The contemporary city is increasingly shaped by processes of mobility, migration, and displacement, yet the architectural dimension of arrival often remains overlooked. Situated in Heyvaert, one of Brussels’ most culturally diverse and socially complex neighbourhoods, this project investigates how architecture can support processes of arrival without imposing external solutions upon existing urban conditions.
The research begins with a critical reading of Heyvaert as an entanglement of cultures, economies, and spatial practices. Rather than approaching the neighbourhood through conventional top-down models of urban renewal, the project proposes a methodology based on listening, observation, and contextual engagement. This position is articulated through The Help Network: Nine Points for Structuring Arrival, a manifesto that frames architecture as a process of positioning rather than prescription.
The resulting proposal combines housing, public services, and collective spaces within a former industrial block. Existing buildings are selectively reused and reconfigured, while new interventions introduce temporary and long-term housing, a training centre, employment and rental agencies, a daycare facility, and shared public spaces. These programs are organised around an internal courtyard connected to the future Kleine Zennepark, transforming a previously enclosed condition into a new node of social and spatial exchange.
Rather than functioning as an isolated architectural object, The Help Network acts as a framework for strengthening existing neighbourhood relationships, demonstrating how architecture can facilitate belonging through support, interconnection, and adaptation. ... Read more

When you walk through a city or a building, you’re often not aware of it, but architecture has a direct impact on people’s well-being. You don’t have to do anything at all, you just have to be. It is precisely this that means architecture carries a responsibility: how do you, as a designer, deal with that influence? At the same time, the built environment is never a blank canvas, but always the result of a layered process over time.

In the current urban context, this layering is under pressure. The growing demand for space and housing often leads to demolition as a solution, with the risk that history, and with it the identity of the neighbourhood or city, will disappear. This project, therefore, stems from the conviction that architecture should not be based on demolition, but can instead build upon what is already there.

This project focuses on the transformation of a plot with two existing buildings in the Heyvaert neighbourhood in Brussels. A neighbourhood with a dense urban fabric where living and working are intertwined. In this neighbourhood quality of life is under pressure, whilst at the same time a new linear park is being introduced along the route of the former Petit Zenne. This park calls for openness and accessibility, whilst closed and inward-facing blocks characterise the existing urban structure.

Through research into Deep Space, the historical layering of the building block and fieldwork conducted on site, the spatial and social structures are made clear. These insights demonstrate that Deep Space possesses both risks and qualities, that historical layers can guide new interventions, and that existing social structures are valuable to preserve and strengthen.

This research has led to the following question:

How can a closed urban block be transformed through architectural strategies of opening, connecting, and grounding to create a safe public park?

These findings are translated into a architectural design centred on strategies of opening, connecting and grounding. By transforming two existing buildings and adding two new volumes, an ensemble is created that opens up to the park and makes the previously closed block accessible through the introduction of new public entrances. The design demonstrates that existing spatial and social structures can not only be preserved but actually strengthened.

In doing so, the project reinforces the belief that architecture, by working with what already exists, can have a direct, positive and tangible effect on human well-being.
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In the Brussels neighbourhood of Heyvaert stands a wall, a stoic structure closed off from its surroundings shaped by vibrant street life, trade, and cultural diversity. It is part of a building that has quietly endured many changes. This project engages with the structure’s critical transformation, recognising that to open it up is to expose the building to the social, spatial, and economic forces that shape the neighbourhood.

As the neighbourhood faces change through the disappearance of the car trade, its streetscape, informal economies, and existing ways of living will be fundamentally altered. Based on the “Drivers of Change” research, the project understands these transformations not as isolated events, but as part of an ongoing urban evolution shaping the future of Heyvaert. This proposal responds to these shifts by offering stability and support. Seen as another chapter in the development of Heyvaert, the building adds to the emergent patchwork that makes up this complex urban situation.

The building is vertically extended, adding openings within the old walls, and a new structural logic that builds upon the existing. Three stepped-back housing volumes are positioned above a productive and educational plinth, creating a softer transition towards the surrounding streetscape and the adjacent linear park. The project seeks to make ongoing change less disruptive and support the local residents most affected by it, through introducing spaces and shared areas tailored to the needs of the existing community. Through its facade composition, material choices, and integration of collective spaces, the project aims to remain socially anchored within the neighbourhood.

