The Escalating City is a public highrise project located next to The Hague central station. Due to the lack of buildable space, a different suitable location had to be found. The potentials of an infrastructural node nearby the station were interesting to me. Seemingly it is not a place to make a building, due to the neclegted state. But it is full of opportunities to connect the new public building to the flows of the city and allowing optimal access. The building rests on 4 super columns (or cores), supporting the whole structure. This structural strategy opens up a variety of possibilties. Firstly, it creates the possibilty for the tunnel, roads, tram tracks, cycling paths and buslanes to flowing underneath the building. Secondly, the absence of a central core provides lots of freedom on the floorplans and made it possible for the diagonal elevator tubes to go through.

The project takes place in the Anna van Buerenplein, The Hague, Netherlands and focuses on the development of a public campus high rise. The proposal explores the transformation of the dense central station area of The Hague, through developing connections between existing infrastructures and the new campus building. The ground floor of the site will become the “plinth” of the campus, and the campus will be open to the city. This gesture will foster the development of the area as the educational core of the CID of The Hague. The new design will become part of this new urban constellation. Knowledge is meant to be discovered and explored by the visitors of the campus, and the city is meant to be part of the student experience.
The first levels of the campus reach out to the existing layers of the city. The key concept is to create shared spaces with Leiden University building, the National Archive and part of the Library. The second cluster houses the studio spaces, the classrooms and other educational facilities. The design features a meandering track through the learning and research spaces. The journey around the cluster allows learning on display. The top cluster is an autonomous office space. Densification equals stacking. The goal is to investigate whether we can create publicly accessible upper floors.
Overall the building is approached as an urban system of interwoven public and collective spaces. In between the squares on the upper levels, the meandering circulation promenade and the prosthetic connecting elements, the program can be adjusted or changed. That system can be applied to different contexts.
The project strategy was shaped by the findings stemming from the contextual investigation, which brought forward the potential the site area has to offer. Through the method of research-by-design, the project proposes an approach to densification by engaging with porosity, permeability, and connectivity.

With the shift in pedagogical and technological approaches towards hybrid learning concepts, architectural spaces also need to be adapted to meet the diverse needs of today’s learners. My project investigates how hybrid learning spaces can enhance the creative thinking process of lifelong learners. It explores design strategies to ensure that vertical campus buildings are accessible to various users. A key focus is identifying spatial characteristics that either activate or challenge creativity and using these as design tools. The goal is to design a “Vertical Campus” in The Hague that addresses urban densification and is publicly accessible.

The project aims for sustainable and future-proof designs that meet today’s needs while anticipating future ones. It combines various functions within a campus complex and addresses themes like hybridity and lifelong learning. The project seeks to make existing government institutions accessible to the public and ensure vertical accessibility. It integrates knowledge from architecture, social sciences, technology, and engineering, proposing solutions to align the built environment with recent developments in teaching and learning.

Incorporating hybrid learning spaces not only enhances the creative journey of lifelong learners but also facilitates knowledge sharing and accessibility for different stakeholders and users. This is particularly relevant in The Hague’s Central Innovation District, where a significant amount of knowledge exists within municipal and governmental buildings and numerous educational institutions, but is not accessible to the general public.

This graduation report examines the potential for an open and inclusive university campus situated in the heart of The Hague. Within the framework of the Public Building Graduation Studio, the vertical campus concept redefines how learning and interaction occur within and beyond the university setting. This exploration led to the development of Fusion Scientia, a guiding principle that embodies the vision of a dynamic public campus. More than merely a design for a new building, Fusion Scientia represents a transformative approach to education, fostering collaboration, accessibility, and lifelong learning within the community.

In response to the growing need for connectivity between academia and society, the design embraces an inclusive ethos that invites both direct users, students and staff, and the wider community to engage in a shared learning environment. This is achieved through a carefully crafted programmatic layout of vertical and horizontal spaces, ensuring collaboration and cohesion among various functions. Key areas such as the Mountaintop, Waterhole, Campfire, and Cove create vibrant hubs for interaction, enhancing the overall educational experience.

