The Haraldsgadekvarteret, located in Copenhagen, is a neighborhood that suffers from fragmentation due to the way its set up. This project aims to mitigate that, by creating a building consisting of different volumes that are based on physical characteristics of pieces of urban fabric in the neighborhood. This makes the building identifiable for the residents in the neighborhood. Unlike the neighborhood however, these different volumes are connected due to the functional nature of the spaces in between them. For these connections, both between the volumes and on a functional level within the volumes, the notion of indeterminacy is used as a tool to design these spaces, becoming a vehicle for many important aspects of the building, like hybridity, occupancy and sustainability.

How to design a vertical campus that focuses on designing for interaction

In an era where public spaces often lack the warmth and accessibility necessary to foster genuine connections, and on a site dominated by closed buildings and transitional spots seen as non-place, this vertical campus emerges as a counterpoint—a destination in itself rather than a mere transition between destinations. By prioritising social interaction, engagement, and inclusivity, it becomes a dynamic catalyst for community cohesion.

To achieve this inclusivity, accessibility is a central point of interest, ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability, can navigate its spaces with ease. Furthermore, central to the building’s ethos is the concept of shared spaces—areas where individuals can come together to connect, collaborate, and celebrate. These spaces will not just be functional; they will be designed to evoke specific emotional responses through the strategic use of colour, texture, and form. Warm, inviting hubs evoke feelings of comfort, while bold pops of colour inject energy and vitality into the space. Shared spaces will be designed to serve diverse needs and preferences. From green patios that invite relaxation to bustling communal hubs that celebrate cultures and social interactions. These spaces will serve as the lifeblood of the building, fostering a sense of community and belonging among its occupants.

Collaborative use will also be encouraged, with flexible spaces that can easily adapt to a diverse range of activities and events. From art exhibitions to community workshops, the building will serve as a canvas for creativity and expression, fostering a sense of ownership and investment among its users.

M.A.G.N.O.L.I.A. is a proposed future campus located in the heart of the city of The Hague. The proposal stems from an ambition to offer a potential, innovative spatial answer to a demand for higher education, in light of urgent and intensive contemporary issues ranging from soil consumption to long-life learning perspectives, social integration and flexible planning, most relevant among many others. The response is materialized in a vision for a campus deeply integrated into the city fabric, highly connected to the existing network infrastructure and inspired by an ambition to provide functional spaces for people to learn, gather, meet, dialogue, contributing to the building of more than a single spatial entity, a community of individuals and a nest for the fostering of new ideas, promoting the transfer of knowledge to the highest extent.

The project focuses on creating educational, working, and public spaces that promote diversity and sustainability.

With the global population growing, the design emphasizes efficient space utilization and minimal environmental impact through inward densification and overlapping activities. Another key objective is to enhance campus spaces for flexibility and efficiency while maintaining essential elements like social interaction and facilities. The design arranges programs based on qualitative parameters such as the succession of spaces and varying levels of privacy, using architectural means like ramps, stairs, and materials.

Situated in The Hague, part of the Randstad Urban Network, the project aims to minimize space impact while accommodating population influx. The building massing strategy involves sharing spaces and creating new structures to connect different user groups via public pathways and a collective hub. Building systems use recycled steel and timber to reduce CO2 impact, with efficient ventilation and modular facade designs. The main buildings feature fritted ceramic glass for daylight and views, while the collective hub has a metal mesh facade for light and airflow.

The design integrates with its surroundings to ensure smooth flow and connectivity, creating a vertical campus with outdoor green spaces. Overall, the Multiverse Campus optimizes space use, enhances learning efficiency, and fosters a sustainable, diverse environment.

Nowadays, urban campuses can form entire neighborhoods and be integrated into the city by including cafes, coworking spaces, cultural centers, parks, and sports complexes, taking into account the needs of residents and guests of the city. A high-quality educational infrastructure is not only an integral component for the development of universities but also a critical center of urban public life. University and city are living organisms and symbionts. Like any living organism, they are characterized by the complexity of the organization, by the specialization and close interrelationship of their parts, and by the opportunity for evolutionary development.

Games and physical activity can be one of the key elements for campus-city symbiosis. Contemporary researchers are convinced that spaces for physical activity and play on a university campus can not only be presented as separate sports centers but can also be directly integrated into academic buildings. Changing activities, movement, and play techniques help to acquire information at any age.

