This graduation project explores how architecture can contribute to restoring a sense of belonging in post-conflict Homs, Syria. Following years of war and displacement, reconstruction requires more than rebuilding physical structures; it must also support social recovery and reconnect people with a place. The project investigates how spatial organisation, façade design, and material strategies can foster belonging within contemporary housing.

Through a design-by-research methodology, the study combines theoretical research, contextual analysis, material exploration, and architectural design. Research into environmental psychology, neuroarchitecture, and Syrian architectural traditions identified key factors that contribute to belonging, including cultural practices, social interaction, local material expression, and spatial experience.

The traditional Syrian courtyard house was analysed as a case study to understand how architecture mediates relationships between privacy, community, climate, and everyday life. Rather than replicating historical forms, the project extracts and reinterprets these underlying principles within a contemporary housing typology. In parallel, the research explores the potential of pistachio-shell agricultural waste as a locally producible bio-composite façade material, linking housing reconstruction to local resources and economies.

The resulting architectural proposal organises housing around interconnected courtyards, galleries, and inhabited thresholds that create gradual transitions between public, collective, and private spaces. Combined with a material strategy based on recycled rubble, limestone, and pistachio-shell composite panels, the project demonstrates how reconstruction can address both physical and social recovery.

Ultimately, the project argues that architecture can support post-conflict recovery by creating environments that foster belonging, while responding to local cultural and material conditions. ... Read more

This graduation project explores how post-conflict debris in Homs, Syria, can be transformed into a building system that supports climate-responsive architecture and community rebuilding. Responding to material scarcity, widespread debris, and a hot–dry climate, the project develops a makerspace and rebuilding hub where making, learning, and participation come together. Debris is translated into a layered building system in which gabions function as a self-supporting outer climate buffer, while a modular block system forms the main structural logic. Rather than proposing a universal solution, the project offers a design-oriented architectural framework that connects material reuse, climate response, and collective rebuilding in post-conflict Homs. ... Read more

This research examined how architecture can support learning progress and psychological well-being in Homs, Syria. Through an analysis of literature and policy frameworks, the study identified architectural strategies that contribute to both educational outcomes and psychological recovery, including access to daylight, natural ventilation, restorative green spaces, flexible learning environments, and safe outdoor areas. The findings suggest that architecture can play a meaningful role in creating supportive environments that foster concentration, resilience, and a sense of safety. These insights informed the development of a sustainable, climate-responsive, and adaptable school design that addresses both educational and community needs. ... Read more

Speed, technical challenges, cost efficiency and urgency logistics are prioritized in post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction. Housing is not merely a physical artifact; it is a cultural and social institution that anchors identity, continuity, and collective memory. Lefebvre describes the neglect of these dimensions in reconstruction efforts as abstract space, standardized environments detached from lived experience, leading to alienation, abandonment, and social fragmentation. The dangers of rejecting participatory mechanisms and embracing top down planning is exemplified in the case of Homs, Syria. The risks of large-scale redevelopment projects where enhances in the Boulevard al Nasr project ramid protests, revealing the consequences of top-down planning and the absence of participatory mechanisms. This study addresses the question: How can architecture trigger and enable community participation in post‑disaster reconstruction?
Drawing on theories of cultural infrastructure (Rapoport, Oliver), spatial agency (Lefebvre), and open building (Habraken), the study proposes a phased participatory framework that sequences decision-making across pre-construction, handover, and post-occupancy stages.

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Historic bazaar systems offer a spatial framework for examining urban recovery in post-destruction cities. Focusing on Homs, Syria, this project investigates how bazaar morphology can be reinterpreted as a recovery mechanism within a damaged historic centre. Rather than treating the bazaar as a preserved commercial typology, the research studies it as an urban structure composed of routes, thresholds, courtyards, khans, workshops, nodes, and semi-public spaces that historically organized movement, production, exchange, and social interaction.

The project positions the bazaar as both an analytical lens and a design strategy. Through the study of historic market systems and the damaged urban fabric of Homs Old Town, the research identifies the bazaar corridor as a fragmented but still meaningful spatial spine. Its reconstruction is therefore approached through the reactivation of spatial relationships rather than through formal replication. The design focuses on the end of the bazaar, where a ruined khan becomes a strategic intervention point for extending the existing urban logic into a new public-cultural node.

