This paper investigates how historical models of communal architecture—such as the Corralas and Corrales de Comedias—can inform contemporary approaches to urban regeneration through a spatial understanding grounded in social interaction and transformation. Drawing on the theories of Henri Lefebvre, Richard Sennett, Rafael Moneo, Aldo Rossi, Jan Gehl, Jane Jacobs, and Kevin Lynch, the research explores how architecture operates as a living, performative framework shaped by everyday use, memory, and collective presence. These insights converge in the case of La Galera in Alcalá de Henares, a disused women’s prison marked by complex historical layers. Here, the project embraces the transformative potential of adaptive reuse—not by replicating historical forms, but by translating their spatial intelligence into contemporary design strategies. Ultimately, the work positions communal space as a platform for social negotiation and urban continuity—where memory and use shape new architectural possibilities.

Iraq is undergoing a transformative period following decades of conflict, with major infrastructure projects intended to drive economic revival. Central among these is the Grand Faw Port in the southern Governorate of Basra. This port is intended to become the largest and most advanced port in the world, along with a connecting Development Road linking Europe and Asia. This research investigates the socio-environmental consequences of such development, focusing on the interconnected cities of Al-Faw (site of the new port), Umm Qasr (home to the older port), and Az Zubayr (a rapidly growing urban centre). Using a mixed anticipatory scenario approach – involving scenario planning, backcasting, and visioning – the study examines how the rise of this port project and other major infrastructural projects could displace local communities and marginalize older infrastructure. This study particularly pays attention to the local populations dependent on agriculture. The understanding of both the infrastructural violence and the environmental degradation of the area is crucial to this research. Drawing on ecofeminist theory, commoning and design-based methods, the research envisions an inclusive urban gardening community in Az Zubayr that addresses the needs of displaced and local communities while supporting ecological resilience.

The thesis proposes the transformation of two of Madrid's decorative fountains into functional public pools, addressing the city's residents’ needs for leisure through physical activity and cooling in a hot city like Madrid. Additionally, the project seeks to enable public access to the Manzanares River—an element currently missing within the city centre and the river’s urban planning. The intervention reclaims water as a shared urban resource for people to experience, while offering accessibility and public space next to the city’s forgotten river. Additionally, it programmatically and volumetrically enhances the surroundings of the Puente de Segovia site. This is done by adding a water management and sanitation research centre and a wastewater treatment plant next to the CEDEX (centre of hydraulic works of Spain). In this way, the water that is being treated and studied is later used for the public pools and the irrigation of the whole intervention. Hence,the hidden mechanisms of water regeneration, from hydraulic engineering to water regeneration are made visible to the public.

Public transport hubs become ever more important in our daily mobility pattern. As central places in our cities they have, therefore also become important public spaces. However, the gradual built up of mobility infrastructure around hubs has resulted in stations that are poorly navigable and fragment instead of connect the city around them. 

Through an approach based on Richard Sennett's open city this project aims to create a public transport hub that mitigates boundaries caused by mobility infrastructure and become a public space that is open towards its surroundings. The station Méndez Álvaro / Estación Sur in Madrid is taken as a case study. 

This study examines how large-scale infrastructure projects, with a focus on the proposed tunnel between Spain and Morocco, influence the urban landscape and socio-spatial dynamics in Tangier, Morocco. The study, which is inspired by personal experiences and based on interdisciplinary theories, investigates how infrastructure can reinforce or reduce existing inequalities. The research uses a variety of methods to find the answers to the central question: how can infrastructure such as the tunnel be designed and implemented to promote inclusive development? These methods include an integrated methodology, archival research, fieldwork, mapping, case studies and policy analysis.

The theoretical framework is based on dromology, technopolitics, viapolitics, and infrastructural boundaries. It shows that infrastructure is not a neutral connection but a technopolitical force that regulates access, mobility, and power. Historical analysis shows how Tangier's development has long prioritized external connectivity over internal equality. This has led to spatial fragmentation. Comparative case studies of megaprojects such as the Channel Tunnel and the Øresund Bridge offer lessons on centralisation, migration pressure and social displacement.

