This project explores how architecture can counter xenophobia by fostering inclusive, everyday interactions in diverse urban settings. Located in Bispebjerg, a multicultural yet often marginalized district in Copenhagen, the design proposes a food-centered public building that supports immigrant-led start-ups and informal exchange through small-scale food stalls and shared spaces. Reinterpreting the traditional Mjødhall (Mead hall) as a contemporary public device, the project uses food as a universal medium to promote visibility, participation, and cross-cultural dialogue in the public realm.

This public condenser in Copenhagen will serve as a catalyst for social connection, playing a crucial role in collectively addressing depression. It investigates the relationship between public buildings and public mental health, grounded in the five pillars of the graduation studio: multiplicity, hybridity, resilience, healthiness, and sustainability. Within the Master track, the project explores architecture as spatial and physical settings that intervene in the psychological and behavioral context, contributing to a broader interdisciplinary approach. For the Master programme, it demonstrates the potential of the built environment to address pressing societal issues.

To develop a design strategy that addresses the abstract concept of subjective recognition, the research incorporated a social-science theory of placemaking and place attachment from the field of environmental psychology. This theory helped bridge the gap between spatial settings and mental states. It informed the design of coexistence of functions that create meaningful memory, guiding the definition of space in terms of atmosphere as motivation, eventness as catalyst, and multiplicity as variation.

The design iterations informed the research process toward a greater focus on urban integration. The idea of "de-fragmentation" recalling the familiarity of the urban image emerged, leading the research toward an exploration of the local urban fabric, demolition, and regeneration, while also integrating the concepts of circularity and urban renovation. By materializing the nostalgic emotion into the reuse of architectural elements embedded with community memories, and coexisting with various social activities among different social groups, this public condenser will (re-) construct an emotional bond between the public and community.

This project proposes a Public Condenser—a hybrid building that transforms neighborhood waste into architectural and social value. Located in Bispebjerg, the design integrates waste collection, workshops, urban farming, and public programs in collaboration with a local vocational school. Built with reused materials and modular systems, the building is adaptable and rooted in circular design principles. It functions as both infrastructure and a social catalyst, bringing together community members through shared resources and activities. The project explores how architecture can support a more circular and connected urban neighborhood.

This project explores the role of architecture in mitigating polarization in our societies. The growing fragmentation of society into hostile groups that see each other as opponents on all major issues concerning the future, brings up concerns about the functioning of our societies. While solutions are often sought in politics, the social sciences, or social media design, in architecture the conversation has barely started. Yet, I believe our discipline has a crucial role to play. Beyond people, architecture co-shapes the foundation of society and, through its tangible presence, determines how we live for the next thirty-plus years. If we aim to build a society that is resilient to polarization, we must ensure that its foundation is designed to withstand it.

This project consists of both a prototype of what a “Depolarizer” is, and a design for a public building in Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, which is based on the principles of this prototype.
The Depolarizer prototype is built on the concept of shielding people off from polarizing factors, while at the same time strengthening social cohesion within the community. In architectural terms, this means creating space for debate in the “grey middle” through forums, reducing global and local polarizing influences (such as the distance between government and citizen, thus creating space for decentralized governance), celebrating diversity and difference through exhibitions, and bringing people together through apolitical activities such as sports, food, makerspaces, and community gardens. Crucially, it must also ensure that these interactions are experienced positively by designing spaces that foster interaction and connection while minimizing potential disturbances caused by its openness. In spatial terms, this translates into a building that allows for transparency, expresses what happens inside, and offers flexibility and freedom for shared use and adaptation. The design is structured within a rigid grid, but emphasizes on organization and a human scale to facilitate the first encounters between people.

The public condenser in Bispebjerg is based on these principles but has been adapted to fit the specific characteristics of the location. The building aims to connect different separated groups of people and areas, at both the neighborhood as city scale. The building is easily accessible through its placement at the intersection of two important routes and opens up the area by redeveloping the border between the closed off NEXT vocational education school and the surrounding multicultural residential neighborhood. The public condenser serves both groups by extending and opening up the school’s existing apolitical program (crafting, making), to the neighborhood. This new makerspace, allowing the two communities to meet and work together, combined with two forums, exhibition spaces, and the presence of government services, encourages dialogue , and mutual understanding.