The architectural proposal preserves the spatial identity of the khan while introducing a flexible programme of workshops, courtyards, public functions, water infrastructure, and gathering spaces. The core of the project is the transformation of a damaged historic typology into an adaptable urban catalyst. By working with the existing morphology of the bazaar and the khan, the project tests how architectural intervention can support incremental regeneration, strengthen public-economic networks, and reconnect fragmented parts of the old town through a site-specific spatial system. ... Read more

This thesis presents a high-density residential complex for 600 people in post-conflict Homs, Syria. Defying generic humanitarian blocks, the project utilizes four core design principles: layers of privacy, typological diversity, fostering social cohesion, and incremental growth. Crucially, the layers of privacy dictate the entire project across all scales. This is explicitly manifested in the housing layouts, where the floor plans are organized sequentially, positioning private retreats deeper into the dwelling away from the entrance. On a larger scale, this spatial gradient transitions from the public central courtyard to the semi-private access galleries shielded by a secondary facade. To accommodate varied families, the master plan offers typological diversity and enables self-determined incremental growth through double-height voids, allowing internal expansion over time. Ultimately, this framework translates traditional Syrian values into a contemporary density, offering a dignified architectural strategy that supports the psychological recovery of returning families. ... Read more

Children’s psychological, social, and emotional health is significantly impacted by prolonged displacement caused by conflict. With an emphasis on play and educational settings, this study explores how architecture and spatial design can promote children’s feelings of safety and security in refugee contexts. The study, which is theoretically grounded, investigates how children’s embodied experiences of space are influenced by design principles such as human scale, sensory balance, material honesty, biophilic engagement, agency, and soft spatial organisation. The research demonstrates how carefully planned environments can lower stress, promote emotional regulation, and restore a sense of normalcy and dignity through the examination of a few case studies, such as playgrounds and educational facilities in refugee settings. The results show that architecture can be an active tool in humanitarian response, helping displaced children develop inclusive communities and recover psychosocially. ... Read more

See also: https://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b1c62e8f-3ac1-4c58-b349-56df994fd646 ... Read more

The Maldivian Islands are facing multiple challenges, including sea level rise, coastal erosion, and poor waste management. This research explores the development of a future-proof system using recycled plastic waste in order to protect the islands. The developed system includes an engineered artificial reef design, which is acting as wave breaking structure. This artificial reef is capable of withstanding extreme conditions, which occur more often as a result of global warming. Plastic waste will be recycled to construct the wave breaking structure, transforming the excessive waste problem into a solution. The system addresses a wide variety of problems, such as waste management, coastal erosion, and floods. It also creates awareness among tourists and local population, because it will make the island more attractive for eco-tourism and it will create more jobs on the island, which will affect daily lives of the local population. All together, the system offers protection to the coastal areas and preserves ecosystems. This pilot version of the sustainable and resilient system offers adaptability to other islands and incorporates traditional architecture for cultural preservation and future user needs. This leads to economic benefits, job opportunities, and increased
awareness of waste management and environmental conservation. This research is providing a strong foundation for the development and implementation of a future-proof system that contributes to the preservation and protection of the Maldivian Islands. By researching the possibilities of recycled plastic waste and integrating it into the designed system, a more sustainable and resilient future for the vulnerable islands and its communities is created. ... Read more

Sint Maarten is a Caribbean island that is located in one of the six tropical zones were hurricanes may develop each year. The island deals with a limited resilient housing stock due to the lack of building regulations and affordable materials and contractors. This results in a community that needs to rebuild the housing stock every time a hurricane hits. In addition, most people lose their jobs after a hurricane because the numbers of tourists drop. This project attacks this problem by making resilient housing with plastic roofs. Plastic waste can be harvested locally and be used as a building element. This way a newindustry is developed and creates more local job opportunities. By designing understandable units, that are close to the traditional way ofbuilding and are prefabricated and supervised, the resiliency is guaranteed. This project let to promising results in reusing plastic as a building material for resilient housing. Additional research could be performed on the more technical effect of wind forces on recycled plastic roofs.  

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In 2017 the island Sint Maarten was hit by hurricane Irma. Approximately ninety-one per cent of the build environment was damaged. This made the existing housing shortage, caused by a growing population, even more significant. Now, three years later, the residential area of Philipsburg is mostly deserted. With the departure of its residents, the sense of community in the neighbourhood also vanished. Throughout history the island is connected to natural disasters. To rebuild after a natural disaster, self-building was commonly used within the local building culture. However, this tradition disappeared in the last three decades. This research is looking into opportunities to reintroduce a form of organized self-help housing (OSHH), to contribute to the answer against the housing shortage and turn this district of Philipsburg into a lively neighbourhood again. Within OSHH the community have to build themselves, so residents need to have time to realize the project. Unfortunately, this is not the way things are done on the island, so the project will not be accomplished. A possible solution is found in the bottom-up approach of a Collective Private Commissioning (CPO). The design objective during this project is to examine whether urban densification is an opportunity to meet the demand for extra housing. This is often accompanied by extra paved surface which can provoke the heat island effect. Due to the hot climate and the urbanization, residents prefer to stay in their homes with the air-conditioning on. Within this project the goal is to reduce heat accumulation and stimulate the outdoor life. This combination can reintroduce and encourage the social interaction and strengthen the sense of community on Philipsburg. ... Read more