The main findings indicate that improved connectivity stimulates urbanization and economic growth. However, this often happens at the expense of local inclusion. Inclusive planning is vital to prevent the tunnel from exacerbating the socioeconomic disparities within Tangier and between continents. The study's final conclusion offers practical design and policy recommendations for promoting equity, accessibility and sustainability in the region's future infrastructure development.

This thesis investigates ambiguity as a productive architectural condition, particularly through the lens of terrain vagues: urban spaces defined by contradiction, indeterminacy, and temporal fluctuation. Based on critical philosophical frameworks, the research examines how ambiguity, often regarded as a lack of clarity, can instead become a catalyst for more sustainable spatial practices. The study begins by tracing the inherent qualities of terrain vagues and identifying their potentials. It then moves toward a design-oriented investigation, exploring how empirical analysis can abstract these qualities into operative tools. Ultimately, the paper proposes a framework for integrating ambiguity into the design process—not as an aesthetic byproduct but as a deliberate mode of engagement that challenges conventional binaries and embraces multiplicity, adaptability, and ecological sensitivity in architecture.

Contemporary cities typically employ a linear metabolic model which relies on peripheral areas to support their growth and operation, often externalising waste and degradation to economically and ecologically vulnerable areas. Posing the hypothetical question, ‘What if the existing metabolic processes of extraction, production and disposal in Madrid’s periphery could be rethought, and a socially, economically and ecologically productive process could be instated for peripheral communities?’, this paper constructs a theoretical framework with which to understand systems of waste and inequality embedded in the city’s growth and operation, and analyses the historical patterns of growth which proliferated them. Following this understanding, contemporary problematic symptoms emerging from these patterns are identified, and a set of good practices is compiled which may effectively address them. This project takes a critical stance on the tabula rasa form of urban redevelopment commonly employed in Madrid and posits that an alternative model of urban development should be estalished, one which embraces plurality and uses existing built fabric and social, ecological and economic processes as a starting point

In the post-extraction landscapes of the Rheinisches Braunkohlerevier, the relationship between water and matter no longer follows natural rhythms—it is charged, reactive, and unfolding. Here, contamination is not a singular event but a condition that accumulates, binds, weathers, and seeps across geological and temporal scales. Conventional restoration frameworks respond with binary visions of compensation and separation. This thesis takes a different approach—remaining within the unsettled terrain, it traces the transformations already in motion.

Water, long drained to make space for mining, returns to a stratigraphy fractured and unsettled by decades of extraction. It moves through disrupted sediments, activating chemical reactions that carry heavy metals and acidity through soil, into groundwater, and toward the surface. Matter does not passively receive these flows; it absorbs, resists, and transforms them. This interaction forms the foundation of the thesis: a material practice rooted in territorial specificity, where design engages the dialogue between dissolution and deposition, contamination and gradual reconfiguration.

By reworking site-bound matter, the project proposes infrastructural prototypes that respond to their environment not through resistance, but through participation. Each intervention is situated, embedded in cycles of absorption, stasis, and release. Rather than proposing resolution, the thesis offers a framework for ongoing negotiation—where design operates within, rather than above, the entangled realities of water and matter.

How to build a paradise on Earth?

