It’s August 4 when Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, is hit by one of the largest non-nuclear explosions the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, this explosion that damaged and/or demolished more than half of the city is not the first crisis it has to deal with. Several catastrophes have already plagued Lebanon and its capital during the last century such as (civil) wars, financial, health and other crises and a corrupt government. The research into the Salam Emergency Station looks into architectural adaptation within a hostile environment. It does so in one overarching building that facilitates the police, fire brigade and ambulance. The research mainly focuses on safety design, while also looking for a balans with approachability.

The thesis explores the paradigms that inform the design of the New Headquarters for the Cuban Pharmaceutical Industry.

New York City is the most cosmopolitan city with great influence in the world, but the transportation problem has always been its urgent task. The Port Authority Bus Terminal, located at the entrance of the most congested tunnel in NYC, Lincoln tunnel, is the largest bus station in the nation and the busiest in the world. However, it shows the strong contradiction between mobility and infrastructure facilities now. How can a bus terminal in NY Midtown meet the existing need and adapt to changes of new mobilities that may arise in the future? The design of the New Port Authority Bus Terminal aims to reorganize regional transportation to improve transport efficiency and cater for the future development of new mobilities. It could also provide a possibility to the current and potential future problems in metropolitans as NYC: the mismatch of the infrastructure buildings’ design and the new citywide mobility.

With Midtown's income gap increasing significantly, affordable housing has become more and more difficult to find, leaving many New Yorkers Homeless. This thesis sets out to understand how homelessness and the built environment interact with one another and to which extent the architectural profession can make a positive impact on homelessness in Midtown New York City. The resulting design project is a 60,000m2 mixed-use complex in the heart of Midtown that centers around Covenant House, a non-profit organization serving homeless and trafficked youth. The design explores the tension between safety and public integration, the human and the city-scale as well as low- versus high-income users. Lincoln Gardens, the shared identity that the complex operates under, is a lush urban oasis with an intricate sequence of introverted public spaces on the ground floor that offer refuge from the hectic streets of Midtown. With sustainability as one of the core values, the incorporation of a timber diagrid structure as a tube-in-tube system results in minimizing the amount of concrete required in the foundation and core and allows for an open floor plan that will be adaptable to the needs of future users. The wooden high-rise stands out in the steel and glass city-scape of Midtown, embodying the goal of an inclusive city within the neoliberal framework of New York.

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

New Urban Front investigates how waterfront densification can contribute to interiorizing the Maas river in Rotterdam. In the past decade, the post-industrialization of Rotterdam's docks has created a new urban front: the Maas. However, this waterfront lacks character and scale, while water and city lost their programmatic relation after industry migrated out of the city. A mixed-use high density transversal typology is proposed at the Linker Veerdam, the historic crossing of the Maas river, to heal this schism and place water back at the center of urban memory. A sectional base, large floating plinth, and towers connect water and city with a programmatic cut and add urban scale to the river. Urban program is loaded onto the river by introduction of a boat-in cinema, a Maaspodium opening towards the water, and multiple pools and piers. This creates a multi-layered and multi-scale relation between water and city. By doing so, New Urban Front contributes to interiorizing the Maas river and convert it into the central public space of Rotterdam.

"Air Rights" in New York gives freedom for the super tall towers, while cages low rise buildings which sold their unbuilt. This graduation thesis investigates the future possibilities for the lots which sold their air rights. By exploring underground space, this project solves urgency of limited buildable spaces, and tests how to make subterranean space inviting. It is also a critic of achieving density and verticality by only introducing high rise towers in New York.

Penn Station, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan business district, is undergoing rapid growth in commute rates. While located underneath the Arena Madison Square Garden, challenges arise to counter the high congestion rates and bad way-finding followed by the dense program existing on the site. This graduation thesis projects explores a way to combine the Arena and Penn Station to work in symbiosis as a coherent entity. It tests the possibility for a future where Madison Square Garden remains on its prime location in the center of the Metropolis while both functions can continue to coexist.