In contrast to profit-driven redevelopment, the proposal explores an alternative approach rooted in the needs of residents, everyday urban life, and the careful transformation of what is already there — positioning the architecture not in a way that is imposing towards its surroundings but carefully balanced within the existing urban fabric.
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This thesis explores how the doorzonwoning, a Dutch post-war housing type, was transformed by its residents over time. In the years following World War II, the Netherlands faced a severe housing crisis. In response, the government launched a large-scale effort to provide efficient, affordable homes using new techniques such as system building and prefabrication. Using Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, this research challenges the traditional divide between planned and lived space, and reframes the inhabitant as an active cocreator of architecture. Through a case study in Amerongen, the thesis investigates how residents adapted and transformed their homes over time. Drawing from archival records and personal testimonies, it reveals how negotiated modifications, from dormers to kitchen extensions, blurred the line between government planning and personal appropriation. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the doorzonwoning is not only a product of its time but also a dynamic, living architectural form that has remained relevant precisely because of its capacity to change. ... Read more

In the graduation project Living the Pause, the phenomenon of “hanging around” in the public spaces of Hoboken and Kiel in Antwerp was researched. Fieldwork was conducted to investigate where people hang around and how they do so. The findings from these observations were later translated into an urban and architectural design for the neighbourhoods of Kiel and Hoboken.

The project was designed through the lens of facilitating for the ‘in-between’. Meaning creating spaces where hanging out is encouraged. The program includes a primary school, a kindergarten, and a theater. The two schools are housed in a former office building of one of the factory halls of the Blikfabriek, a former rim factory in the south of Antwerp.
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Gradients of Comfort explores how architecture might propose a more layered and adaptive understanding of comfort - one that acknowledges its fragility, but sees in that fragility the potential for richer sensory experience and more resilient public architecture. Today, comfort is typically defined in absolute terms, where anything outside a narrow band marked on comfort charts is labeled as undesired. This view is embedded in the logic of contemporary building practice, where systems for heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation are treated as secondary, yet necessary add-ons - mechanical and concealed, but ultimately dominant in shaping spatial experience. In existing structures this often results in unsustainable technical solutions and economic strain.

Set in Hoboken, Antwerp, the project proposes the transformation of the former can factory known as Blikfabriek into permanent public and educational spaces. It asks how architecture can engage with existing conditions - rather than overwrite them - and how comfort might become a medium of negotiation between body and environment, rather than a fixed standard. In this way, the project contributes to the Urban Architecture graduation studio’s broader inquiry into how the halfway city might retain its civic dynamics and remain open to public life, even as the move toward permanence becomes inevitable.
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This year, the graduation studio of Urban Architecture focusses on the development of a suburban area. The aim is to turn this low town into a downtown in which the pioneering spirit of generosity and reciprocity survives.
The project envisions a possible future for a collection of factory buildings located on the former can and rim factory terrain of Hoboken, Antwerp. Based on thorough research about leftover materials, reuse networks and reuse craftmanship the project proposes the building of Herbouwhuis.
Herbouwhuis is a reuse cycle centre, consisting of:
- Herbouwschool: reuse cycle school
- Bureau Herbouw: architecture, building and research office
- Herbouwateliers: ateliers for reuse artists
The proposal of Herbouwhuis fits within the design of a 300.000 m2 masterplan that centers around Lageweg. The masterplan approaches the site as part of Antwerp’s social, cultural and material ecosystem. Inspired by the pioneering community at Blikfabriek, it proposes a strategy of reconfiguration, building on existing qualities of the industrial heritage and material flows. Using time to its advantage, the plan aims to establish a culture of care by reusing discarded materials the city produces. The masterplan operates as a demolition contractor, recycling centre and thrift shop at once. By focussing on exchange points at the edge of industry and neighbourhood it increases the contact surface between materials and residents.
The design project consists of three acts, each representing a different phase.
Act 1 elicits the methodology, taking the existing situation as a serious starting point and using reuse craftmanship and improvisation to intervene and open up.
Act 2 shows what the building site would look like on a bigger scale and how the methodology leads to an architecture that tries to connect to its neighbouring developments.
Act 3 envisions Herbouwhuis in operation. It illustrates how the architecture of Herbouwhuis facilitates materials and agents to flow through, interact and go their own way.
The design of Herbouwhuis went together with the design of a curriculum for Herbouwschool. This curriculum was derived from a manifesto and education programme for Bauhaus by Walter Gropius, dating back to 1919.
My aim is that the growing reuse network and places like Herbouwhuis exponentially elevate the amount of reuse architecture in the urban landscape. That it becomes common sense to think in cycles and value the potential of leftover materials. As a reuse architect I’d like to be transparent about the origins of the materials I use, because it informs the user and might inspire others to turn waste into gift. ... Read more