This question forms the foundation of a thesis that explores the urgent need for refuge—both from climatic extremes and from the sensory overstimulation that defines life in contemporary cities. Situated in Madrid—one of the cities most affected by the urban heat island effect worldwide—the project investigates the concept of refuge as a spatial, ecological, and cultural condition within the urban fabric.
Focusing on the Casa de Campo—Madrid’s historic royal retreat—the thesis re-examines the intertwined relationship between nature and culture. Drawing on Madrid’s origins, founded on and shaped by water, the project reinterprets the city’s current, lost connection to this essential element. By embracing low-tech strategies and taking maximum advantage of natural conditions, the intervention activates water and the diverse life forms it sustains, making its temporality and microclimatic effects both physically and sensorially perceptible.
Engaging with symbolic, historical, and technological precedents, the thesis envisions a site that redefines refuge—not only as shelter, but as a space for balancing human and non-human forms of regeneration, thereby aiming to reconnect people with their natural environment. Through an interdisciplinary, body-centric approach, the project explores how design can enter this balancing act in order to construct a contemporary form of paradise.

This research paper aims to explore performative dissident practices within the context of Madrid, focusing on how architectural practice can gain insights from these practices to inform the design of interventions or conditions that foster empowerment, particularly for vulnerable communities. The intention is not to provide a socio-political critique, but rather to advocate for the significance of these urban battlegrounds as pedagogical instances that can enrich architectural discourse. Therefore the research seeks to answer the following question:
How can architectural practices, focused on contested urban environments, draw from the dissident practices manifested in the built environment and thus foster resilience for the vulnerable communities?

In the rising action of the research, the paper first constructs a methodological and theoretical tapestry, developing a lens through which to conduct a site analysis. This is done by employing architectural analytical drawings, as well as narration and experimental writing, to highlight the more latent, experiential aspects of dissident practices. The climax of the research applies this lens to three squares within Madrid’s most vulnerable neighborhood, Embajadores/Lavapiés. In the falling action, the research delves deeper into the site of choice and its significance for the project and expands on the conceptual framework that can be applied towards a design of conditions.

It is certain that cities must prepare for densification in the coming years due to urban population growth. High-rise buildings as urban housing have long been seen as a solution to address housing shortages. This typology efficiently utilizes limited space, allowing a relatively large number of urban residents to settle in the urban area. Now, the urban built environment is reaching the point where social and societal problems are also experienced in this typology. Residents of high-rise buildings struggle with feelings of loneliness and are unable to anchor themselves in the urban community. It seems that our urban designs have led to increased anonymity and a loss of social contact in high-rise living. The lack of social engagement within a community or social isolation has adverse effects on mental health, resulting in dissatisfaction, stress, and poor public health. Ultimately, this societal problem will also influence the urban developments negatively. As a result, the characteristic structure of high-rise buildings must be studied and reconsidered for the sake of the mental health of the urban population. The built environment must come up with solutions to encourage social interactions through design interventions in high-rise buildings and focussing more on public interior spaces.

At the heart of diverse, thriving inner-city areas are the community gardens, impromptu skate parks and self-managed community centres where residents can build intercultural connections, and achieve a sense of belonging. This thesis defines these as ‘Open Third Places’: public areas whose disorder generates spontaneous encounters and unexpected vibrancy.
Open Third Place can be found in the El Laboratorio squatted social centres of inner-city Madrid. The gentrifying, inner-city neighbourhood of Lavapies has historically hosted a diverse variety of outsiders, ranging from international immigrants to Spanish activist groups. Where their needs were not met by costly governmental regeneration efforts, El Laboratorio group used the act of occupation to explore the creation of low-budget, user-led social centres, free from bureaucratic constraints. These spaces became valuable hubs for coexistence in an otherwise fragmented community, despite financial and legal constraints.
Therefore, this paper examines how El Laboratorio diverged from mainstream building conventions, to demonstrate where such disorder is crucial in the formation of Open Third Places. This analysis is structured by three divisions, or ‘thresholds’, which exist in the formally planned city, but were blurred within El Laboratorio centres: ‘spatial thresholds’, ‘designer-user thresholds’ and ‘temporal thresholds’. Using archival visual and written material from the social centres, the paper suggests a connection between the conviviality of El Laboratorio and their bridging of these thresholds.
In this way, the thesis reveals possibilities for architects to similarly work with these thresholds, when designing for the community of Lavapies. Despite this, it concludes by foreseeing difficulties of translating ideas from the ‘disorder’ of a squat, to the ‘order’ of a more formal design scheme, outlining potential conflicts in the application of these ideas.