The research will confirm or refute the hypothesis that the Hague Central Station forms a multinational community with diverse cultures, and sports can become a starting point for a dialogue between them. Public spaces with the amenities for games and contests as a place for this dialogue will integrate the campus into a dense urban environment, make possible the symbiosis of the city and the university, and give rise to innovative ideas. The research will be the
basis for the architectural project of the Vertical Campus, including educational, office, sports, wellness, and recreational programs. The hybrid complex project will include new construction and reorganisation of the existing building of the Universiteit Leiden.

How can mental and physical activities coexist in the vertical campus of the future? What outdoor and indoor public spaces with amenities for sports and other physical activities can be included on this campus?

This architectural project focused on designing a public building that challenges societal norms surrounding sex, desire, and gender. The goal is to create a space for open dialogue and exploration of diverse sexualities and boundaries, fostering understanding and respect. By acting as mediators between different perspectives, public buildings can drive social change and improve social life.

The project is situated in Berlin's Friedrichshain district, known for its contrasting attitudes towards sexuality. The Public Condenser aims to bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds and sexual preferences, creating an inclusive environment for discussion. The multifunctional design accommodates various needs, promoting dialogue and addressing the importance of these topics.

Internally, the Public Condenser includes spaces that facilitate the exploration of sexuality on three levels: the body, the brain, and relationships. These spaces encompass a bathhouse, a dance/sports hall, an interactive gallery, an auditorium, a library, rooms for therapy, and workshop areas. The design emphasizes sensory experiences to create transformative encounters.

The design process involved extensive research, utilizing the "research by design" methodology. Case studies, interviews with residents and professionals, and visits to sex-positive clubs and cultural events informed the project. The design proposals integrate feedback and insights from potential user-groups and sexuality professionals.

By establishing a physical space for open dialogue and exploration of sexuality, the Public Condenser project aims to disrupt normative coding of sex, desire, and gender. It seeks to drive social change and foster an inclusive society. The study highlights the crucial role of architecture in shaping experiences and challenging societal perceptions. The project in Friedrichshain serves as a model for future architectural interventions promoting sexual education and understanding in contemporary societies.

The importance of this project is to make a creative center in Berlin, Germany that supports all forms of creative expression. A Potluck Creative Center will add space for creative ambitions and give communal enjoyment (value), to the neighborhood. A condenser for all informal creative forms, where persons who practice different forms can teach, learn, and display. Giving a platform for informal art to be in an experimental grey zone where it can be measured, yet uncontrolled between spatial barriers (formal-enclosed and informal-exposed).

The scope of my project is to create a framework to base a creative module form. The design will create a prototype using a module that can be used in other projects to result in structured informal learning. Creating a program that can combine and transform how different creative forms are viewed on a broader scale in the competence level of professions. Praising how creative forms are being embraced through learning may solve some of the social and ecological imbalances within a neighborhood, that are overlooked.

Through embracing the commons this project aims to create prototypes of individual free-thinking spaces and programs while creating a unique multi-functional horizontally hybrid architecture form that can be used for inspiration. This architectural design is to showcase that massing forms should embrace special features based on location to create a successful site addition, while the module/prototype can allow the program, and interior design to embrace flexibility. Permitting for program transformation for future use [adaptability and sustainability].

Problem statement
Friendrichshain consists of variety of contrast, diversity, and multiplicity regarding architecture, functions, gentrification, atmospheres, users, and cultures. This multiplicity gives a unique quality to the area. Berlin has a history of migration and has been experiencing a high refugee inflow in recent years. After 2015’s refugee crisis in Berlin and Germany, according to the Berlin Senate in April 2022 there was another influx of around 60 thousand Ukrainian refugees (Berlin.de, 2022). Consequently, society have faced social and academic integration challenges. Moreover, data from 2018 shows, about 126,650 residents (44%) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg have migration backgrounds (Bettina, 2020). Therefore, this study aims to investigate to what extend architecture of a public condenser can contribute to sociocultural integration.