“Architectural care” is a public building oriented towards the mental wellbeing in Copenhagen. The project stems from the observation and analysis of the new balance between the state, market and society in Denmark, which results in social divisions within the city formerly used as an example of one of the happiest places in the world.

In Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, the NEXT vocational school sits at the heart of a district marked by strong traditions of craftsmanship, but also by socio-economic challenges and a lack of structured opportunities for its youth. As part of an ongoing urban renewal plan, efforts are being made to open up the school’s closed campus to the surrounding community, a move that reflects a broader shift in how educational institutions are expected to engage with society.  

 Community in the Making responds to this moment of transformation by reimagining an existing, introverted campus building as a public condenser: a hybrid space where vocational knowledge is made accessible to the wider community. The building provides a platform for students and local craftspeople to host workshops, exhibitions, events, and informal learning activities centred around craft.   

The project addresses the wider challenges of declining vocational enrolment and the evolving role of educational institutions, seeking to move beyond the traditional model of schools as isolated gatekeepers of knowledge, and envisions a future where learning is more accessible, communal, and integrated into urban life.   

Architecturally, the design emphasizes flexibility, hybridity, and user agency, allowing the space to shift between school-related activities during school hours and community-facing programs after hours, on weekends, and during holidays. By building a community around craft, the project promotes vocational pathways, supports youth engagement, and contributes to the reconstruction of Bispebjerg’s identity as a place of creativity and craft.

In the last two decades, Copenhagen and its city authorities have been experiencing problems with pluvial flooding, negative biases to migrants and water service disruption. These problem statements are touching three different levels: environmental, cultural and health. For the Public Building graduation studio, the assignment is to design a Public Condenser. The site is located in Nordvest, a district 5–8 km Northwest from Copenhagen’s city center. Focusing on Nordvest, all three environmental, cultural and health problems are extremely applicable. However, these problems all share a unique relation with water. Architecture can tackle these three problems on environmental, cultural and health levels through water as common theme. Thus, this research examines how a public condenser can celebrate cultural variety through water and at the same time provide a water infrastructure for the neighborhood in Nordvest, Copenhagen.

This project addresses the intersection of rising urbanization and the increasing prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs), particularly anxiety, in high-income countries. Urban living has been shown to heighten the risk of anxiety by 20% compared to rural environments, due to factors such as noise, pollution, density, lack of green space, and social stressors like inequality and discrimination. Focusing on the concept of “urban anxiety,” the project examines how spatial and social characteristics of cities impact psychological well-being.

To counter these effects, the research proposes a design approach called eco-minded design, rooted in biophilia and structured around five spatial principles: prospect, refuge, biomimicry, sensory variability, and biodiversity. These principles guide the creation of eco-minded landscapes—public buildings fused with natural urban elements that promote calm, connection, and resilience.

The Copenhagen district of Nordvest serves as a case study, where high anxiety levels correlate with poor environmental and social conditions. Emaljehaven park is identified as a key intervention site. By integrating an eco-minded public building, the park can become both an inviting urban destination and a sanctuary from city stressors.

The project offers actionable strategies for mental health-conscious urban planning, with insights relevant to architects, policymakers, and public health professionals.

This graduation project is part of the Public Building studio.
The studio has set the following assignment: Design a vertical campus within a hybrid building in the centre of the Hague. The design should encourage social interaction between different social groups.
This project also answers the design/research question: How can a vertical hybrid campus building enhance its porosity to promote increased public accessibility and foster social interaction?
You can find all the research input and output in the design journal.
The conclusion of the assignment and research question is the project. You can find it attached.