To promote a healthier and more inviting atmosphere, the design features a porous facade that breaks up the massing of the building, allowing for greater transparency and interaction between levels. The carved-out spaces create unique floorplan layouts, fostering spontaneous engagement among users. Incorporating green elements throughout the campus, such as terraces and indoor greenery, further enhances biophilia, promoting well-being and a connection to nature.

Sustainable climate design, including underfloor heating and ventilation systems, ensures a healthy indoor climate while reducing the building’s environmental impact. The project also emphasizes the importance of reusing existing structures, transforming early to late 1900s office buildings from grey and dark environments into a vibrant and light public space. This approach not only honors the architectural heritage of the area but also contributes to a more dynamic urban landscape.

Ultimately, Fusion Scientia serves as a concept that transcends traditional boundaries, redefining the role of the university in the 21st century. By integrating education with the urban fabric, the project aspires to create a more educated society through collaboration and engagement.

Historically, university buildings did exhibit a certain prestigious identity, as seen in the campus in Oxford for instance. Identity is shaped by the combination of behavior, communication, and appearance. Its meaning is determined by the collective, not the individual (Grouls et al., 2007). Similar like the clothes we wear, buildings we occupy say something to the outside world about the people we are. University buildings exemplify this idea of identity. (Sun, 2017). Different identities of university buildings, primarily arising from the physical setting and spatial characteristics, result from a varied mix of 'solid' (traditional), 'liquid' (flexible), and 'gas' (on demand) composition (Den Heijer, 2021). The study sheds light on the impact of the contemporary architectural identity of various universities, which often remains limited to the internal program and aesthetics of university buildings. However, today the distinctive features of these faculties, that in general are mainly only accessible for the affiliated students, are scarcely found inside most of these structures. The banality in the aesthetics of those ‘solid’ academic architecture, often characterized by monotonous glass facades - as for instance observed in the AvB Tower, near the Prins Clauslaan in the Hague - disrupts the identity of university buildings.
References indicate that currently a lot of methods of university construction detract from the prestige and distinctive characteristics of the faculties and other internal university functions, which were previously expressed with ornamental interventions, programmatic peculiarities, or other unique architectural ingenuities. In general, the facade is one of the most crucial elements, perhaps the most important one, for the representation and identity of those occupying the building, as well as for the identity of the city (Jurgenhake, 2016). Functions behind the facades are hardly recognizable today due to this aesthetical anonymity. Only the large signs with the names of the respective universities reveal what is happening behind the facades. This increasing anonymity of these university buildings and the negatively reduced dialogue between the urban environment and its associated social cohesion downplays interaction between users. The overall identity of university buildings must become more ‘liquid’ and ‘gas’, where universities are more flexible, shared and filled with opportunity and openness to the outside world (Den Heijer, 2021). A search to a good balance between solid, liquid and gas must be the goal.
The Hague Central Innovation Dirstrict (CID) will be the location for the future vertical campus. This location becomes even more significant when considering The Hague’s future vision of densification. The Hague, like many cities, is increasingly focusing on making better use of its limited urban space by densifying key areas. The CID has been identified as one of the city’s main hubs for innovation and development, with plans to integrate more offices, residences, and academic institutions to make it a more vibrant district. The negative impact on social cohesion is exacerbated by the surrounding governmental buildings along Prins Clauslaan, which, with their isolated (archipelago) structure, create a detached and solid identity. Additionally, the Utrechtsebaan highway acts as a traffic barrier, dividing the Centraal Station area and Bezuidenhout neighbourhoods. This results into a strong individualism and isolation, not only among the building typology, but also the people who occupy the buildings and the surrounding neighbourhoods. It is crucial for social bonding to get rid of this barriers and to have a public condenser, where the people of these ministries, neighbourhoods and campus can physically connect.
Moreover, interviews conducted in this area also reveal that various target groups emphasize the absence of diversity in building functions and spaces for playing, learning, and socializing. Therefore, the design aims to navigate university identity through a vertical campus with a flexible solid-liquid-gas composition, expressing with the ambition to include both a partly public and university identity. It This strategy intends to function as a hybrid urban condenser catering to diverse target groups within the connected neighbourhoods of the the Hague Central Innovation District, where individuals of all ages can engage and live together. To establish a vibrant central educational hub that unifies diverse these neighbourhoods and students, the design will prioritize diversity, visibility, interaction, adaptability, flexibility and movement, fostering an environment to play, learn, and socialize together.