Academic architectural education trains students to operate within an abstracted reality, operating through drawings, models, and calculations to bring together materials and approach design challenges. While this abstraction facilitates the dissection of complex problems, it risks disrupting the direct relationship between (future) architects and the materials they work with. Limited opportunities for hands- on engagement with materials and their processes on a full scale can alienate students from the tactile, contextual, and embodied knowledge of materiality.

This research explores ways of overcoming that material alienation by investigating the act of making as a physical material encounter within the context of architectural education. Emphasis is placed on both the pedagogical qualities and the spatial contexts of the act of making, with the aim of deriving its value for architectural education and exploring how a school environment can facilitate, or even stimulate, these activities. On a broader scale, it addresses the relationship that our mainstream building culture has with materials, accepting the extraction, processing, consumption and eventual disposal of precious resources. ... Read more

This is a design for a 'public' water filtration system with bathhouse facilities and housing in an existing industrial building.

Onward Edges is a response to the urban architecture brief 'lowtown downtown', in which I tried to understand the relation between centre and periphery through the lens of an ecologist. Onward Edges is a project situated in the Blikfabriek, a characteristic edge of Antwerp, an undesired, vacant factory hall. However, the edge is not only that, on the contrary the edge facilitates many functions equally important to the city's functioning as the centre. This project aims to design a space for people to live with these functions we have pushed to the edge and tries to find architectural value in otherwise unseen (eco)systems, such as water filtration. To not only live, but become consious of these systems humans depend on and build a relation of care with water and water-bound life forms that ensure its quality. The project does this by making space for the ornament, which is an oppertunity for those that inhabit the space to find symbolical, emotional meaning to the place they call home. ... Read more

Werkplaats is a graduation project situated in Hoboken, Antwerp. It reimagines the partially abandoned industrial site, the Blikfabriek. Through the adaptive reuse of two existing warehouses and the addition of a new structure, the project brings the disparate buildings together to form a coherent environment. The complex is designed around a dual program: a university of applied arts and an extension of the Hoboken Academy. These complementary functions enable the project to operate as a hybrid system where the intensity of university and academy activities fluctuates throughout the day. This generates a continuous flow of people through shared spaces, ensuring the complex remains active from morning until evening.

By balancing the industrial character with new interventions, Werkplaats explores how education and culture can activate heritage and catalyse urban regeneration. ... Read more