Shedding light on knowledge for a new vertical campus in the Hague

University Buildings play complex roles as public buildings. They provide a space for their primary goal of teaching, learning, and research to transfer knowledge while also contributing as a public space for interaction within the university and community and further with the society of the host city. The spatial configuration and relationship between the campuses and the city changed over time as the number of students increased and the city’s morphology developed. As the learning space on the campus includes not only closed classrooms and laboratories but also outdoor areas for transdisciplinary cross-fertilization, the sense of sharing public spatial configuration gives strong co-dependency between the university and the host city.

This project, "Shaping Public Consciousness; City Miniature of a Vertical Campus" is to create not only a building, but a place, where people and city streets connect by sharing and learning the knowledge and culture under its primary function as the campus. Spuiplein in Den Haag, the project site, has experienced drastic changes through continuous demolition to construct new high-rise towers with new characteristics. For an active city like Den Haag, the spaces between buildings are crucial for the quality of publicity as they form the social behavior and attention of the city. The project explores human-oriented public spatial configuration by integrating research-by-design principles that prioritize sensory engagement, spatial fluidity, and human-centered design by adapting phenomenological elements with the use of existing building.

Rather than completely redoing an existing building's architectural identity, the aim in this design was to amplify building characteristics and potential of its structure in a way that resonates more with the approach of sustainable urban development. The proposal touches upon the issue of vacancy within the city of The Hague through the application of adaptive reuse and therefore improving a building’s longevity. This intervention will breathe new life into its context and revitalizes a potentially vacant property, making it more adaptable to the changing needs.

Incorporating existing materials and components is a leading factor of this design, aligning with the goal of fostering the tactile core and grid system of the building. This goal emphasizes a sustainable method of designing buildings, where the need for reuse is recognized. The strategy of the additional voids uses absence of building to accentuate the existing building. These voids produce non-hierarchical spaces which support environments that are open and dynamic to the campus users. The design enhances the free flow of people and increases the exchange of knowledge by placing these voids in a overlapping order. This method makes sure that the architecture promotes communication and cooperation among its users in addition to fulfilling its functional role of letting light into the existing building.

Collectief demonstrates that architectural transformation is not limited to maintaining a building's historical and aesthetic qualities by rethinking the usage and interaction within the space. By demonstrating that contemporary interventions can live with and enrich the historical environment, this method broadens the scope of how we conceive about and carry out architectural alterations, resulting in creative spaces that are also reflective of their heritage. Architectural changes require more than just looking back at the past. They should utilize the past to be able to apply this into the current zeitgeist and sustainable future development .

In the heart of The Hague, a city known for its blend of political significance and cultural diversity, lies a paradox wrapped in its urban fabric. The Central Station District, bustling with a melange of government employees, academics, and a vibrant student population, ironically plays host to a silent narrative of isolation amidst its diversity. This research peeks behind the urban curtains of this district, revealing how its inhabitants, despite their proximity, dwell in social silos, disconnected from the pulse of their community.
The project focuses on reimagining the Green Border area, stretching from the Bellevue complex to the UNICEF building on Bezuidenhoutseweg Street as a canvas for urban reinvention. Drawing inspiration from the enlightening works of Richard Sennett and Stavros Stavrides, the design proposal aims to create of ‘threshold spaces’ - dynamic arenas that defy conventional social hierarchies and ignite the spark of human connection within the Green Border. These spaces are not just physical locales, but melting pots of interaction, where the daily grind gives way to the magic of spontaneous encounters.
The methodological heartbeat of this venture is a fusion of qualitative insights, gleaned from interviews and observations, with the empirical rigor of quantitative data. This dual approach forges a path towards a vertical public hub that is more than just a structure; it’s a living, breathing embodiment of Herman Hertzberger’s vision of adaptive, evolving spaces. The design narrative is aiming to stitch together the urban tapestry of The Hague into a more inclusive, engaging, and connected community fabric.
In essence, this project is not just a blueprint for urban design; it’s a manifesto for social transformation. It’s an invitation to the residents of The Hague to step out of their bubbles, to explore, to engage, and to construct a richer, more vibrant urban life. This is a vision of a city where the architecture speaks not just to the skyline, but to the soul of its community.