This thesis project investigates the potential of the 'creative condenser' within the context of Berlin as an approach to the ‘public condenser’, a term introduced by the board of the Public Building graduation studio within the MSc Architecture track at Delft University of Technology.

Gentrification is a controversial process where lower-income neighborhoods are transformed into affluent areas through the arrival of higher-income residents and development efforts. Friedrichshain in Berlin serves as a prominent example of this phenomenon. Since the 1990s, the neighborhood has attracted artists and young professionals, causing property values to rise and making it difficult for long-time residents to stay. Gentrification has resulted in the displacement of low-income residents, a shift in the neighborhood's demographics, and a change in its cultural landscape. The real estate market's development has played a significant role in driving up property values and rents, further exacerbating the situation. In response to these effects, a Public Condenser is being designed as a social catalyst, aiming to mitigate the impacts of gentrification by providing a space for diverse individuals to share knowledge and creativity. The project's goal is to foster innovation and progress, following the theme of "Boundless architecture," and potentially serve as a prototype for similar neighborhoods in need.

The turmoil history of Berlin is a history of clashes between ideologies. This created a divided city not only from an architectural point of view but also from a socio-political background. The initial fieldwork research in Friedrichshain (and in Berlin as a whole) has shown diverse people with different and sometimes extremely opposing ideologies congregating in the same public space. The ideological background presented by the inhabitance is the result of the combination of share beliefs regarding religious, cultural, and societal self-identification. This difference plays a crucial role in the formation of each individual’s worldview, which forms their ideologies. The various social groups observed in the analyzed area show almost no interaction, with each group discussing their ideology and social problems internally. This leads to polarization in the local society.

For this research, the focus has been on exploring the relationship between street culture, public space and public architecture, with the aim of challenging negative perceptions towards this culture and fostering the integration of diverse communities within urban environments. The project begins by defining public space as accessible areas for the general public that functions as the heartbeat of the city. It is accessible, inclusive, multifunctional and has a focus on social interactions. A distinction can be made in the difference of perception of public space by different groups of people. A notable difference is the one between the different activities of adults and children. Where children have a more playfull and creative approach that seems to stop at a certain age. For some subcultures this perception is maintained, like parkour, skateboarding, street art etc. They engage with public spaces in unique and unconventional ways. They can be grouped under a larger subculture; streetculture. The significance of this culture lies in creating vibrant and inclusive cities, community engagement, youth empowerment, cultural expression, and health benefits. However, street culture often faces unjust criticism and negative stereotypes, such as vandalism, violence, nuisance etc. Although these are issues, they are a stereotype and generalization of the culture in which the ones causing harm are seen as the majority of the culture, which is not the case, nor are they values the culture represents. To address this issue, the project proposes the need for interactions and dialogue between different communities, aiming to bridge the gap and promote mutual understanding.
To do this, these 2 worlds have to come together in one place, meaning the building has to be both architecture and public space. This public condenser will then serve as catalyst for urban activities and social and cultural interactions. The chosen location for this project is Friedrichshain in Berlin, a neighborhood rich in street culture and providing an ideal context for the integration of diverse communities. The project proposes a hybrid building as an extension of the cultural Wriezener Park, into a hybrid building that combines various functions related to street culture located inside the park
The design concept revolves around a zigzag pattern that connects different activities and creates meandering courtyards, encouraging social interactions and slowing down pedestrian movement. By incorporating oblique surfaces and varying angles into the building design, the aim is to provide different uses and inspire creativity and exploration. The integration of complementary programs derived from the existing activities in the Wriezenerpark, such as an experimental exhibition space, a skatebowl, a greenhouse and a library, further strengthens and expands the street culture communities within the space.
To further increase social interactions, the aim has been to avoid the use of corridors and create as much spaces without relying on enclosing them trough walls, doors, windows and roofs. A glulam portal structure, structure the zigzag pattern and due to its high alternation creates space, without enclosing it. This allows for a mor permeable plan in which the circulation space becomes habitable and the levels are open. The 1st floor is kept loose from the glulam structure as much as possible to also make vertical connections with the secretions becoming a social element through bookshelves and workspaces.
Ultimately, the ambitions were to improve social interactions so these different communities can expand and learn from one another, increase complexity to make people stop, observe and interact, challenge traditional notions of architecture and landscape, and promote the integration of street culture within public spaces and architecture. By embracing street culture and designing inclusive and dynamic public spaces, cities can reap the benefits of vibrant communities, enhanced safety, cultural expressions, physical activity, and improved mental well-being.

