Lighthouse is a housing project which aims to address the patterns of patriarchal dominance that persist in conventional dwellings by exploring an experimental approach to co-housing. Focusing on the issue of domestic violence, the research investigates the potential of architecture to facilitate healing processes and challenge existing housing norms. The lack of affordable housing, the crisis of care, and the disconnect between domestic and productive spheres leaves few suitable housing options for those who do not conform to traditional family structures. While some households can mitigate the challenges posed by current housing patterns, those in crisis, such as those who have experienced domestic violence, are particularly vulnerable to these limitations. To counteract gendered, social, and economic inequality, a paradigm shift in housing production is necessary if we are to move towards a caring city. By exploring alternative co-housing models, this project aims to contribute to this transformation and inspire a more inclusive and equitable built environment. ... Read more

How can collective housing design encourage social inclusion? From an ecological perspective, the housing of socially disadvantaged and transformation of post-war mass housing is explored. Socially disadvantaged people such as the formerly homeless have often difficulties integrating into a new living environment and need a more stable environment. This project aims to provide spaces of interaction as well as seclusion. Productive and collective spaces like a car maintenance shop, a multistory café, urban farming and a canteen allow the residents to come into both formal and informal contact with each other and the neighbourhood. A carefully crafted circulation space as well as differentiation in dwelling typologies allows for chance meetings between a heterogeneous group of residents. ... Read more

How can a community of multi-generational solo dwellers and non-human species coexist near Rotterdam station today? The project “Togetherness” offers loft homes for starters, cluster apartments for middle and senior citizens, maisonettes for solo parents and habitats for bats. Considering different sharing capacities for each target group leads to the articulation of different layers of shared spaces, thus promoting various forms of cohabitation. The public spaces and collective facilities
on the ground floor are open to residents and visitors. The co-living apartments
contain shared living rooms and kitchens. Bats live in the interstices of the facade,
resembling the mountain landscape. ... Read more

Co-Dwell is a project that emphasizes the co-living and co-working model as means for social cohabitation between Dutch starters and newcomers in Rotterdam as a multicultural city. It concentrates on smoothening the integration process of newcomers through involvement with the local community. The intention is to create an environment where people can benefit from each other’s knowledge and cultural experiences. A cooperative housing model will bring this idea to the reality with a subsidy from Rotterdam municipality. The two actors would supply the target group by affordable collective dwellings and collective work possibilities to give them a good start.
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This research deals with the affordable housing problem for housing seekers who cannot find a house according to their needs and financial capacity; the single person household (solo) and couples with vulnerable financial and social status. Furthermore, it investigates whether the housing form "collective living", under the financing of cooperatives, can provide a solution for them. The research runs in parallel with the graduation studio Advanced Housing Design and is the backbone of my individual urban design in the collective master plan. From the themes diversity and community, the research’s collective living is further investigated. Relationships between private units, shared space in cluster homes and collective spaces within the building and the relation of the residential complex with the master plan are explained in this study. The design is part of the master plan in Rotterdam Blijdorp where I will introduce the co-housing with shared spaces. By means of literature studies and case studies, this research will be supported in order to arrive at a concluding design vision and later a final design based on this, new and rather unknown form of living in the Netherlands, co-living. ... Read more

Anonymity in cities and a lack of architectural identity are some of the social-architectural challenges of our time, with profound consequences for urban life. Not only does architecture have a major impact on how we experience cities and buildings, it also has an impact on our health, wellbeing and behavior. The aim of this research is to find out how residential architecture can create identity and positively influence the mental and physical health of its inhabitants. This involves architectural design principles that can respond to users‘ conscious and subconscious needs to their living environment.
An extensive literature search in the main areas of architectural psychology and active architecture provides insights into these issues. In addition, an analysis of case studies illustrates these issues and how they can be implemented spatially.
The results show the great influence that architecture has on large parts of our lives. Among other things, it influences emotions, behavior patterns, health or the way people interact with each other. On this scientific basis, residential architecture can be designed to exert a positive influence on social, private and public life. ... Read more

