The post-war architectural and urban design paradigm’s characteristic trait of spatial and functional determination limits the possibility for spatial adaptation and flexibility in urban spaces, struggling to face ever-steadily occurring social, economic, and climate challenges. In Droixhe - the largest post-war social housing ensemble in Liège, Belgium, the ineffective reach of previously executed housing requalification and increasing mismanagement overlook the urban public space on the housing blocks’ ground level, leading to its progressive deterioration and alienating fixed spatial ambience.
Drawing from the assemblage thinking theory in urban design and the notion of non-static built environments, the thesis project ‘Re:/Dis:/Assembling Droixhe’ incorporates architectural and urban design interventions within the ensemble’s urban ground level, allowing for ever-evolving compositions of elements with changing interrelationships, while challenging the pre-existing Modernist static built entities. Underlining the notion of “the incomplete”, the established design framework suggests the (re-)evaluation and upgrade of existing compositions through flexible building elements, which create the possibility to be critically reviewed and eventually recalibrated over time in response to occurring challenges. Applying a holistic multi-method approach, this design research aims to unveil the potential and challenges of urban transformation in static post-war urban environments as a point of departure to a more community-engaging and environmentally conscious architectural practice.

‘Design with (addiction) Care’ is a reflection on the role of an architect within the humanization of addiction care, primarily the design of the typology of a hostel. It is deeply rooted in the studio theme of the scarred city, where both the vulnerable scarred urban tissue as well as vulnerable people demand careful architectural reasoning. The thesis combines several methods to obtain an understanding of how architectural decision-making affects the use and experience of buildings over time. Concomitantly it examines how the perspectives of different stakeholders influence the design process. Analyzing the perspectives of architects, residents, managers, social workers, directors, local residents, professors and municipalities has contributed to a reflection on an architect's challenges, limitations and possibilities within our multidisciplinary profession.

Unappreciated by the public, and ambiguous with its history, Brutalism has its followers, among designers and architects yet it is still a stylistic outcast. La tour de Droixhe, the high-rise at hand, thus, is seen not only as heritage but also as a lonely giant towering over the city of Liège, Belgium. This brutalist social housing development presents itself as an example of many other similar cases across Europe where brutalist buildings are met with discontent from the public and with growing mismanagement, they often face a certain demolition, therefore this project explored both within design and programme why should we save ugly buildings and how to change their fate. Taking on the original message of brutalism as an ethical approach, the project brings in the possibilities of enhancing social cohesion in the case of high-rise housing. Answering the challenges that living off-the-ground creates through designing clusters within the tower working on the premise of cooperative living. Humanising brutalism and reclaiming its aesthetics as unique and worth building on and upon.

This graduation work serves as an academic documentation of my graduation project within the Urban architecture studio, black hill city.
The project aims to investigate and implement architectural interventions to transform the urban structure of the Belgian city of Liége. By focusing on innovative design strategies rather than large-scale urban interventions. More specified to this research. This project focusses on the different senses in architecture and the connection between architecture and urbanism by integrating these different senses in the design.

The indispensable relationship between city and economy often remains incomprehensible and rather conceptual, as they do not meet in a concrete environment. In the most general sense, the economy represents production and consumption activities in which urban residents participate, yet there is no tangible space in cities where this relationship is physically exhibited and witnessed. The reason being that the industry though a keystone of the economy, has not survived the evolution of the urban tissue, resulting in the consequent lack of synergy between humans and the act of production.

Etymologically, the term industry appears as a synonym of ‘diligence’ and ‘hard work’ which allusively refers to that of humans. Though throughout the years the word represented the means of production, this is now out of sight. Production, once indispensable to human existence and the urban tissue, is no longer a part of everyday life. The functioning of the machines led to pollution and inadequate sources, while the industry needed bigger and cheaper lands which were hard to possess within the dense city center. This ever-changing dynamic resulted in the subsequent isolation of industry and production to the outskirts; resulting in segregated urban planning where it was not possible to witness the act of making.

Production is an everyday actor which plays a vital role in the urban flow. Gleaning the industry, collecting and giving it a new meaning, can reintroduce this everyday forgotten existence of production to its city. This way, production would not only represent the economy but also become an urban catalyst to evoke new possible interactions such as the sense of collectiveness. This collectiveness is provided by the ever-changing urban dynamics and; as a result, by a new understanding of urban culture. This approach offers shared urban spaces for different types of users, urban residents, makers, manufacturers, and workers.

After having been pushed away for years, the industry is now ready to be celebrated, offering unconventional perspectives for new urban and architectural explorations. By enabling many dualities such as humans and machines, contextuality and universality, etc. to exist together, it intends to form a more homogenous urban atmosphere.