This project reimagines a former factory site, called the Blikfabriek, in Hoboken, Antwerp, as a vibrant social and cultural area. This project presents a potential new urban masterplan for the site and an architectural design for a community theater. The project begins with research into neighborhood dynamics, particularly the lack of inclusive public spaces. Responding to these insights, the group masterplan introduces a sequence of shared spaces along a new central axis that activates the site throughout the day.
Within this framework, the individual project transforms an old factory hall into a community theatre and drama school. This project is set in one of the abandoned factory halls. Key architectural elements of this hall, such as the orginal load bearing structure and the original brick facade are preserved as much as possible. A spacious theatre café forms the social heart of the building, opening onto a public square with flexible seating that invites casual interaction. Studios, rehearsal rooms, and study nooks provide quieter, inward-facing spaces for learning and reflection. The design of these spaces is rooted in researching and observing the community and residents in Hoboken.
By blending adaptive reuse with human-centered design, the project fosters community engagement, supporting both structured cultural programs and informal everyday use. It highlights architecture’s potential to strengthen social ties in diverse urban contexts.
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This thesis explored the proposition that Antoni Gaudí's design of the Sagrada Família enriched Christian spirituality during its formative construction period. While a multitude of architectural scholars acknowledged the unique design language and technical marvel of the cathedral. A critical gap is present in understanding how its design engendered and impacted spiritual experiences, religious practices, and communal dynamics. The purpose of the essay is to elucidate the principles through which the Sagrada Família acted as a catalyst for spiritual growth and transformation within a burgeoning secular society.
Christian Spirituality is conceptualised as 4 constructs: (1) belief systems, (2) practices, (3) experiential elements, and (4) community dynamics. Each of these domains is assessed in accordance to the construction, design themes, symbolism and the architectural language. A combination of academic scholarship of Christian spirituality and architectural history is integrated into this paper. Archival materials of photographs, drawings and media records offered insightful opinions into historical events and opinions regarding the Sagrada Familia. These sources depicted overlooked elements such as ornaments, details, etc, bringing a nuanced perspective to the underrepresented history.
The methodology started with the statement that Gaudí’s design reinforces the core aspect of the Christian belief, including the doctrine of the Trinity. Study on the Nativity and Passion facades, arrangement of towers, thus other symbolic elements that circle around the concept of the Trinity.
Apart from the doctrine, the Sagrada Familia also promoted religious practice. The expansion of scale in different parts of the cathedral increases the capacity of the services. The addition of the crypt introduced a modest design for all worshippers. The combination of these factors enhanced and elevated the experience of spirituality.
Experiential qualities were achieved through evoking fear and awe. The physical dimensions, usage of light and nature-inspired design instilled a sense of reverence and mystery to its visitors.
Lastly, the connection of the cathedral with the surrounding communities is elevated through fellowships and traditions. In many ways the Sagrada Familia was accessible to all social classes and facilitated people of diverse backgrounds to worship. In all, the architecture was an embodiment of Faith and the gospel.
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The thesis explores the relationship between the Ziggurat of Ur and the origin of power. The meaning and interpretations of power and origin are studied from an architectural point of view. The implications of architecture as a tool used to express specific beliefs are questioned. By blending archaeology, architecture, and anthropology, it examines how the ancient structure communicated divine rule and the will of its ruler. Built-in the 21st century BC, the Ziggurat not only served as a physical monument but as a tool of storytelling, reinforcing the power of its creators through its monumental form and celestial symbolism. The thesis investigates how the early stories of the Ziggurat were crafted, why they were so powerful, and how their influence is still visible today. Ultimately, it is questioned whether we are still building "ziggurats"—using storytelling and architecture to flex political power in the modern world. ... Read more

The Queen Alexandra Sanatorium in Davos was initially conceptualised as a medical apparatus: a precisely designed building to facilitate the recovery of tuberculosis patients through controlled exposure to the natural environment. Its original design from 1909 was developed following rigorous typological and hygienic principles. The design prioritised individual patient rooms, each with a private balcony, a south-facing orientation, and a facade that acted as a therapeutic filter rather than a barrier. Each element was meticulously crafted to facilitate one’s
recovery.

However, as time passed, the clarity of purpose gradually eroded. Successive adaptations, including extensions, interior compromises, and shifts in usage, have challenged the building’s original logic. The sanatorium thus became a site of negotiations between ideology and evolving need, thereby exposing the limitations of the machine metaphor in architecture.

The thesis unfolds in three chapters. The first explores the sanatorium as a typological and technological prototype of healing architecture, tracing its alignment with early modernist ideals. The second focuses on the facade, analysing how it acted as both a mediator and a mechanism for healing and how later modifications diluted its therapeutic role. The third focuses on the interior atmosphere, revealing the tensions between medical rationalism and the desire for domestic comfort. All of this represents an unresolved duality within the building’s lived experience.