The Netherlands experienced a large influx of refugees over the past years, which peaked in 2015. Many of these refugees have recently had their temporary residency extended into a permanent residency. In spite of this, there is a disproportionately high percentage of unemployment among refugees and many experience a lack of social and academic integration. As a result, a large percentage of refugees are still dependent on governmental financial aid, and the socioeconomic status of refugees is more likely to be lower than the average socioeconomic status in the Netherlands.
Although refugee integration is a widely studied sociological topic, no effort has been made to apply the findings of such studies to the context of architecture. The goal of the present study was to consider research findings on factors and domains that facilitate sociocultural integration, and apply these to the architectural domain. More specifically, the study focused on the development of functional program and building characteristics intended to facilitate integration and produce a suitable living environment.
The results of the present study showed that asylum status holders need to have certain places in the building, such as common rooms in which they share work and study with the rest of the building's residents, who are of different nationalities and are also local residents. In this case, they integrate into society faster and also the problem of friction that may appear among the residents of the building disappears because they spend some time together and give them some awareness and educational lectures that make them accept each other and get closer to each other more.
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The presence of creatives or the ‘creative class’ is observed to act as a stimulant for regional and local urban transformation and gentrification. Global statistics state that the creative industry serves as a major economic driving force of the twenty- first century. For Rotterdam, a global metropolis, the need for creativity grows hand in hand with its need to attract and hold talent. The necessity exists to perpetuate the creative city image and to remain competitive on the world stage. However, the lack of creative workspace and housing has become a stringent issue for Rotterdam and its creative community. By looking at the issue through a historical lens, the research establishes the insufficiency of present policies and proposes a solution in the form of physical architecture, with the goal of relieving spatial shortages and bettering the livelihoods of creatives through facilitation of interdisciplinary synergy. ... Read more

The linear food supply chain is putting significant pressures on our resources and our environment. Moreover, global warming is leading to climate change, making our environment more uncertain and challenging food safety around the globe. Therefore new ways of producing food locally need to be researched. This paper investigates how food can be produced within the boundaries of the city of Amsterdam. It studies the suitability of different urban farming techniques within the infrastructure of the neighbourhood through three different scenarios. The scenarios are based on the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental) and measure a set of indicators (food production, monetary income, job creation, water retention, energy production, esthetic values, social values and biodiversity). The results of the scenarios are afterwards compared to the social and spatial needs of the neighbourhood, from which the most suitable scenario can be chosen. The research has been done for three neighbourhoods from the New West borough in Amsterdam: Geuzenveld, Osdorp Midden and Middenveldsche Akkerpolder. The results show that for Osdorp Midden and Geuzenveld, the scenario focusing on economics is the most suitable for helping with the high rate of poverty and unemployment in the neighbourhood. On the other hand, for Middelveldsche Akkerpolder the scenario focused on creating social values can help strengthening the missing social ties and create a sense of community in the neighbourhood. ... Read more

The world around us is rapidly changing and evolving. In a new report by the World green structure committee, the building and development industry are liable for 38.8% of all CO2 emissions internationally, with operational outflows (from energy used to warmth, cool and light structures) representing 28%. Our designed structures depend upon many resources during the construction or operational phase. So it is clear that the design decisions we make now for our built environment have a significant impact on the future. As the population increases, the need for freshwater, electricity, and other urban resources grows exponentially. It constantly increases pressure on the urban resources and infrastructure needed to run our cities smoothly. Self-sufficient buildings can be a crucial solution to urban problems like increasing energy demands and poor air quality, which we face today. It is less dependent on active energy systems like mechanical ventilation and electricity from the grid; it is more inclined towards passive energy systems. Integrating vegetation into the built environment has proven in many instances that it increases the self-sufficiency of the users' buildings and well-being, according to R.Hassell, 2017.

Nature has always provided inspiration and ideas for the field of innovation. It has always inspired newer living and green solutions for the future, environmental, economic, health, and community benefits. The integration of green vegetation into the buildings has various psychological and physiological benefits over the users

To summarize, integrating green building strategies can increase the self-sufficiency index in our structures. The research has explored various computational methods used for similar contexts and related them with green building strategies to design a self-sufficient habitat.
The research question mainly revolves around developing a design process that explores computational methods in green buildings and landscapes. After careful deliberation, all investigations are moving towards understanding different aspects and finding the overlaps between these two emerging fields because innovation and new ideas can be explored in that overlap. To summarize, the research question is "How to integrate green building strategies using computational methods to design self-sufficient buildings."
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The housing market in The Netherlands is under pressure, especially in big cities such as Rotterdam. The housing shortage situation is not going to be solved overnight. This creates cramps in the housing market, increases the housing prices to beyond what people can afford, which causes in particular young professionals to fall between two stools. These young professionals earn too much to be eligible for social housing and do not earn enough to be able to own a home in Rotterdam. Many of them, therefore, do not live in a home that would have been their first choice. As the housing shortage is expected to continue, qualitative design choices for affordable housing become increasingly more important. Maximum commitment to achieving housing circulation is urgently needed to relieve the pressure on the housing market as much as possible. More mid-rent apartments are a major contributor to tackle this issue. ... Read more