The intent of this project is to generate a central and accessible place to escape from daily rush of live amidst the diverse and busy district. A refuge to bring refugees, migrants, and locals together for integration with a main function of sports/event hall for the whole community. Workshop spaces to explore and improve skills by producing art, crafts, a library to study languages. To integrate with the local culture and people by cultural performances, music/dance/theater performances and classes, by cooking together, dining together, gardening, studying together, having food markets as connection and job opportunity. In addition, practical functions such as legal help, language lessons and labor market integration for migrants and refugees will be provided by locals. Not to forget, places of worship and meditation or yoga.

Importance
Why this is important for the district is related to the theme of the commons. This project intent to bring displaced people together with locals through interaction by intellectual, cultural, religious and food related activities. Another common, is the aspect of a refuge. All people, either flying from unsafe areas, periods or from daily life and the hustle and bustle of the city are in search of a nice place to meet, study, read, attend a cultural/musical performance, or get in touch with new cultures and food. Therefore, an inclusive building will be realized since refugees who are after arriving (temporarily) part of the community and migrants living mainly in Kreuzberg are included. The aspect of flexibility and multifunction spaces needs to be taken into consideration, since the needs will change based on the influx of people and their needs.

Approach and Methods
This research will be conducted by gathering quantitative and theoretical information by means of literature research. To gain insight into the numbers of refugees and migrants in the district and in Berlin, political quantitative data will be examined. By researching through designing the different functions usability should be tested and lead the research by answering the suitability of certain functions for integration. By testing through design strategies and investigating case studies, existing and planned projects can be questioned. Case studies as Absalon Community Centre in Copenhagen and the Integration Hub by Robert Bosch Stiftung will be investigated (Arcgency, 2015, Integration Hub, n.d.). Research will be conducted on displacement and architecture by investigation the book by Andrew Herscher: Displacements, Architecture and Refugee (Herscher & Fast, 2017)

Research Aim
Eventually, by researching opportunities for architecture to create this center for the commons, inclusivity, diversity, and the sense of belonging will be investigated and can be adapted into different projects within the discipline. This research can contribute to the discipline at large since sociocultural challenges of integration and migration is a worldwide issue and therefore findings can be adapted to several multicultural cities elsewhere especially in Europe with similar situations of multiplicity in society.

All places change over time; however, the extent and availability of alternatives are essential. Friedrichshain is an example of a neighbourhood where the transition to a high-income society can have significant consequences for low-income and elderly, who have fewer choices and fewer opportunities to travel for recreation and socialising.

The design of a public condenser in Friedrichshain will form a new heart between the existing and upcoming neighbourhood and their society. The public condenser will blur the division between neighbourhoods and enhance inclusivity and diversity.

A public function that facilitates different generations' recreational and intellectual needs is a library. Today's libraries already have a social function in addition to the intellectual purpose. Adding social functions to current services ensures that the existing and new cultures and societies reinforce each other. Moreover, bringing different socioeconomic groups together reduces conflicts and disorder and enhances collective security.

This design expands the standard library with other media forms to anticipate the future. So there are printed books in the building and devices on which users can read digital books, listen to audiobooks and communicate via multimedia. In addition, the media library will contain extra functions that activate the brain's left (intellectual) and right (creative) hemispheres.

The different media types connect the thinking and doing activities in the building through a guiding routing. The guiding routing serves as an extension of the public street and is designed for stocking books and other media types, the media library.

Finally, there will also be space for leisure and gathering in addition to activities for thinking and doing. Traditional formal functions associated with a library are transformed into more informal spaces with room for the individual and the collective.

(Re)Mind the Wall is an architectural critique on the current function/position of the East-side Gallery in Berlin, Germany. What once paid tribute to the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has now eroded itself into a manicured and appropriated tourist hotspot in the city. While the colourful murals from international artists remain intact, their representation of freedom and unity has now been lost to the mass-gentrification of the Friedrichshain neighbourhood. The historical remnants of the Berlin Wall act as a backdrop for selfies, where visitors are oriented towards the hyper-commercialised Mercedes-Benz Platz, as a ploy to lure the people into spending more money. However, the “backside” of the Wall, a nearly 300m long public park remains barricaded and invisible to the public eye.
The project seeks to re-claim one of the few remnants of greenspace left along the Spree canal and renew it into an accessible, affordable, and liberated public space. The design was inspired by the “everchanging, colourful, and fluid” character of the city, drawing from the local’s needs and desires. It reflects on the past; the Berlin Wall, the Fall, and the words left behind by the artists of the city. It draws from the existing remains found around the area, scrap materials that are repaired and brought back to life. The architecture promotes unity and the connection of people through a series of social interventions all interconnected by a public bridge that quite literally climbs over the Wall itself…

