A graduation research into the topic feeling at home for the heterogeneous modern household group single-person households. This research forms the basis of a design project for Merwe-Vierhaven in Rotterdam, where the concepts of comfort, social interaction, feeling of safety and identity come together.

The thesis focuses on developing a workflow that utilizes an interactive flexible mold as a means of designing and fabricating freeform surfaces. The focus will be on automating a flexible mold (Re-De-Form) and use it to study and fabricate freeform surfaces. Currently, the technology associated with Re-De-Form can produce complex surfaces with double curvature. One of its predecessors, FlexiMold, consists of pins which the user moves manually after reading their position from the digital model of a surface (Asut and Meijer, 2016). The system, however innovative, lacks accuracy, to be realized as a design tool for freeform surfaces. The automation will provide with the precision and accuracy needed for a freeform surface to be produced, as well as reduce the time needed for the digital freeform to be casted onto the physical freeform. The designer is freed from the obligation to place the mold pins each time a minor change in the digital model occurs (Asut, Eigenraam and Christidi, 2018). The validity of the method is tested through the design of a timber gridshell example and its panel fabrication. This includes form finding, structural and cross-sectional study and freeform panelization. A 3x3pin small scale model of Re-De- Form that deforms according to the respective freeform digital model, has been built. Additionally, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) associated with the manipulation of the surface ensures the clarity and intuitiveness of the method to the user. The final product combines physical and digital modelling into a fast, accurate, intuitive and reciprocal freeform design tool.

The topic of the graduation project is the transformation of the former V&D department store in the city of Leiden. The aim of the project is to re-design the building in order to house a series of new uses which include public facilities (such as an urban park and a public interior space), retail shops and two hotels (one student hotel and a boutique hotel). All of these functions respond to the qualities and needs of the area and the people of Leiden. The main architectural interventions that are carried out in order to make the old department store suitable for the new programme are the creation of a courtyard in the centre of the building, the design of the facades surrounding this courtyard as well as the reshaping of one of the exterior facades of the building. The new facades in the courtyard are cladded with prefabricated steel panels which are filled with bricks. This is a contemporary form of craftsmanship in brick facades, which ultimately aims to add a sustainable character to the new interventions as these panels can easily be disassembled and re-used in other projects. The new facades refer through their composition to historic buildings and facades that used to exist on the site but were demolished with the expansion of the V&D in the 1960’s. The interventions in the exterior façade also partly aim to refer to older architectural objects that used to exist before the expansion. The design principles of craftsmanship and reference which were fundamental in the original composition of Van der Laan became the main starting points for the new design through their re-interpretation and transposition in our time. For example, the principle of reference which was used by van der Laan in order to connect his building to the surrounding architecture, was used in the new design to refer to demolished historical buildings, in order to shape a historic consciousness to the people of Leiden about the transformation of the site throughout the 20th century. The principle of applying craftsmanship in brick facades, which was pursued by Van der Laan in order to make the building appealing to the upper classes of the city, was reintroduced in the new interventions but with the aim of making these sustainable, one of the most important issues that architecture faces today. Two basic principles, craftsmanship and reference, were transposed and looked upon from a different angle in the new interventions with the aim of creating an architectural outcome where old and new harmoniously co-exist as well as giving a new meaning for the whole composition relevant to our own unique time. Throughout his MSc studies at Delft University of Technology, Pieter van der Weele was supported by a scholarship from the Nikos & Lydia Tricha Foundation for Education and European Culture.