The Master Thesis at TU Delft titled "The Marketplace of Ideas: Sharing and Discovery" proposes a vertical campus design developed within the Public Building Graduation Studio. This design introduces a university campus that is integrated into the cityscape of The Hague, suggesting an urban redevelopment and functioning as a public center of life. It creates a place where the public, industry, and politics intersect.

This thesis explores the rapidly changing landscape of education and the necessity for adaptable educational environments highlighting the stagnation in current educational systems, particularly universities, the study calls for a reevaluation of their societal roles. Universities have transformed into transnational bureaucratic corporations, contributing to advanced capitalism by commodifying education. The research is driven by primary and secondary questions focused on designing future-oriented educational systems and spaces. It examines the architect's role in these systems and the future role of university campuses. The methodology combines practical building analysis with theoretical research on educational systems, historical examination of education spaces, and current educational theories to predict future trends and propose a model for lifelong learning. Conducted within a studio project framework, the thesis involves designing a hybrid building for higher education in The Hague’s central area. Project aims to foresee the future of education and urban development, emphasizing architecture's role in addressing complex challenges. The proposed building design prioritizes adaptability and flexibility, aligning with the agenda of incorporating multiplicity in design to create resilient, transformative spaces. The relevance of the proposed university campus is underscored within broader social, professional, and scientific contexts. The strategic site at The Hague's Central Station involves repurposing an existing building (The Stichthage) to create an additional 30,000 square meters of space. This adaptive reuse approach minimizes CO2 emissions and material waste, enhancing sustainability. The architectural concept comprises two main components: the existing structure and a superstructure supported by four cores. The superstructure includes generic adaptable spaces, hybrid public spaces, and archival areas, forming an open architectural system designed to adapt to future uncertainties. Sustainability is a central focus, with passive ventilation systems and primarily timber construction. In conclusion, this thesis proposes a hybrid building for higher education that emphasizes adaptability and sustainability. By repurposing the existing building and creating flexible, transformative spaces, the project prepares for the evolving educational landscape. This model envisions a progressive educational building and establishes a framework for continual evolution, advocating adaptability as the future of architecture.

In Oxford and Cambridge, higher education arose around the 13th century and has undergone major developments. One of the first colleges in Oxford was Balliol College started
as an act of charity in 1260 by the King of Scots, John Balliol, where Balliol housed poor students in a house rented by him (Jones, n.d.). Over the years, several colleges have
been built, each with its character and identity and mostly horizontally organised. These colleges are, sometimes, connected by footbridges but are mainly self-contained complexes.
The complexes are organised out of several courtyards to which university facilities are attached. The resulting colleges are introverted due to the courtyard-facing facades
that create close street frontages and have little connection with the public realm. Many campuses continued developing using the traditional layout and are mostly still segregated
from the surrounding city fabric. The densification of cities necessitates the integration of campuses into the city. This ensures that cities are open and more accessible and spaces
and programmes of the city and campus can reinforce each other and contribute to challenges within the society (den Heijer & Curvelo Magdaniel, 2018).
As an answer to the studio brief, the Temporary House of Representatives of The Netherlands in The Hague was selected as a project site for the new campus. This building is
an obsolete office building that is, due to its function, for many parts closed for the public. The new campus will accommodate lecture halls, workspaces, housing and other public
functions. These programmes have specific requirements and dimensions and therefore the building needs to be transformed. However, in The Hague’s densely built Central Innovation
District (CID) there is little room for a horizontal extension and creating a horizontally oriented campus as in Oxford. In fact, in the future, the Municipality of The Hague plans
to densify further the CID (Municipality of The Hague, 2021), leaving even less space for buildings and public spaces. On the other hand, it creates opportunities for more multi-use
high-rise buildings with different types of public programmes and spaces. Therefore, the campus needs to grow in height which causes implications for the more “traditional” circulation
patterns between different floors and functions within and around the campus. How can vertical circulation be created by breaking through the stacked floors as Musiatowicz
(2008) argues?
Additionally, at the moment the building of the Temporary House of Representatives of The Netherlands, colloquially named the Monkey Rock, is seen as a monotonous closed
structuralist building. Although the building has a distinct identity and is part of “the unity of the archipelago” (Koolhaas, 1994, p. 296), how can the new campus incorporate the
local identity which could be represented by the kiosk typology of The Hague, which is now lost in the high-density area?