This project takes place in Friedrichshain, Berlin, Germany and presents the design of a Public Condenser along the Straße der Pariser Kommune named ’Bau(m) Berlin’. The project is part of the Public Building Graduation Studio and looks into the topic of designing a ’new urban lounge and commons’ through the process of Research by Design.

Through field research and urban analysis, three issues came to the forth in the Friedrichshain area; A disconnection between residents, a missing framework for social (re-)integration and low quality green space. These issues consequently led to choosing the project site along the Straße der Pariser Kommune and forming the following research question:

”What if there could be an architecture that pushes interaction so that the social gap between people could be bridged whilst functioning as
a platform that helps people to (re-) enter society?”

In order to tackle the pre-described issues, the project takes the notion of ’building’ and dissects it into ’Building the Future Commons’, ’Building Connections’ and ’Building Things’. Together they describe and result into the project Bau(m). The ’m’ in Bau(m) entails the notion and concept of Multiplicity, e.i. the idea that a thing, in this case a public building, can be used in multiple ways, for various programmatic functions, throughout time. For me, this meant seeing architecture as a framework that allows for adaptable use of a building.

Consequently, the building is designed as a pavilion within the park stretching along the Straße der Pariser Kommune and has one big roof supported by a grid structure column repetition made from timber. The columns are bended so that together, they form an arch-shaped pattern. By seeing the building as part of the park, the park is equally redesigned into a park of higher quality with an urban route that stretches through the building and connects the Ostbahnhof train station with the Karl-Marx-Allee further North.

The main function of the building is a workshop space for various crafts, amongst which furniture making, as it uses the method of making as a way of bringing people together and getting those in need back on into society. This workshop space stretches into the basement and thus forms the substructure of an urban square that exists in front of the building.

The research and design hypothesize how data centers can complement the urban environment rather than make a negative impact, both environmentally and spatially. Data centers consume and produce a variety of valuable flows, ranging from electricity, cooling/heating and water use. The aim of the research is to discover whether it is possible to create synergy between these flows in a mixed-use building that contains both data center, residential and greenhouse program. All flows for the different programs are analyzed, quantified and visualized. Through the findings, the flows and programs are linked together. This in turn creates possibilities to redesign and optimize the processes of these flows and reduce the amount of resources needed (input) while at the same time reducing waste (output). Based on the research, a mixed-use building is proposed for the Sluisbuurt neighborhood in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Both a data center, residential program, greenhouse program and a diverse public program are combined.

