This project investigates the role of architecture in addressing digital dependency among young adults in an increasingly connected society. Situated within the transforming industrial landscape of Binckhorst, The Hague, the proposal reimagines a post-industrial waterfront site as a digital detox retreat that offers temporary withdrawal from the pressures of everyday urban life.

Through a carefully structured sequence of private, communal, educational, and therapeutic spaces, the project explores how architecture can support processes of reflflection, grounding, and reconnection. Drawing on phenomenological theories of perception and contemporary critiques of digital culture, the design examines how spatial experience, materiality, and engagement with nature can encourage slower forms of attention and foster embodied ways of being.

The project proposes a new typology of urban retreat: a place where architecture becomes a tool for restoring balance between digital connectivity and human experience. ... Read more

The Sovereignty Spine proposes a new civic-infrastructural institution for the pre-deployment testing of high-risk artificial intelligence. The project responds to a growing gap between the rapid integration of AI into public life and the limited capacity of governing institutions to test, interpret and challenge these systems. While the European Union has developed strong regulatory frameworks in this domian around transparency, accountability and human rights, the physical evaluation of AI remains fragmented across private companies, state agencies and under-resourced public bodies.

Located in the transforming urban district of New Binckhorst, The Hague, the project proposes the headquarters of the independent EU AI Testing Agency. The agency does not legislate or enforce regulation. Instead, it produces evidence that informs EU-level decision-making by testing AI systems under controlled and real-world conditions. The testing loop is organised around the four recurring stages of simulation, negotiation, audit and public interface. Simulation generates evidence; negotiation brings together developers, regulators, experts and affected groups; audit establishes traceability and explainability; and public interface translates these outcomes into accessible civic knowledge.

The key architectural concept for the institution is the central Sovereignty Spine which acts as a structural, environmental and service backbone carrying data, power, cooling, water, and circulation access for the entire proposal. Drawing upon Benjamin Bratton’s concept of planetary computation, the spine makes the hidden physical infrastructures of AI visible and connects an underground data hall to a distributed field of testing nodes through an adaptable infrastructural system.

The key nodes are divided into three spatial domains. Cognitive AI models are tested in environments such as border halls, classrooms, welfare offices and courtrooms, where systems classify, judge or allocate access to rights and services. Embodied AI systems are tested in a large proving hall for autonomous vehicles, drones and robotics. Planetary AI is tested in environmental chambers that simulate flood, wind, heat and smoke conditions. Each domain has a distinct spatial character while remaining connected to the same testing process.

At the ground level, a permeable public landscape extends the future Waterfront Park into the site. Public interface pavilions, exhibition spaces and an outdoor demonstration sandbox allows selected processes to become visible without compromising secure areas. The project therefore proposes a new architectural typology through an exploratory sandbox where AI can be tested, contested, audited and publicly understood before deployment. ... Read more

This thesis proposes a new Art Institution that tackles Athens’ urban decay by merging art with public works maintenance. This institution will emphasize hands-on training in urban art maintenance and civil craftsmanship, prioritizing practical interventions over theoretical research. It aims to provide skills to implement small-scale, impactful art-based improvements and cooperate with different groups of communities and municipalities to mitigate city deterioration. Grounded in Practice Theory, the building acts as a living tool designed to manage the physical production, distribution, and storage of this civil-craft knowledge. Through temporary, art-driven interventions on its own plug-and-play architectural structure, the institution reconnects inhabitants with the cityscape, embodying the principle of “small steps toward a big impact” to drive a continuous, meaningful urban renewal. ... Read more