This graduation research report is part of the Dutch Housing studio, Dwelling. The studios brief is to design a large residential building in the Merwe-Vierhavens (M4H) in Rotterdam, a former port area that is being redeveloped by the municipality. The guidelines from the municipality are to create a dense, dynamic urban area consisting of a living-makers function with an informal collective character . The studio's provided additional guidelines, namely, design for an urban area with a collective and inclusive living environment. The structure provided by the studio for this project is divided in a group and individual part. As a group we did literature research on Sennett, Building and Dwelling; Rasmussen, Experiencing Architecture. Furthermore, as a collective we did a multi case study on collectivity in residential buildings. One of the first things in every design process is to get a better understanding of the location. However, the M4H is not yet developed so, the task at hand was to collectively design an urban development plan for a part of the M4H, the Keile kwartier. The location was divided into four quadrants and each quadrant was developed in groups of four. The quadrant assigned to my group was quadrant C. The individual part of the studio started with research into our own fascination, the research was required to have a relevance to the society we live in. My research was triggered by the recent events around the corona crisis and this let me to the individualization of the society. The individual research needed to connect to a specific target group to whom this topic was applicable. The target audience for my graduation project consists of small households, like starters and empty nesters. These target groups needs are in line with the municipalities vision for the M4H development. The municipality requirements for the location are that it should become a live-work environment, more specifically a maker’s district. The research, target audience, and makers have to form a coherent entity. This entity has let to multiple design hypotheses that are translated into a concept design. ... Read more

Starters are facing an almost impossible task to find a dwelling on a housing market where there is scarcity. At the same time a changing climate and other environmental issues demand a different way of building, that differs from the traditional building methods and uses materials that have a positive impact to these environmental issues. A design for a large housing complex in the transformed harbour area in the Merwe-Vierhavens in Rotterdam contributes to a solution to both of these issues at hand. The building contains a variety of compact dwellings that is suited for starters. This variation in dwelling types, however, makes the dwellings appropriate for many other types of residents. Because of this the building can evolve over time, according to changing societal conditions and demands on the market. The project is for a large part constructed out of renewable materials and demountable. A large green garden in the heart of the building serves as collective space. Moreover it acts as the key aspect in how the building deals with the aspect of water. Rainwater is not only collected in the garden and used in the building, it is also applied as a design element and with this adds to the quality of the garden and the awareness of residents concerning climate conditions. Altogether this design offers a (socially) sustainable living environment for starters and other residents on a vivid urban location. ... Read more

There is an urgent need for affordable housing solutions in the Netherlands before 2030. However, the focus should not only be on producing new dwellings, but rather on creating homes and neighbourhoods that meet the needs of the future population. In Dutch cities there is a change in the residential culture and there is a large lack of affordable and suitable homes in the Dutch urban region (Randstad). At this moment most of the dutch citizens simply do not have the income to buy a new expensive house or apartment and social housing is only accessible for the citizens with lower incomes. ... Read more