As a part of the Complex Projects Graduation Studio this project is set in 2100 Amsterdam and part of a collective research and design effort to look forward in architecture and urbanism. Due to technological advancements, automation and the advent of the circular economy, it may be advantageous to locate a recycling and sorting facility inside the city centre of Amsterdam to ease congestion and reduce the amount of storage capacity required for households and businesses. The central research question of this master thesis is: How will waste treatment be incorporated into the urban fabric of the city centre of Amsterdam in 2100? Subsequently, the design question is: How can the confrontation and interaction between human society and the automated infrastructure that supports it be designed? The results hint at a new type of architecture, expressive in its form and functionalism yet adapted to its urban context. The public is taught about the circular economy by attracting them with futuristic playgrounds, sporting facilities and iconic architectural elements and confronting them with waste processes. Take a look at the P5 presentation and the poster/drawing set to find out more.

As big player architecture has been the main shaper of the NYC skyline this thesis sought to find the answer to which industry would follow to built the next addition. The result is a vertical tech campus where the new york office is mixed with the california campus to create a flagship store/office for the fictional client Google inc.

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

Public space in Manhattan is mainly generated through a mechanism called Privately Owned Public Spaces, shortly POPS, allowing developers to construct taller buildings in exchange for the provision of public space. As a result of this incentivizing mechanism there are countless manifestations of public private contradiction in the city of New York. Furthermore, the city's process of densification results in a shift from a monotonous office environment into a mixed-use living environment - inherent to this change is a desire for a new type of public space that fosters healthy densification. The main question of this project relates to how such a new type of public could evolve, taking into account the critical force of privatization. In order to explore the main question, this project speculates on the contradictory nature of public space production by means of the design for an extremely private NSA office, which through its constrains for security and privacy, generates a unique public housing and sportscenter. The project reveals the potential of integrating mutually exclusive private and public worlds into a singular structure, while at the same time highlighting that the debate on densification is one of zoning regulations rather than spatial-architectural design.

Digitalization and automation brings many amazing things; games, social media, navigation. However, it also makes us more vulnerable. The facelessness of cyber space and the emancipation of place makes it hard to grasp. Additionally, our personal data becomes more valuable and thereby more lucrative to criminalize. The combination of these factors make for an increasing criminalization of data. There are already several facilities to track and judge international and cyber criminals, however there is no specialized facility for punishing the perpetrators of the cyber realm. That lead me to the question: what role can Schiphol (and it’s no-man’s land) play in facilitating the increasing threat of cybercrime in the future? Schiphol’s no man’s land, and the emphasize we put on it in our group strategy, creates the perfect conditions for a cybercrime (a no-man’s land crime) prison. Architecturally the typology of the traditional prison and the principle of punishment and translated it into the appropriate measures for a cyber prison. Dealing with security, surveillance, privacy, punishment and rehabilitation.

New York is one of the most important Global Metropolises. Due to the increasing urbanization and the congestion of people and businesses, the city’s urban environment and particularly, public space needs to reinvent itself to address the modern challenges and remain an important element of the urban fabric. Towards this direction, public space should firstly, become more flexible, to embrace the fast change of the urban living in the context of the global metropolis. Secondly, it should become smarter, to deal with the huge amount of people and information, and find ways to use them in profitable ways to improve the quality of life in the urban environment. Thirdly, it should become more human-centered, in the sense that it should focus on the user, identifying his needs and expectations for the public life. Following these guidelines, this thesis proposes an “Innovation Lab” as the prominent future public space of Global Metropolises. The ambition is the creation of an inclusive collective space, a global meeting point where people from all parts of the city, or even the world would be able to find common ground in an engaging space that will boost their innovation and creativity, as well as interaction with others. The medium to succeed in this goal would be technology. Whereas the majority of people blame technology for the isolation of people and the decrease of public interaction, the truth is that isolation in public space is an old phenomenon. It started already since the invention of typography and generally the invention of personal ways for one to be entertained and educated by himself in public without the need to physically interact with another. In reality, technology is the primary means of socializing and communication when it is being used appropriately and is already incorporated in all aspects of everyday life. Besides, New York is the world’s biggest tech hub for 2019 and Transitional Yards is its new base, consisting of an environment where technology can flourish. When it comes to my thesis, technology is applied in three ways; The Innovation Lab is hosting a tech-related program where people can get informed about new technologies and experience them applied in space. Besides, the implementation of sensors optimizes the organization and experience of the building, offering atmosphere control, personalized experiences, energy, and cost savings. Furthermore, smart technology is also applied to the curation of experience since from the beginning of the experience of a visitor (online check for events, book tickets), to how someone enters the building (face control), to the experience of space and program (augmented experiences) to the exit (leave feedback, upload comments), everything is automated for optimal results. The final project is a building complex of the total 69.000 m2, comprised of an office tower (52.750 m2), a public expo building (15.652 m2), and a connecting large multi-form and multi-purpose venue (600 m2). The final volumetric composition resides in the city’s identity where the different urban elements ex. the tower, the New York townhouse, and the monuments are all placed irregularly next to one another, forming a playful skyline. The more private functions are located in the tower (private offices), while in the lower volumes and hence closer to the human scale the public functions are being placed. The materials chosen for this project are playing with transparency and translucency, aiming to create an atmospheric and pleasant environment where innovation and creation can flourish.

