyed and the tourist based economy to collapse. Funding for reconstruction stagnated due to corruption and a lack of proper building materials and building knowledge leads to poor reconstruction. Especially the poorer communities are left exceptionally vulnerable to natural disasters. Solutions to address their needs were the starting point for this project. The proposed intervention is there for an affordable hurricane resilient building system that firstly transforms Sint Maartens linear economy to a circular economy. By using local waste materials, and producing new building products from waste it improves the urban metabolism of the islands economy. Secondly it improves the socio-economic resilience by bringing together different actors to create a more resilient and productive actor network. On an urban scale the system can grow incrementally. In the final stage the program contains housing units with a communal space, a decentral recycling hub, a communal garden and commercial spaces.

Seaweed is a promising potential building material, but so far in 2022, very little market ready seaweed-based building products are available. Because of the success of the sargassum adobe block in Mexico by Omar Vazquez, the potential of a seaweed loam bricks in the Netherlands is researched in this paper, called the seaweed brick. The realization of this seaweed bricks hinges on the seaweed having multiple purposes (water filtering, educational and bricks) and the use of waste streams from the proposed seaweed farms and other manufacturing processes. The production and beneficial functions of growing seaweed in harbor areas are shown in the design of Wierdok. Wierdok is the transformation of the former Petroleumhaven in Amsterdam to a Seaweed farm, Seaweed loam brick factory and exploration site for everyday people. By acknowledging the transforming neighborhood of harbor City and Westpoort, Wierdok transform in the same tempo as it’s surrounding creating the overlap between Industry and Recreation in an appropriate speed. In the meantime it exposed normal citizens to the option of sustainable building materials by highlighting the production process of the seaweed loam brick and the architecture it can create without diminishing the existing industrial harbor elements.

Offices consume a lot of energy in the Netherland. In addition to the low energy efficiency, the office environment, and working style cause health problems. This research focuses on the farming-integrate office system and the flows in it, involving food, air, water, electricity, and heat. Taking Marineterrein as the site and use environmental database of Amsterdam, this paper proposed a suitable farming integrated office in Marineterrein and could act as a guideline for other offices to integrate farming in other cities.

The Marabunta Farmer Market (Petani Pasar) project is a fish market design proposal for water-related integrations in the coastal community of Bandarharjo, Semarang. Located on the north coast of Java, Semarang city was an important port and centre for food trading activities. These local activities, such as fishery, markets, street entertainment, are still parts of Semarang's daily lives. The main problem in the informal urban areas of Semarang is the lack of healthy water infrastructure. Introducing a more green environment is a crucial element in the design proposal; it is a fundamental issue for developing the industrial area that provides income for most of the kampungs inhabitants. The design stimulates the reconnecting living with its scenery. The ecology that used to be the primary support for the economy has lost its value; the groundwater got overexploited, clean water is scarce, the rivers are polluted, the sewage system is unhygienic, and floodings often happens. Additionally, there is a shortage of income for the residents in the kampungs resulting in poor living conditions. The graduation project aims to improve the local work environment in a healthy ecological way. The project invests in promoting the relationship of the community with water and integrates a low tech approach to building technology with local and reused materials. It provides a new source of circular clean water recycled from sewage- and rainwater with environmental and economic profit such as urban farming, a market with street food possibilities and public space that can be flexible and adaptable in extreme flood risk situations.

The marine area in Amsterdam, currently only partially publicly available, needs to be reintegrated into the public space. To start the reintegration process, a swimming pool and spa, which both meets the identity of the area and the vision of the municipality, will be added to this area. A new central route is placed through the marine area on which the building is situated, activating the surrounding area. Swimming pools are notorious large energy consumers. To overcome this, the building is designed with a focus on reducing the energy demand and using sustainable energy sources only. Orientation and the organization of the building are used to gain as much energy from the Sun as possible. A conservatory on the south side with a large swimming pond to capture this solar energy. The conservatory is both a public space and part as the park as well as part of the building. A rammed earth wall is introduced in this conservatory to store the collected thermal energy from the Sun. Moreover, rammed earth is able to absorb large amounts of humidity and is therefore placed adjacent to the pool, reducing the energy for ventilation requirements. All infrastructure of this building is situated in this central wall, where it becomes the backbone of this building; transporting energy, water, heat, air, and people. The wall in combination with the other elements provide an adaptive and natural indoor climate for the building. Installations, such as heat pumps, are only used to provide additional heat/cooling when it is needed. The roof of the building situates a garden and pavilion where guest can escape the busy city of Amsterdam when they are in the spa. The roof of the pavilion has solar cells, and a pattern is created with open spots that creates a playful scene of shadows and light. The spa uses the existing structure of a building that is currently situated on the marine area. The old walls of the building are grinded down to fine pebbles and are made into the terrazzo floor. The interior of the swimming pool repeats the structural pattern of the old building. Inside, water streams from the higher hot baths to the lower colder baths and swimming pools just as in natural spa’s.