Casa de Campo, Madrid’s Field of Play, has yet to fully integrate into the city's everyday life and ecology. This forest, rich in archaeological and natural heritage, is nearly forgotten, with its playgrounds sitting empty and unused. This project takes an infrastructural approach, creating directed fields where both human and non-human activities can unfold. The design lays the groundwork for future events and building activities, operating flexibly in the division, allocation, and construction of surfaces, while also engaging architecture's ability to communicate through its imagery.
The research identified multiple sites within Casa de Campo to become a series of interconnected yet diffuse elements. These elements are intended to induce movement, create new atmospheres, and establish visual connections and ecologies between the park and the city. Site selection was based on factors such as accessibility, proximity to roads and trails, viewpoints, and archaeological significance. The networked imagery of these architectural elements fosters new associations and movement patterns between city dwellers and their playground, Casa de Campo.
Key research methods included mapping, drawing, navigation, and walking, all of which helped to immerse the project within the context of Casa de Campo and Madrid. These tools revealed the site's suppressed and intangible qualities. Some maps were playful and internal, while others were systematic, helping to address the complex implications of the proposed intervention. Operational mapping, used as a design tool, allowed for the exploration of functions and possible outcomes over an extended time frame. This approach balanced structured, fixed elements with more flexible, negotiable ones. As a result, the urban strategy aims to create a flexible system rooted in ecological and infrastructural thinking. Time and process are integral to the landscape's growth and microbial activity, connecting air, surfaces, substrates, and rhizomes. The architectural design materializes these anticipated event scenarios, and the construction process is made visible to the public, embracing the messy realities of urban building rather than concealing them.

This thesis explores the interplay between urban underground spaces and the concept of time, aiming to transform our perception and use of these hidden areas. Beginning with an extensive mapping of Madrid's underground, the research reveals the often-inaccessible nature of these spaces. Through typological studies and philosophical exploration, the thesis reinterprets these spaces as temporal phenomena, emphasizing their dynamic potential.
The theoretical foundation is grounded in concepts such as Bergson's duration and Bakhtin's chronotope, which highlight the entanglement of time and space. The design project proposes a shift from place-based to operation-based design, focusing on the temporal dimensions of space. It envisions a flexible art hub in Madrid, adaptable to various activities and extending beyond its physical boundaries, reflecting the concept of Urban Uchronia—a utopia of time that challenges existing temporal norms.
The manifesto envisions a network of interconnected underground spaces across the city, forming a system of Urban Uchronia. This vision integrates subterranean environments into the urban fabric, transforming how we engage with these spaces. The thesis concludes by reflecting on the transferability of these concepts, offering innovative strategies for urban regeneration and architectural design in diverse contexts worldwide. By reimagining underground spaces through the perspective of time, this thesis proposes a new paradigm for urban development.

Current waste management practices pose a significant threat to humans, animals and our environment, contributing greatly to environmental pollution. Furthermore, the speed and the way we consume and dispose of things is changing rapidly, leaving us with little time to react to this global issue; particularly in urban centres, seeing that the cities have become the centre of flows and exchanges. This thesis investigates how architecture can enhance these networks in order to enable necessary economic, environmental and social transformations. It challenges the linear production-consumption-waste model driven by capitalism and explores the potential for creating resilient, self-sustainable cities through circular network flows.
Focusing on Madrid, the project proposes the reintroduction of urban manufacturing within the city to establish sustainable (textile) material flows. By ‘weaving’ this new program into the city's existing urban and material fabric, and reclaiming the former industrial site, the project envisions a space dedicated to textile innovation. With the intention of extending to other industries in the future, fostering cross-industry synergies and potentially acting as a catalyst for broader sustainable practices.
Architecture has a potential to serve as a catalyst of the change, by embodying the principles of sustainable production, rethinking the flows of material and embracing the interconnectedness of systems, communities and environment. Considering the industrial history and context of the site, the project reimagines the underutilized area as an innovation hub, contributing to a more resilient urban future.