As part of the Heritage and Architecture studio, the Vacant Heritage project was offered. An adaptive re-use assignment in which a former Vroom & Dreesmann department store is researched and then designed with. In a broader context, this graduation studio is aimed at finding ways to redevelop the existing stock of architecture, while keeping in mind a large variety of social, practical and sustainable aspects in mind. It asks the student to think about how they can be part of a change, both in the architectural object itself as the way designers approach the ever limited supply of resources available. For this graduation project, the former Vroom & Dreesmann in Maastricht was first researched andthen designed with. A former department store that has grown and shrunk throughout its existence. In 1932 the first part of the store was built. A building with a monumental façade designed by Dutch architect Jan Kuijt. In its presence at the Grote Staat in the historic city its center, the building has expanded twice (in the 1960’s and the 1970’s) and was divided into two department stores in 2002. Within the research approach of the ‘Touch and Feel’ under supervision of Wido Quist, a research was conducted examining the façade its materiality and its relation to the surroundings. By researching how the façade becomes part of the relation between the public, semi-public and private space, a better understanding of the possibilities for the redesign of the building was created.The proposed design and program is aimed at a broad target audience, including tourists and local residents. The new program of the building offers the public leisure activities while simultaneously serving an educational purpose. With its mixture of different functions (a wine experience center, a museum and a cooking workshop space), the local traditions and heritage of the city of Maastricht and its surroundings are presented to the public in an interactive way. The architecture of the building itself contributes to this interactive learning experience by being an integral part of the story that is told within the building.

In the past centuries, water structures such as canals, etc. were important as a lifeline for a city instead of being a facility only for water. However, globally, cities are turning their back to the water. Despite their potential for urban development, many canals or watercourses are losing their identity in urban areas. There is a potential of turning the canal or watercourses back to a lifeline for the city by landscape methods. Through landscape methods, there are potential to turn the role of water in cities more positive and let it influence life in the urban area.   The Grand Canal (known to the Chinese as the Jing–Hang Grand Canal) in China, start from Hangzhou to Beijing, was a backbone for urban life and played an important role in social, culture, ecology and economy in history. Tongzhou, located in a low-lying area in the southeast corner of Beijing, was in history a hub along the Grand Canal that connected Beijing city center and southern China. Now, the Grand Canal in Beijing part is no longer used for transportation because of the lack of water. Even though the Grand Canal doesn't benefit Beijing as in the past anymore, it is still a strong urban element for creating public space and potential backbone for urban development in Tongzhou district. The Grand Canal can serve as a landscape infrastructure in Tongzhou district, creating spatial conditions for social-ecological inclusive urban development.   There are always roads or a stretch of green in parallel to the canal, several public area or waterfront dock located along the canal in the longitudinal dimension. The stretch of green was mostly planned as part of a park or public area. Space was only expanded in parallel to the canal almost in all types of waterfront. Longitudinally, the existing green area next to the canal is a separate system from the city. The opening of the green areas is always facing a wide road without any form of connection to the communities. The accessibility to the public area can be improved in the lateral dimension. Vertically, there is always a boundary in the border of water, it is hard for people to touch the water, which is considered dangerous being close to the water. To transform the Grand Canal as a landscape infrastructure, we need to make use of the expansion area and create a connection between city and water, people and water. Hence, space is going to be considered as a zone instead of a line around the canal and from the upland trail to instream. Moreover, the Grand Canal as one of the most important water source carriers is in charge of keeping water and keep the quality of water. There are moves of water retention and purification to be made in the design process. In conclusion, most of the space along the canal only expanded longitudinally but lack of consideration on the lateral and vertical dimension.   This project explores the potentials of the Grand Canal as a backbone for urban development. It is considered to be an urban landscape infrastructure that exploits the longitudinal(amount of water and water connection), lateral(connection between water and city, ecology connection) and vertical(connection between water and people, water and ecology) dimensions and creates conditions for the development of a social-ecological inclusive urban landscape and sustainable water management.   

The discontinuities of urban development and city expansion reveal Haizhu a fragmented and diverse area that results in disparity and isolation in different communities and social groups, and decreasing green and blue spaces. The objective of this thesis is to create an integrated and comprehensive socio-ecological network in terms of corridor and node at multiple scales that can improve the socio-spatial integration and reconnect the fragmented green and blue spaces for Haizhu district. Corridor is creating a linear connection or movement between spaces with certain buffer area to surrounding context instead of just a linear feature as boundary, while node provides certain places where nature or people can integrate with each other.