The project explores how does the change in tempo of movement and programs influence the design of spaces and vertical typology. It redefines speed and tempo in terms of learning trajectories in order to give a new identity to the 21st-Century Vertical Campus.

A large increase in enrolled students, reduction in public involvement and funding, dated building stock and limited integration with corresponding cities are pressing challenges Dutch universities are facing. Furthermore, the characteristics of students and their ways of working evolving. All whilst the educational institutes in our growing knowledge-based society are transcending their traditional objectives. New solutions ought to be sought for these challenges. This thesis is a project that explores the design of a campus-like hybrid typology in an urban setting and proposes a framework for education.

The project locates itself in the administrative city of The Netherlands, The Hague. It’s centrally situated and is surrounded by ministerial institutes, the central station that functions as the city gate, and the old historic centre. The project’s formalisation is largely a result of critical contextual and programmatic analysis and aims to be responsive to both manners. Its central positioning and proposed urban routing reinforces the connection between project and city. The Framework for Education links the future city gate – which is the extension of the central station - with multiple city-scale facilities. The Framework for Education is a unified city block of partly revitalised entities and activates under-utilised urban realm.

The main entrance as the forecourt enhances under-utilized urban space and exchanges the current situation, an envelope almost being an impenetrable fortress, with a portal towards a realm that supports learning, fosters interaction, and actively promotes publicly accessible activities. Simultaneously extending the outdoor public space into the interior, enhancing the direct connection and circulation throughout the project. This is continued by the revitalisation of the city block its inner courtyard. The current situation, a car park, is exchanged with an inner garden that functions as the social heart of the city block, as it simultaneously takes play in a newly established urban axis.

The project proposes an educational system for the future. Here the educational institutes are considered societal exemplars. The future-proof educational institute continuously contributes towards solutions, instead of problems. Architecturally, this is formalised in adaptability. The project steers towards the creation of a system with low-embodied carbon. Realised through a structural framework of mass timber and concrete elements which creates the physical framework for the educational system, its interior spaces and its adaptable capabilities.

Theoretically, the project becomes a machine facilitating a programmatic infill in a moment of time. Simultaneously providing the ability to grow and adapt to whatever the educational system might become in the future. Architecturally the project reinforces the experimental nature of education and encourages creativity – being a continuous “work in progress”. Aligning with the project it’s contextual positioning, influenced by readings from R. Sennet that “the public realm is a continuous process”.

As the word ‘campus’ literally translates to ‘field’, its traditional spatial model follows the construction of a series of standalone buildings surrounding an open rectangular field. Such campuses often are enclaves outside of the city, characterized by isolation and a lack of interplay between the city and the academic world. This project rethinks the interplay between these two worlds, prioritising a two-sided connection where both parties contribute to and benefit from each other.
The project answers the question how a public vertical campus contributes to and enriches the city of The Hague, fostering social, cultural and economic vitality. This is done by creating an organization of spaces that aim to provide connection, collaboration and performance between various user groups coming from both the city and academic world. Social and cultural vitality is provided through spaces that foster connection and collaboration, for example public temporary exhibitions and group workshops, located on the (semi-)public lower and middle levels. Economic vitality is provided through spaces that foster performance, for example offices and research spaces, located on the semi-private upper levels, occasionally interrupted by levels that offer in-between breakout spaces to collaborate. With this design, all users with different backgrounds become cosmopolitans, belonging to one community.