The coming years will see automation and demographic shifts cause a dramatic change in the economics and society of the Netherlands. A Universal Basic Income will be unavoidable. This will result in a large segment of the population existing without a sense of competition to provide fulfilment in people’s life. The provision of arbitrary conflicts through games will be an important strategy to pacify the masses. This is a principal that can be seen throughout history, and is epitomised in Rome’s coloseum as a principal mediator for leisure for the masses and the casino’s of Las Vegas today. As Amsterdam continues to grow, and Schiphol and the Zuidas will further densify and intensify, the Nieuwe Meer and its surroundings, too will be used more intensively. Particularly the north shore of the lake will be developed heavily and feature a number of leisure and entertainment facilities. Here, thoroughly captivatingentertainment is made available to the masses through the hosting of spectacles showing primal, visceral, and real experiences. The inclusion of the spectator as a participant in the spectacle further contributes to the creation of arbitrary conflicts that provide fulfilment to people’s lives. Consequently, potential unrest is pacified and order is maintained, without any use of force, censorship, or the restriction of any freedoms imposed on society.

Across a period of multiple crises and a structurally instable government, amongst other things, there has been a strong national decline in cultural activity, production, and presence in the city of Beirut. With this, national identity is faltering, and citizens begin to give up on their home nation. Who can is emigrating, and the rest lay abandoned and discouraged in an increasingly privatized and unwelcoming environment. What role can culture play in the complex transitions cities are currently going through? What aspects can be combined in order to suggest architecture appropriate for a scenario of hardships, which also strengthens national identity and the image of the city? Ultimately, how can a building complex informed by cultural production contribute to the narration and revival of cultural activity? The task at hand is the design of a productive building which revolves around a culturally relevant produce and manages to evoke the social rituals and greater historic context which go with it. This should strengthen and reinstate pride towards local produce, reform ties to the country and its rich lands, and also support the citizens and the complex urban life which surround it. The design of an urban winery and arak distillery shall be the assignment utilized as means of researching and exploring this challenge.

The aim of the thesis is to research how the workspace typology could change in distant future of 2050 in Amsterdam under the influence of immersive technologies, such as Virtual and Augmented reality. Such aspects as influence of technologies on company structures, space organization and program of a building are deeply investigated. The design proposal is build upon the conclusions made from the research and translated into architecture.

Euroterminal Berlin is an international high-speed terminal located in Südkreuz, Berlin. The design explores the impact of digitalization on the typology of train stations and subsequently its users.

The digitalization of labor – enabled by the rise of the Internet and digital technologies – began a redefinition of architecture typologies. The typologies of Home and Office, once seen as stable and fixed, with clear distinctions, are now blurring their boundaries towards each other. The ubiquity of the network has spread work outside of the office and, as a result, the boundaries of these two dimensions are diluted in the realm of an omnipresent and interconnected reality. New phenomena are emerging. Every place, as long as connected to the network, becomes a productive one, even the most private and intimate: the home. How is this shift concretizing in architectural design? The productive home project aims to give tangible and spatial form to the contemporary condition of labor, unfolding the blurred line between domesticity and productivity. The project has been thought out as a series of designed scenario: each of them aim to reflect upon the relationship between the working and living sphere: from blurred to sharply separated, the goal is to express the different nuances of the contemporary condition of Labor.

Situated in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, the Mar Elias Crop Market acts as protagonist project of the market district in the Beirut Mosaic urban masterplan. This masterplan is part of the Complex Projects Beirut graduation studio, focused on dealing with catastrophe in the built environment. The Mar Elias Crop Market is a mix of a logistic food center and public market, situated in the suburbs near Ramlet Al Baida beach, acting as a distribution node in a network and strengthening the food chain from land to city. The Mar Elias Crop Market aims to revive Beirut's food culture, offers public space to the city, and aims to improve post-harvest handling by improving the distribution network in the Beirut Mosaic.