The Aa is a channelized stream system with an out-of-balance hydrological system. Being too dry in the summer and having no room for water during the winter. There is also no room for natural processes and the biodiversity is low. This together with the intensively large-scale agricultural landscape makes the Aa an unattractive landscape. To change this in order to make the Aa resilient and attractive component of the Van Gogh National Park, is the landscape studied through three lenses; hydrological, nature, and recreation. In the area three landscape types are identified as having the potential to contribute to a resilient and attractive landscape; these are the stream, the wet areas, and the higher grounds. Looking at the three landscape types through the three lenses yields nine elements which together make an illustrative masterplan which is detailed in zoom-ins. The nine elements are called Meandering, Retention, Infiltration, Beekprik, Boomkikker, Boommarter (BBB), Kano, Boots, and Mountainbike. ... Read more

Water in Milan has always been a founding element for civilization, especially for its urban, working, and cultural development due to the presence of rivers, water springs, and a system of artificial canals known as Navigli. Therefore, the covering of the Navigli system in 1929 in lieu of large contemporary infrastructures led to the loss of sociability at both the urban and neighbourhood scale. This change has also led to the loss of a commercial route that connected the Alpine area with the Adriatic Coast, a system that gave the city the title of Italy’s third largest harbour during the XX century. Thus, covering the Navigli deprived Milan of the traditional features that enhanced the urban space and its continuity with a more complex context. In addition, the major rivers that cross the city has been covered. This choice, together with high levels of cementing and water pollution, has resulted in an urban fabric that is discontinuous from the water-related Roman and Medieval tissues and it is increasingly affected by the urgencies of climate change.
This project aims to restore the Navigli system as a replacement for some of the modern infrastructures to rehabilitate the water identity of Milan. The emergent landscape should increase urban quality by emphasizing sociability on a local scale. Attention will turn to participatory activities capable of attracting citizens to water-related spaces to create a sense of caring and belonging to the place. The project also focuses on the balance between nature and culture through an unconventional aesthetic that interact more healthily with the environment. Nowadays, the ecological network is interrupted by the infrastructure: roads define the shape of often marginalized green areas, so different ecosystems are fragmented. Thus, the linear form of canals may suggest a new ecological corridor through different urban realities. ... Read more

Rural migrants are being evicted from China’s metropolis. Urban villages used to be a refuge for rural migrants fleeing excessive living expenses, where they might find reasonable housing, social connections, and even work opportunities. However, as these villages are now being redeveloped mainly to create land revenues for local municipalities, rural migrants are being evicted and left vulnerable. This can also create vulnerabilities for the cities themselves. Despite the amount of literature on urban village development and redevelopment (Hao et al., 2013; Kochan, 2015; Lai et al., 2021; Li et al., 2014; Zhou, 2014), there is little research on the social problems, particularly problems for rural migrants, brought by current mode of redevelopment, which occurs frequently nowadays. This study aims to answer the question of how urban villages can be redeveloped to create socially resilient communities by using multiple methods, in both social and spatial aspects. The study aims to address the issue of urban village redevelopment in China's metropolises and its impact on rural migrants by proposing an alternative art-driven redevelopment strategy. A comprehensive solution package that includes urban design, policy recommendations, and participation strategies that take into account the social resilience of migrants will be developed. To do this, the study will first use methods such as stakeholder analysis and engagement, as well as spatial analysis and urban design at a community scale, using the case of Zanhualing Village as an example. The ultimate goal is to create a strategic plan for numerous urban villages across the city of Dongguan to create a more resilient city overall. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

On the northwest urban edge of Miami Dade County, the mining industry of the largest scale in Florida has existed for over 60 years. However, it is estimated to stop by 2050 as the reserves decline. As a consequence of limestone mining, more than 10,000 hectares of abandoned lakes will be left on the landscape. This project proposes land and water strategies to guide the future development of this post-mining lake area. It starts from the analysis on the existing hydrological, ecological, urban and mining conditions and define the existing situation as “boundary” that tends to establish static binary opposition between the urban and nature systems. Based on the site context, it proposes and explores “border” as a new urban edge condition that presents a dynamic interactive process in time. This process not only provides the possibility of regenerating potential of the post-mining area, but also increases resilience of the water system. What’s more, it creates conditions for the nature and urban systems to interact with each other and develop into an integrated whole. ... Read more

The prognosis for Amsterdam is that the population will grow until almost one million inhabitants in 2040 which leads to the fact that densification is needed to house all these people. Another prediction is that migration flows will increase, which means that diversity still will be a big topic in the future. Nowadays Amsterdam houses many nationalities and subgroups. Analyzing Sloterdijk, its demographics show more than 50% of the population is from non-western background. The people had to deal with the consequences of segregation in spatial, social and economical way. Problems as loneliness and a high unemployment rate are reason to doubt the approach of Amsterdam of dealing with integration of lower social classes and immigrants. What will happen when diversity will grow? Will this lead to a bigger segregation? Segregation arises where different groups of people aren’t meeting each other anymore and therefore do not understand each other’s world. The Slotermarket will form a new inclusive center for the local community in Sloterdijk in the future garden city 2.0. The building will house a market where different people of Sloterdijk can sell their goods next to each other. The market should be an inclusive place where different cultures could find their place now and in the future as migration flows are unpredictable. Therefore a flexible structure of pixels is made. On top of the retail functions, housing towers appear above the roof that covers the market. The roof functions as a connecting element, embracing all the pixels underneath the roof. On the other hand the roof is the meeting spot for the residents of the tower. Bridges are connecting the housing towers to the roof gardens with green houses. The inhabitants of the towers share several amenities as cars, workplaces, a sports room, a dining room and thus gardens and greenhouses on the roof. In this market a new typology is proposed: the city in a building, inspired by the souk and bazaars in the Middle East where the market is integrated in the streets of the city and by that is interwoven in the urban fabric. The Slotermarket is interwoven in its surroundings by embracing the green structures of the garden city. The future life in the garden cities will be focused around the ideals of social interaction, participation, sharing facilities and food production.
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A study on building belongingness through the design of outdoor public spaces in the expatriate community Meerhoven, Eindhoven ... Read more