My project starts from the city Berlin. After visiting the site in Friedrichshain, I found that people who lived there were not satisfied with the food-eating space nearby throughout my interviews. They said that even though there were some restaurants, the community was lack of diverse food space, and they were willing to go to the West Berlin for food. To check if they were right, I made a food mapping of the community. I found that there are a few restaurants and supermarkets there, but not too many. And there was just one flexible exterior street market nearby, so basically they were right. Based on this, designing a food-eating space for the community came into my mind.
To follow up on the locals’ idea, I went to the west of Berlin and found many diverse food-related activities. There are not just many restaurants in the West, but also many street markets, and an interesting Prinzessinnengarten where people can farm, make and cook inside. At the time, based on the topic of our project “Public Condenser”, I think if I condense many kinds of food-related activities(farming, making, shopping, and eating) into one building, it will provide more opportunities for people to encounter, which also suits my understanding towards the word “Common”, where people can make something together, and participate into activities constantly. Then food could be a good medium to connect people in Berlin from different backgrounds. Furthermore, facing the trend that eating become more private and people do not want to go out for food and feel lonely, a food condenser can take people out and solve these issues very well. From the food mapping, I consider the REWE supermarket as the best location to build. Because it sits in the street full of restaurants, they can work well together economically. And the site is also near the Warschauer Straße station, so it is accessible for the locals and outsiders. Finally, the original supermarket will be turned down, and a better new flexible market space will show up in the new building.
After making sure of my topic about food, I divided the program into four parts, from farming, making, and shopping to eating. In the farming part, people can grow some vegetables, ingredients, and some plants in the balcony, rooftop garden, or indoor area. In the making part, people can cook the food they pick up from the farming part in the shared kitchen, chefs can learn cooking from the culinary school, and chefs can explore their recipes in the food laboratory, citizens can see the food exhibition, they can also order the food in the kitchen that is already cooked by the chefs. In the shopping part, people can shop, eat, and socialize in a flexible market space, including a long indoor market, some eating space, and relaxed space. They can also listen to lectures about food culture in the hall. In the eating part, people can enjoy a big food square. They can also order in two big round-shaped food bars, and find food in some open restaurants. To condense these multiple food-related spaces in one building, I worked out a prototype, I call it “Vertical Food Forest”, which will be situated at a specific site and create various food experiences as an interesting and complicated system.

The housing shortage in the Netherlands and the high contribution of the construction sector towards climate change demands a different approach towards affordable housing. A combination of the concept of a 'housing cooperative' and the implementation of 'low-tech principles' on all scales of the design tries to bring back affordable housing back to the people in a sustainable way, where the pillars 'People', 'Planet' and 'Profit' are in balance. A pure light timber frame system with universal, interchangeable elements forms the basis for standardised housing units. By arranging the units in different ways and by giving the users freedom in infill and finishing, the housing cooperative is able to choose how they want to shape their living environment. Overarching aspects throughout the design are 'simplicity', 'rationality', 'locality' and 'human scale'.

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.

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.

This thesis is a qualitative thesis depicting the way a design strategy can be constructed for a nature inclusive building by giving an example case. By first doing a set of case studies of projects describing themselves as nature inclusive and looking into their design strategy, then applying this to a case location together with the help of literature and an urban ecologist to test if this is a reliable way of designing. The main findings of this paper are that to set up a design strategy that is actually nature inclusive, the location needs to be thoroughly studied with the help of experts in the field of ecology to translate natures requirements to design elements.

The research paper looked into the possible application of rice straws in the field of residential architecture in Zhejiang province. The paper evaluated the three rice straw-related building methods. Based on the result, light straw clay was selected for the design project located in Zhejiang province. Then a relevant landscape-sensitive residential project with the design objective to create a village for both tourists and local villagers is designed to create a synergetic model for the village. The tourism development based on the local rice industry will in turn benefit the rice industry by increasing added value.

The housing crisis has resulted in a shortage of one million homes in the Netherlands. The dilemma: simply ramping up housing production fails to solve the problem, as common methods of construction and project development repeatedly prove to be socially and environmentally unsustainable.

Transit Village explores a variety of approaches that rethink the status quo and integrates them into a sustainable neighborhood development at the “Rail Junction East Arnhem”. The centrally located site remains largely untouched by city planning and is characterized by its transitional use through diverse groups. Rather than relocating these groups to make space for development, a Community Land Trust gives community members and future residents agency to develop land according to shared values. The result is an urban framework, that builds new connections to the city fabric and nature areas, that creates recreational spaces for the city population, and whose walkability enables a circular neighborhood economy. Within the urban framework, residents can even make use of building plots before building operations are carried out.