The essence of my project is to present a prototype as a statement against the ridiculousness of building a permanent stadium used only or mostly during a major international temporary sports events. In which the inhabitants of the place gain no real benefit from the investments of such a building after the tournament is finished. My prototype of a modular stadium aims to be that benefit for locals of all ages. Where they can play a wide arrange of different sports and enjoy different events organized in the year. This could range from a food festival to extreme sports, from daily sports and leisure activities to being a platform for experimentational architecture or art exhibitions. The stadium provides the building blocks to form that basis.

The objective is to research modularity to find design principles for the design of a multifunctional and adaptable stadium. Modularity can contribute to the circular economy through the use of a modular design and optimization of modules, generating benefits that can contribute to the implementation of strategies for the circular economy in order to maximize the lifecycle of a product. It is a way of giving order and solutions to complex problems of achieving adaptability. Such strategies will be researched for a new stadium typology. Which accommodate for the afterlife use of a stadium for a major temporary sports event. That could benefit the city and its community on the long term. The context in which this will be designed is, the what-if scenario, of The Netherlands one day hosting the FIFA world cup or the Olympics.

Seaweed is a promising potential building material, but so far in 2022, very little market ready seaweed-based building products are available. Because of the success of the sargassum adobe block in Mexico by Omar Vazquez, the potential of a seaweed loam bricks in the Netherlands is researched in this paper, called the seaweed brick. The realization of this seaweed bricks hinges on the seaweed having multiple purposes (water filtering, educational and bricks) and the use of waste streams from the proposed seaweed farms and other manufacturing processes. The production and beneficial functions of growing seaweed in harbor areas are shown in the design of Wierdok. Wierdok is the transformation of the former Petroleumhaven in Amsterdam to a Seaweed farm, Seaweed loam brick factory and exploration site for everyday people. By acknowledging the transforming neighborhood of harbor City and Westpoort, Wierdok transform in the same tempo as it’s surrounding creating the overlap between Industry and Recreation in an appropriate speed. In the meantime it exposed normal citizens to the option of sustainable building materials by highlighting the production process of the seaweed loam brick and the architecture it can create without diminishing the existing industrial harbor elements.

Events of recent years highlighted the need and the urgency for increased local and regional resilience. 83% of the total EU area considered ‘rural’ will play a vital role in this challenging transition. Those areas not only present a massive opportunity in producing bio-based circular materials for the new economy at scale but also offer a rich body of knowledge and unique cultural experiences available to many.

While facing interlinked problems of soil degradation, ageing and declining population and lack of diverse economic opportunities, rural areas desperately need new models of living – inspiring optimism and stimulating long-term social and economic perspectives.

The project investigates the evolution of the Polish countryside settlements from early-capitalist through socialist to late-capitalist models. While deducting that the ways of organising territory are always closely tied and shaped by socio-economic climate, it poses a question of what the countryside could be like as we shift towards a circular economy.

Complemented by focused thematic research investigating how timber tectonic language is shaped by advancements in manufacturing processes and design workflows, the project analyses those findings in light of local forestry and manufacturing potential. It explores careful adaptive reuse paired with a more industrialised way of producing quality housing while returning to locally sourced pine as the primary construction material.

The result is a revitalisation strategy model proposing a re-development of former State-Owned Farm typologies - once popularised around Germany and Western Poland - now often abandoned; they present a unique opportunity to revive the rural areas while helping already established communities.

Proposal located in Budachów village in Western Poland explores an innovative model of regenerative communal living combining housing for seniors, permanently occupying the site, with a rich educational, cultural and touristic programme for visitors in areas of local expertise in permaculture and dining.