‘Back to the User’ addresses a critical issue in contemporary architectural practice: the dissociation from the user. In the software industry, 10% to 40% of a project’s budget is allocated to ‘User Experience (UX) Research’, which focuses on assessing and fulfilling users’ needs and experiences throughout the entire design process. This investment not only doubles sales but also nearly triples user satisfaction. Despite its proven value, UX Research is significantly underrepresented in architecture. This paper explores how to better integrate and utilize UX Research in architectural practice, proposing a new methodology.

The methodology closest to UX Research in architecture is ‘Post-Occupancy Evaluation’ (POE), but only 5% of architectural firms in the EU offer (and even fewer conduct) it during the design phase. Architects may talk closely with clients, but not with users. Additionally, most UX Research involves 1:1 prototype testing with users to ensure that the design meets its intended benefits. In architecture, ‘prototyping’ usually consists of 2D plans, visualizations, or scaled models, which are often not comprehensible, accurate, or immersive enough. While constructing a full 1:1 prototype is possible, it is not economically, spatially, or sustainably feasible for large projects—or is it?

With the rise of Virtual Reality (VR), we can now test virtually unlimited 1:1 designs, leading to more objective, evidence-based conclusions. This paper explores this approach through participatory qualitative sessions using VR, where multiple design variations are tested and rated by users based on their satisfaction levels. The data collected informs design decisions, resulting in a final proposal to address the challenges of post-Soviet, concrete-prefab panel construction in the ‘Jižní Město’ district of Prague, Czech Republic. This ‘Back to the User’ methodology, is in fact a practice’s step ‘Back to the Future’.

Understanding the societal construction and utilisation of space is paramount today, especially as urban centres face escalating space scarcity, intensifying societal disparities. The intertwining of architecture and politics is undeniable, given architecture’s power to shape spaces and influence social dynamics, necessitating architects’ acknowledgement of political implications.

This research delves into how sociopolitical factors impact urban spaces and in what ways architects could critically counteract them, using neoliberalism as a case study. Neoliberal policies in London, particularly under Thatcher’s leadership, significantly affected social strata and urban landscapes.

Neoliberal ideologies created disparities, unfettered markets, commodified public spaces, and exacerbated social divides, leading to spatial segregation and gentrification waves. They emphasised on the need for alternative approaches focusing on fairness, sustainability, and community welfare. Examining evolving neighbourhoods highlighted spatial segregation patterns due to neoliberalism’s aftereffects, manifesting as urban loopholes and boundaries.

This study recognises cities as arenas reflecting and challenging neoliberal ideologies. It identifies the root causes of urban disparities in social stratification, globalisation, and gentrification and calls for a shift towards long-term social sustainability in urban planning.

This research takes an approach by integrating social engagement into urban planning, acknowledging that city development is influenced by multifaceted factors beyond architectural planning. Drawing from diverse fields, it proposes strategies embedding social engagement within spatial contexts. These strategies aim to combat societal disconnection by promoting meaningful social interaction through spatial design.

At the heart of this exploration are eight spatial agencies or design principles aiming to revitalise social engagement within urban spaces. These principles advocate constructing situations over objects, fostering diverse social interactions, bridging social stratification, and restoring the existing character. The research strongly urges architects to adopt socially conscious approaches and open their spectrum to cross-disciplinarity. The main goal is to underline architecture’s integral role in societal wellbeing and emphasise its potential to create inclusive and equitable spaces.