Urban Transplant is a tool for post-capitalist architecture. The circular approach, supported by in-depth research into reuse of in-situ structural concrete as components, offers transformation methods in the built environment. A dual site in Brussels, the World Trade Center and a post-industrial terrain, provides a proof of concept for the idea of a donor-site and a host-site. The project questions current regulation and cultural habits in face of the urgent climate crisis by explicitly laying the relation between our comfort and excessive use of natural resources. By that, the architecture is the link between circular economy principles and day-to-day practices. The Urban Transplant demonstrates an approach that acknowledges scarcity of natural resources and strives for social equality. Considering the operation phase as well, it provides a holistic climate concept and a programme to enable a circular lifestyle.

The building industry waste and transportation can be reduced by reclaiming building components. Building 22, Applied Physics on the Campus of TU Delft can be transformed into student housing and public functions by using reclaimed building components of the existing building, in order to achieve the environmental ambitions of the TU Delft and to strengthen the relationship with the city regarding. This research assesses the potential of various interior building components by means of R-strategies for the future functional needs. By distributing the building components amongst the five R-strategies, a basis for a vision of the future of this building can be derived. This case could be an example for reducing costs and be a road towards a more sustainable building industry.

The current take-make-dispose economy, resulting in resource pressure and environmental problems, calls for circular economics. Islands are perfect living laboratories, because of their clearly defined boundaries and vulnerability to external factors. In this graduation Project, Ilha de Paquetá in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is taken as a case study. It suffers from the external pollution of the Guanabara Bay in both ecological and economic terms (due to a tourism decline), but the island’s metabolism itself is as linear as the system that causes the bay pollution. For successful implementation of circular interventions, a system-level perspective, based on a Material Flow Analysis for energy, water and materials, is combined with a hyper-local and pragmatic approach to get a real ‘sense of place’. The result is, firstly, a long-term strategy for Paquetá to improve the environmental state of the island. And, secondly, an architectural design for a beach pool that forms an alternative for the polluted beaches to enhance tourism. The pool regenerates and utilizes polluted bay water, purified via the wetlands that are integrated part of the design. The impact of the building on the island’s metabolism lies in the integration of a biodigester to reduce the organic waste outflow, and value to the local society and culture is added with adjacent spaces that accommodate room for community events and small-scale, conscious tourism. This way, the project shows how the Circular Economy system-level perspective can be combined with a hyper-local and pragmatic approach to achieve social inclusion.

Overpollution with plastic waste is becoming a leading concern globally, but even more so at island destinations popular among tourists. Tourists generate 3 times more waste than local residents, overuse local resources, and often lead to a change of the identity of the location (the so-called “disneyfication”). This project combines the topics of using recycled plastic elements in architecture, conceptualising more sustainable tourism patterns, and empowering local communities to become active participants in the fate of their land. The island of Bali, Indonesia, is used as a case study, as due to its international popularity, the symptoms of overtourism are apparent and already under discussion. The object of the project is a community centre for an existing community on the island, which is growing in popularity among locals and aims to attract more foreign visitors- both as a source of income, and as a way to learn about the world first-hand. The design is developed in a way that caters both to the needs of the local community and the likings of temporary visitors, and facilitates meaningful interaction between them. The technical part of the research is focused on determining the availability of the plastic materials in the island’s waste, assessing its potential based on existing recycling technology and relating it to the architectural demands of the island. The structural concept involves a combination of bamboo with vernacular connections and innovative plastic elements, all suited for community participation during the design process. The goal of it is to be easy to construct and be transferrable and adaptable to various programmes and locations with similar needs and characteristics- from Southeast Asia to the Caribbean islands. A new product is developed and prototyped as part of the project: a plastic roof tile, which can serve a number of functions depending on its assembly, and which uses the inherent qualities and durability of the plastic material as shaping factors for its design.

This paper investigates the potential of passively lowering the operational energy requirement of performance buildings in the Central European Climate. The energy consumption of this typology is largely caused by mechanical ventilation to cool and ventilate the theatre during shows, necessary for the thermal comfort and ventilation requirements of the audience. Mechanical ventilation in theatres needs to significantly over-provide ventilation air in order to cool, and the exhaust air is not allowed to be mixed with incoming air, making them are inherently inefficient. Passive design strategies can lower the energy requirement of buildings during operation, by efficiently using ambient elements and simple laws of physics. Berlin, which perfectly embodies Central European’s climate, experiences strong seasonal climate variations. In the hotter summer months, there is a low ambient cooling potential. However, the climatic conditions are sufficient for a direct connection between the theatre and the ambient air, which would result in no need for HVAC during operation. There is a high ambient cooling potential in autumn, winter and spring. This potential can be fulfilled by efficiently integrating thermal mass, indirect evaporative cooling in the roof of the theatre, radiative cooling in the ceiling of the theatre, natural ventilation through buoyancy stack effect or wind-driven cross ventilation. These methods are addressed on macro scale and deserve micro scale validation of a site before implementation.