Driven by climate change and the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, the city of Athens is experiencing increasing heat stress due to its dense urban fabric and limited green space. This project responds to this challenge by exploring how architectural and landscape design can use natural elements, wind, shade, water, and thermal mass, to create passive cooling environments that also function as public and educational spaces. The project focuses on the redevelopment of the former industrial “Pyrkal” site in Ymittos. An iterative design approach was used, combining 3D modelling with CFD wind simulations and solar analysis. The final design proposes a resilient public park with clusters of circular green spaces with drought-resistant vegetation to reduce water loss, combined with an urban ecology pavilion.
The pavilion incorporates thick concrete walls to increase thermal mass and improve thermal lag. With the help of these walls cool are is steere through the building to create cool spaces and cool its visitors down. Two reservoirs, one acting as a stormwater overflow, and one as a rainwater collector, support evaporative cooling. The collection of these system stabilize temperatures in and around the building. Overall, the project shifts the idea of urban comfort from energy-intensive mechanical cooling toward passive, climate-responsive design, offering a scalable approach for improving microclimates in hot, dense urban areas. ... Read more

Modern migration policies construct and control movement across borders. The paper governance of the passport, inherently tied to citizenship, dictates the mobility order. The passport emerged as a standardised and compulsory document during the 1920s, universalising a colonial-era logic that restricts human mobility based on national origins. Traditional governmental institutions reinforce these hierarchical systems.

The Ministry of Global Movement is a graduation project that seeks to shift the focus of a ministry of migration into a ministry of “global movement,” reframing a closed-off institutional typology into a hybrid model that celebrates global movement and cultural diversity. The project, supported by a postcolonial framework and adaptive reuse strategies, proposes the combination of a theatre, archive, and ministry within the existing structuralist building BZ67, which currently houses the temporary National Parliament until the Binnenhof renovation is complete.

The project proposes a reconfiguration strategy as a spatial mirror for this conceptual reframing of a ministry of migration into a ministry of global movement. It achieves this by elevating inactivated existing qualities within the repetitive, structuralist building and establishing a architectural material passport that reframes architectural elements for new use.

The final design centers around three major design interventions: the stripping of the Ministry’s façade and its enclosure within the Ministry Atrium; the multifunctional Theatre of Transformations, which reuses mined materials from the ministry; and the crowning Conservatory of Belonging, which empowers naturalisation ceremonies. This graduation project demonstrates how complex historical buildings hold immense potential for spatial reactivation, serving as an example of how a sovereign building can architecturally adapt to support plural cultural identities. ... Read more

This graduation project investigates how architecture can mediate between governance, urban knowledge production, and civic participation through the design of a new Ministry of Urban Living Conditions in Athens. The project responds to the gap between changing urban conditions and the institutional processes through which they are observed, interpreted, and acted upon. In Athens, recurring cycles of construction growth, decline, vacancy, reuse, and renewal have produced spatial challenges that require forms of governance capable of continuous adaptation and public engagement. The proposed ministry is conceived not only as an administrative body, but as an open civic framework in which public authorities, professionals, researchers, students, civic organisations, and citizens participate in the production and ex- change of urban knowledge. At its centre is the Urban Forum, containing the Athens Urban Mod- el Hall and a movable 1:500 model of the metropolitan region. Around this civic core, the Urban Laboratory, Urban Academy, and Urban Commons support research, fabrication, education, professional exchange, and public collaboration. The design is organised through a fractal spatial logic that combines institutional coherence with local autonomy. A stable structural framework, continuous hovering roof, and system of courtyards unify the distributed clusters while allowing changing patterns of occupation over time. Adaptability is therefore embedded not through physical transformation of the building, but through the shifting relationship between users, programmes, and urban development cycles. The project demonstrates how institutional architecture can move beyond closed administration and become a civic platform for continuous learning, participation, and the collective shaping of urban futures. ... Read more