Buildings are co-created with a circular building system that embraces change. A high grade of prefabrication and remountability reduces construction and demolition waste and speeds up production and assembly. Modularity facilitates a gradual transition from low to high density and allows density adjustments in the future. A catalog of flexible partition and facade components empowers residents to customize apartment size and function according to their current needs. In this way, buildings can adapt to changing resident requirements, and building lifespans are considerably extended.

Refurbishment and recycling of unused building components are handled by a locally run Material Hub that creates work opportunities in the district of Presikhaaf, which has a high unemployment rate. The resulting circular material ecosystem is fueled by a new financial model where residents subscribe to apartment configurations instead of renting a predefined apartment, thereby financing maintenance and circulation of materials in small monthly installments.

To evaluate which design choices would lead to building components with high performance in such a Product as a Service environment, a decision-support tool for designers was developed in the Thematic Research Paper. Therefore, Residual Value Forecasting models from the car leasing industry were analyzed, and design parameters were extracted that can make statements about the residual value of different interior partition wall types. The parameters were organized in a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis that is capable of ranking designs regarding their grade of durability and remountability. The tool seeks to help designers choose component designs that will create low maintenance costs, that are in use longer, and where the residual value of materials becomes accessible at the end of their useful life.

The project aims to answer the following research question: How can the Dutch 80’s neighbourhood be densified in terms of housing and nature while enhancing and preserving in- and extrinsic values (if present) by taking the neighbourhood Hoptille as case study? Hoptille (1980) is a neighbourhood in Amsterdam Zuid-Oost and was a reaction against the Bijlmer high-rise flats. The area consists of a mid-rise, 300 meter long building, several low-rise row housing and two large parking garages. After 40 years is it well over due for a renovation/transformation. Hoptille was research through stakeholder research, risk assessments, and several analyses. This research was the base for the program and goals for the neighbourhood. The project itself takes the international and the national context to address the local situation. This is done through a threefold approach to explore the many opportunities within the area, low intensity renovation, high intensity transformation, and demolish-new build. During the design process, the emphasise was laid on sustainable development, particularly the enhancement of biodiversity.

The city block of Bijlmerplein is a significant example of created identity through different notions. In the context 70s and 80s heritage, Bijlmerplein demonstrates ideological interplay between different ideas and ways of design of built environment in the one neighborhood. It was designed as a remediation and a response to failed modernist utopia - “City of the future” of Bijlmer together with other residential blocks such as Heesterveld, Hoptille and Haardstee. The final goal intended to create new identity for an area which would be relevant to Amsterdam city and could give sense of belonging to society in contrast of alienated and futuristic Bijlmer urban setting. Bijlmerplein boundaries had been shaped by the infrastructure (elevated streets, parking lots and separated traffic) which was the consequence of CIAM ideas. The area has also an anthroposophical concept which are embedded into NMB head office in by Alberts & Van Huut. Cluster 2, designed by Atelier Pro architects had nature inclusive notion. Cluster 4 was designed by BroekBakema architects who were searching for national Dutch identity in the architecture and developed the “total” space concept inspired by ideas of neo-plasticism The design by research the focus was given for cluster 4 within the Bijlmerplein, because of its complex spatial composition, relation with public squares, accentuated front façade, architectural language, and the postmodern archetypes. The main idea of the design was to open the cluster by introducing the “green alley” feature and by densifying the block by careful extensions. The green alley becomes the key element for circulation and the center of the new residential spaces. It helps to reactivate the plinth and introduce urban greenery. At the same time, the research explored different ways of purifying and revitalizing postmodern archetypes such as: “gate”, “bridge”, “tower”, “street”, “courtyard” and “colonnade”. These features were seen as an attribute regarding historical value of the block. Cluster 4 is primary a social housing residential block, which also causes many social issues such as: lack of ownership, segregation, poverty, exclusiveness, drug dealing, homelessness. These issues were tackled by introducing different types of housing which intend to attract people from different social layers and diversify the block. This was done by introducing penthouses for young families, lofty studios for young professionals and three residential blocks for residents with medium income.