Circl – Centre for Innovation in Regenerative Communal Living – aspires to create a wide range of new economic opportunities for the area while providing much-needed housing for seniors and more responsible food production and resource management models. By combining physical interventions with smart sensors - measuring and optimising consumption and local production of resources – such neighbourhoods could develop their digital twins helping us to better understand and predict our impact on the 83% of the land that sustains us. If applied at scale, the model envisions a more locally produced, globally-connected, economically competitive and self-sufficient future for the countryside in a circular economy

Large amounts of material waste resulting from the renovation of post-war housings pose a great challenge for managing waste through destruction. Applying the concept of the circular economy may allow the opportunity to reuse these materials that would otherwise be thrown away due to renovation. The article explores the possibility of embedding Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB), a circular economy concept, at the neighborhood scale. Through holistic macro planning, BAMB will be embedded in the renovation process of the post-war neighborhood in a step-by-step manner to realize the reuse of materials. Although the article investigates some cases of reuse of old materials, due to the limitation of length, the study did not make detailed adjustments and adaptations to the site, Western Garden Cities. Specific materials from the Western Garden Cities will be studied in future studies.

ReCoNet is a housing complex which is designed to reconnect in three scales: Marco, Meso and Micro. The composition of ReCoNet is designed around the concept of a recycling community. Taking social, ecological and economical sustainability as its key point, ReCoNet aims to create a well-balanced and versatile contemporary solution that maximises the potential of the use of recycled plastics in the built environment.

HOPTILLE 2.0, a project aiming to improve the liveability of the neighbourhood Hoptille in Amsterdam. The research is based on literature study of Jane Jacobs and Jan Gehl, as well as, interviews with the residents of the neighbourhood. The main outcomes of the research that were used for the design, focused on the keyword list of Jan Gehl and the three interventions of Jane Jacobs, like ‘eyes on the street’, ‘clear boundaries between public and private land’ and ‘frequently used’. A large number of the buildings Amsterdam south-east are from the 70s/80s/90s and many of these have elements of Postmodernist Architecture. My methodology demonstrates that, however old the building is, it is by no means always necessary to demolish it. As an architect, one can respect the heritage values by maintaining a number of characteristic elements. Despite the problems in Hoptille and the many challenges in terms of living comfort, technical comfort and urban planning issues, it has many architectural qualities that must be seen as New Heritage. The ambition of my project is to value and maintain Hoptille’s architectural qualities. And with that treat the building with respect, treat the residents with respect, treat the neighbourhood with respect, treat the city of Amsterdam with respect and the planet with respect. I believe that value begins with liveability. Once we address this, everything can be built on it. That is why I have started the design based on a theoretical framework on liveability.

After doing a collective research in Heesterveld, positive and negative aspects were mentioned by the government, residents, makers and owners. The goal of this design is to embrace the valuable aspects of Heesterveld and improve the problems. The problems in the neighbourhood mainly arose on the social level, more specifically in the public space. The unique identity of Heesterveld was also mentioned during the research, this will also be preserved and emphasized in the design. From literature research, two other challenges in Heesterveld came up, which were also mentioned by the residents. According to the municipality, there were also many socio-economic issues, which needed to be resolved. Lastly, the global problem of climate change also has a big impact on a small scale, so this issue was also addressed in the design. Heesterveld had to improve on social, economic and environmental aspects, which is done in the design. This is done by adding a blue green infrastructure, adding various new functions on the ground floor and by future-proofing the building. The blue green infrastructure tackles the social and environmental issues and by creating diversity on the ground floor, the social and economic problems will be solved. The existing building itself is also made future proof by adding insulation on the inside, solar panels and a thermal energy storage. So in conclusion, Heesterveld is ready for the future with this sustainable design, which solves the social, economic and environmental issues.

Clipping Kampung aims to improve the resilience of Hoptille neighbourhood in Amsterdam based on lessons learned from Indonesian Kampung. At least, two main qualities from Kampung that are useful for Hoptille’s resilience problem have been identified: adaptability and transformability. The Kampung has a quality to be more adaptable due to its residents’ bond that encourages them to help and take care of each other and their environment. Moreover, it also has a transformability quality, in which the neighbourhood’s function shifts, enriches and organically grows over time. This project believes that time is the dimension that allows people to add layers of growth to their environment. Understanding the Kampung qualities can help create intervention and framework to tackle Hoptille’s socio-spatial issues, hence improving its resilience. Based on the qualities mentioned above, Clipping Kampung is designed as an intervention that offers flexibility and option towards future needs by accommodating the change of functions or size in the Hoptille neighbourhood more flexibly while also promoting higher adaptability.