Society is aging at a rapid phase and the increasing technological possibilities make it possible that a solution or treatment method is found for many life-threatening situations.
As a result, the costs for healthcare have been increasing and because of this the government has decided to close a large number of care homes and thereby encourage society to take more care of each other.
The trend is therefore that a large proportion of the elderly want to continue living in their current environment, where they receive the care and support they need.
However in practice this is more problematic, because young adults often experience difficulties to provide care for their parents in addition to a busy full-time job. They are largely dependent on nursing at home by external healthcare authorities. In the Netherlands there is a shortage of informal care, which means that we as a society have to look at new combinations and ways of living.
It is therefore good to think about possible alternatives and the position that urban planning, architecture and housing in general may have in this. Other ways of student living might offer a good alternaltive. For example, a student can live in a complex mixed with elderly people, in which the student can provide in a social task to relieve the pressure on the informal and formal care system.
My design will respond to these political developments, thus meeting a need that arises from society and changing governmental policies. Furthermore the complex will become a building for an ever-increasing group of older people who want to continue living independently on the one hand, but on the other hand want to have the facilities that are important to them within walking distance and, if necessary, fall back on a social network that offers guidance and social support. Lastly, the role of collectivity played an important aspect in the design of my building. The definition of collectivity within the city reflects on building blocks and their relation with public and collective spaces. In what way should collective spaces within buildings represent the city as a whole? This could mean that public functions within the plinth could lead to more livelyhood within the building as well as the whole neighborhood or even the city. Functions of collective spaces within the city should represent the direct needs of the people who are using them, but at the same time not excluding anyone. The inclusive city is also part of a topic that we addressed from Richard Sennett’s book: Building and Dwelling. In this book he mentions the five open forms of the city. One of these five forms is “seed planning”, which could play a role in explaining how buildings are part of a larger ambition of Rotterdam in becoming a city of Making. Hereby ‘making districts’ or spots for making activities could have different outcomes on different places within the city, taking into account the specific needs of the direct surrounding community.
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There is a growing need for affordable spaces for young working people. In many big cities of Europe, prices per square meters are rising, what forces young professionals to rent a questionable quality, temporary flats, or push them to outskirts. In this work I will investigate a strategy called Klusflat and prove that this strategy can be used to bring an affordable, quality spaces for young people. In the following paragraphs some Klusflat case studies are researched. First example is Kleiburg, one of the most famous Klusflat example. Second one is Klarenstraat block in Amsterdam, the third is a housing unit in Rotterdam. In a conclusion I compare different approaches observed in my case studies. I also give an answer if this strategy can be adapted to solve a problems of not affordable, and not valuable spaces for young professionals
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The master's thesis explores the possibilities of reusing abandoned post-industrial structures and objects of architectural heritage. Objects, which are usually difficult to renovate due to high costs and their poor physical condition, could be filled with new inflatable volumes and thus be filled with new space, function, and life. The work is inspired by designs from the 1960s and 70s of temporary and easily deployable inflatable installations, as well as the latest developments in soft robotics. Pneumatic structures equipped with sensors and activators would allow the creation of a responsive and interactive architecture evolving in time. ... Read more

In a quest to breathe new life into public spaces and engage with its today’s increasingly (inter-)connected users, robotic architectural components seem to open up possibilities to give agency to building component. A new field of research has been involving multi-agent robotic systems in the architectural design and/or fabrication process. They require a new understand the built environment as an “adaptive ecology” composed of autonomous agents that interact with each other and their nearby environment (users and context). I am proposing the examination of a multi-agent system composed of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) that can collaborate together to self-assemble into structures that are user-interactive and responsive to the local climate conditions. These structures are composed of a many of these ‘drone-bricks’ that form shelters that can grow and morph to accommodate users’ changing positions and movements through time. They are able to modulate environmental conditions such as wind and rain shelters, daylight penetration and the acoustic resonance of the space. This architecture is directly informed by the users’ activities, environmental conditions, and other information flows. It relies on principles of emergence, indeterminacy and generative design. This architecture has no blueprint but is self-organising; it is processual, indeterminate and continuously in formation, as opposed to the dominance of static, predetermined forms and functions in the organisation of the environment today. How to translate these architectural intents (performative and qualitative metrics) to a swarm of UAVs in an attempt to create a robotic architectural ‘species’ where autonomous agents collaborate to form temporary shelters that respond to local environmental conditions and human interactions? The research, simulation and prototyping rely on a behavioural and praxiological approach to architectural design that establishes a feedback loop between the algorithmically-encoded robotic capacities (behaviours), the material properties (morphogenetic processes) and sensing capabilities (neurological processes) of the agents and the emergent interactions and their self-organization in the environment in real-time. This project attempts to look at the ways these behaviours are digitally coded and physically expressed, as well as evaluate the overall agency granted to the system through the implementation of these behaviours with the overarching aim of developing new relationships between space and users through multi-agent robotic systems. ... Read more

This project is motivated by the voices of the Amsterdam artists, for whom it becomes increasingly difficult to live and work in the city. The independent artists, activists, working-class people, among many other low- and mid-income groups who gave Amsterdam its unique, diverse and open character, have been driven out of the city centre for decades. Their place in the city is increasingly being taken by a homogeneous high-income group, leaving a unilateral street culture. Most striking about this issue is that artists are often accused of being contributors to this process called gentrification. The creativity of artists is often used by urban policy makers and developers to revitalize deprived urban areas. Their presence changes the perception of an area and forms an attractive business climate for today’s creative-knowledge economy. This adds value to the assets of property owners which causes an increase in house prices and leads to the eviction of the local inhabitants and even the artists themselves. In their search for a new place to live and work, groups of artists started inhabiting old, mostly industrial light spaces but it seems that no matter where they go, gentrification is just around the corner. As a response to this unfair gentrification process and the decreasing amount of affordable live- and workspaces, the final design facilitates a new and permanent ‘live-work’ building for many different types of artists to give them back their right to the city. ... Read more