Rapid and uncontrolled urban growth has resulted in fragmented cityscapes, leading to the loss of a sense of place in cities like London. The relentless march of modernization and compulsive development has given rise to illegible spaces, where once-distinctive landmarks are being replaced by generic high-rise buildings and shopping malls. This research gives an urban and architectural framework on how to deal with this phenomenon by drawing on the revalorisation of its identity.

Places such as Romford have seen an enormous growth turning a rural town into a metropolitan area in less than 100 years. This results in a fragmented urban landscape where small historic fabric collides with large infrastructure orientated typologies tied together forming one blurred cityscape. This graduation project presents a potential solution to this contemporary challenge, which involves strengthening the identity of a place while accommodating contemporary paradigms.

The proposed strategy involves the preservation, refurbishment and addition of urban elements that reinforce the identity of the place, thereby enhancing its overall legibility. By embracing the interplay between historical and modern architectural elements, it aims to create a harmonious and distinctive urban environment.

This research not only offers practical insights into Romford's transformation but also presents a broader perspective on how cities can retain their unique character in the face of uncontrolled growth. Moreover it contributes to the ongoing discourse on urban development and offers tangible steps towards reconciling the past with the present, creating cities that are both visually captivating and deeply rooted in their historical identity.

Throughout the course of time, there has been a progression starting from the preservation of buildings and sites, to the conservation of specific elements of these landmarks, and now shifting towards adaptive reuse where the goal is to maintain cultural heritage through values and attributes. According to Aldo Rossi, there is no guarantee of effective continuity, and it is crucial to understand the process of transformation and determine how to act in such situations (Rossi, 1982). While numerous industrial buildings have been repurposed and given new functions, it remains a subject of debate whether they have succeeded in conserving the identity and historical essence of the structures.
This thesis aims uncover the significant and possibly forgotten or overlooked layers of an architectural product to then synthesise and integrate them into a new narrative, using an interpretation of the concept of collage as a tactic in architecture. In exploring the concept of complementarity, the thesis will delve into the idea that the integration of contrasting elements or ideas can create a harmonious whole. Similarly, a collage brings together disparate fragments to form a cohesive composition.
Emphasizing the concept of complementarity, similar to a collage, architecture reveals evidence of time and its process of construction, a work of architecture contains accumulated history as it is lived and engaged rather than observed” (Shields, 2012). An architectural piece is “rarely experienced in its totality, […] but as a series of partial views and synthesise experiences.” (Holl, Pallasmaa, & Perez-Gomez, 2006).
By embracing complementarity, architecture can establish a dynamic relationship between the existing context, the proposed interventions, and the emerging necessities, ensuring that the. essence and significance of the original structure are upheld while allowing for meaningful adaptation and transformation. Therefore, the essay will explore concepts such as collage and the notion of complementarity in terms of research and design within an architectural framework.

Hong Kong is known for its skyline and urban context, interpreted through colonial history. However, its past, present and future are entangled with that of almost 700 villages scattered across the New Territory land and preceding the current Hong Kong population. With recent proposals to further develop the currently ‘rural’ northwest of Hong Kong through the Northern Metropolis proposal, the tangible and intangible dimensions of the village society might be sacrificed to accommodate for a growing population and political interests.

The study aims to examine how traditional society is being reinterpreted in the face of change and loss, particularly in relation to the shifting notion of a village and its role within rural society. It seeks to redefine countryside conservation strategies in the context of the northwest New Territories by moving beyond the cataloguing of the past and embracing progressive, future-oriented practices. The research proposes a framework for self-managed design processes that actively protect community values, offering an alternative approach to the current revitalization strategies limited to eco-tourism and open-air museum projects.
The proposal accommodated for needs of both indigenous and ‘new’ residents, at the same time maximizing the use of existing developed land, and protecting the surrounding natural context. The possibilities of inter-village collaborations suggested through the project encourage the wider application of local skills and the protection of local businesses. Together come to be a strategy for the active preservation of rural cultural heritage, allowing for the change to achieve continuity.