Trust in political and democratic institutions is under pressure. Many citizens experience these systems as something distant, inaccessible, and unreliable. Yet democracy depends on participation, understanding, and dialogue. This project explores how architecture can contribute to strengthening the relationship between citizens and the democratic system through direct experience and radical inclusion.
The proposal introduces a new governmental institution based on the concept of a “democratic duty”. Once in their lifetime, every Dutch adult is invited to spend a week participating in the political process. During this stay, citizens attend lectures, workshops, debates, and voting sessions while engaging with fellow participants from across the country. The institution functions as a bridge between citizens and political representatives, imagining civic education as an immersive experience.
Located in the Binckhorst district of The Hague, close to the city’s political center, the building accommodates 6,000 participants per week. Rather than separating functions, the project combines living, learning, governing, and leisure within a single architectural system. Residents stay in private rooms while simultaneously becoming part of the democratic process.
At the heart of the building is a monumental central void. This space is made up of all the staggered residences, each equipped with a balcony that functions as a seat within the democratic system. From these balconies, residents listen to presentations and vote on current policy. The balcony features a side table with a movable chair, here the residents can take notes and use their monitor for voting and viewing presentations. Additionally, during certain moments, adjacent residents are encouraged to collaborate or discuss topics together.
Around the residences lies the “democratic city”: a network of classrooms, restaurants, and activity spaces designed to encourage discussion, collaboration, and informal encounters. The multi-purpose classroom is the group’s hangout for the week. It has space to work, gather, and take brakes. It can be used in however way the group likes the best; sitting around tables, gathering at the tribune or lounging on the couches. This approach to design reflects the democratic values of diversity, flexibility, and individual agency. The restaurant is where the residents have their meals 3 times a day. Designed with an open floor plan and with integrated circulation, the space aims to create a different yet familiar environments from the other spaces where residents spend most of their time. Several activities can be practiced as forms of bonding and creating fun memories outside of the scheduled hours.
The Civic Residence argues that architecture can play an active role in democratic education by transforming political participation into a lived spatial experience. ... Read more

Mental health challenges are increasing, particularly among teens and young adults, while opportunities for prevention and mental health education remain limited. Many people lack the knowledge and tools to understand, manage, and strengthen their own well-being before problems escalate. This graduation project explores how architecture can support preventive mental health by enabling mental health literacy within an accessible civic setting: the public library.

The project proposes a public library that combines learning, social interaction, and spaces for reflection with low-threshold mental health resources. Located on the former Pyrkal site in Athens, the building is positioned at the intersection of pedestrian routes and designed as an open and accessible environment for young people, supporting both collective and individual use.
The library is embedded beneath a public park landscape, allowing the site to remain open and publicly accessible while creating quieter and more private environments below ground. A series of pavilion entrances distributed throughout the park provide multiple points of access to the building. Inside, the library is organised as a sequence of longitudinal bands that accommodate different functions and atmospheres, ranging from active and social spaces to areas for focused study, consultation, reflection, and retreat. Daylight is introduced through atria and skylights integrated into the landscape above, while materiality, atmosphere, and spatial sequencing reinforce the gradual transition between different modes of use and levels of privacy.
By integrating mental health literacy into a familiar civic typology, this project explores how architecture can create accessible environments for learning, reflection, and support while lowering barriers to engagement with mental well-being. ... Read more

Artificial intelligence is commonly framed as immaterial and placeless, yet it depends upon extensive territorial systems of extraction, labour, and water management. This thesis investigates a corridor along the Kemijoki River in Arctic Finnish Lapland, where hydropower infrastructure, mining operations, transmission networks, tourism economies, and emerging data centers converge into a dense, layered landscape.

Instead of understanding the data center as an isolated spatial object, the research situates it within a broader set of interdependent ecological and infrastructural processes that reorganize territory through the demand for energy and cooling. Water, in its different states, emerges as the central medium through which these transformations are traced. The Arctic climate therefore becomes a strategic resource.

Through territorial mapping, fieldwork, media analysis, and research-by-design, the thesis investigates the externalized systems required to sustain continuous computation and explores new territorial synergies between cooling infrastructures, labour, and control. These processes typically remain concealed within the abstraction of the black box, while their ecological and spatial consequences materialize across peripheral landscapes.

The thesis argues that the “exclusion zone” (LeCavalier 2019, 54; Young 2019, 10) of the data center is itself architectural. By exposing and spatializing the hidden thermodynamic and ecological dependencies of artificial intelligence, the project proposes new forms of coexistence between human, machine, and non-human systems within the “operational landscapes” (Katsikis and Brenner 2020) of the Arctic. ... Read more