Through examination of original plans, photographic documentation, and literature analysis, this thesis challenges the conventional perception of Queen Alexandra as a static symbol of the modernist idea of a machine while considering it as an evolving structure shaped by use, adaptation, and human presence. In doing so, it calls into question the viability of purely functional architecture and highlights the need to consider buildings as mutable, responsive environments. The Queen Alexandra Sanatorium is both a modernist landmark and a reminder of the fragility of architectural ideals when faced with reality. ... Read more

Existing studies often classify Gaudí as a modernist, this may stem from his deliberate departure from the traditional Gothic forms. This research offers a new contribution using the columns in the Sagrada Família to prove how Gaudí took inspiration from Gothic columns and thus how he relates to Gothic architectural history. While the columns are admired for their striking fusion of structure and aesthetics, their precise relationship to the Gothic tradition remains underexplored. This thesis investigates how Gothic columns inspired Gaudí’s design, raising the question: ‘How have the columns in the crossing of the Sagrada Família been inspired by Gothic columns in terms of structural techniques, building process and aesthetics?’

The thesis starts with secondary research into literature on Gothic architecture, Gaudi’s techniques and historian’s interpretations. It then moves to primary research on archival drawings, models and documentation from Barcelona, which may help to reveal hidden structural similarities or differences. Redrawing and modelling archival designs, will provide a case study with insights and makes it possible to visually compare key elements, from the Barcelona and Mallorca Cathedral with the Sagrada Família.

Gaudí’s columns are influenced by the gothic column on the building process and aesthetic design and partly in the structural techniques. The building process is very similar in many ways, for example the long building period and the many architects that are involved. The aesthetic of Gaudí’s column is very different, because of the structural innovations, than that of the Gothic column. Nonetheless, the aesthetic principles are remarkably similar, for example building the spiritual expressiveness. Gaudí was influenced by nature and geometry and used that to perfect the structural technique and aesthetic design principles. Gaudí is, as far as is known, the only one who used these revolutionary principles. Future research could explore how Gaudí’s column design principles might be adapted and applied to contemporary architectural structures. ... Read more

This thesis explores the legacy of Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (1923–2022), an influential architect and urban planner whose work symbolizes an underappreciated bridge between the modernist urbanism ideologies and the principles of historic preservation. Through a close reading of selected writings, projects, and teachings, this research argues that Lemco van Ginkel redefined preservation as a forward-looking modernist design strategy.
In contrast to early CIAM ideologies that often saw historic fabric as obsolete, Lemco embraced the core principles of modernism, clarity, functionality, rational planning, while also advocating for the inclusion of existing structures. Her position evolved through her involvement with CIAM’s later years and Team 10, where she increasingly aligned with more human-centered, socially responsive forms of urbanism. She saw preservation as a means to sustain the urban materials, textures, and human relationships that shape collective memory and civic identity.
Chapter I establishes that Lemco van Ginkel reframed modernism as a tool that could work “from within” the existing city. In Chapter II, the thesis explores her concept of urban memory, showing how she viewed preservation as a way to maintain the lived, multi-layered character of cities. Drawing from her teaching and participatory planning work, Lemco emphasized empirical observation, interdisciplinary learning, and social equity in her planning ethos. Chapter III details how Lemco van Ginkel built a compelling economic case for preservation. She presented that reusing old buildings made financial and ecological sense, aligning with principles of the circular economy. Preservation, she contended, was a pragmatic response to environmental limits, urban quality of life, and economic resilience. Chapter IV offers the rehabilitation of Old Montreal as a case study, where these principles were put into practice. Facing the threat of a highway that would have severed the historic district from its waterfront, the van Ginkels developed an alternative plan that prioritized urban texture, adaptive reuse, and long-term viability. Their proposal, grounded incomprehensive analysis, ultimately helped secure Old Montreal’s designation as a historic district.
It concludes by positioning Blanche Lemco van Ginkel as a transformative figure in architectural history. Her work offers methods of how urbanism can integrate modernity and memory, design and duration. Her legacy resonates strongly in contemporary efforts toward sustainable, inclusive, and heritage-conscious planning. This research proposes that studying her work can inform a more integrated approach to urban preservation today, one that preserves not only buildings, but the possibility of meaningful, resilient urban life. ... Read more

This thesis examines the relationship between architecture, ideology, and lived experience through the case study of the József Attila Housing Estate in Budapest, Hungary. The research focuses on whether architecture can truly shape thought and behaviour, or lived experience ultimately redefines the space. Built just after the Second World War, the estate is an excellent case study as it represents core socialist values. Equality, collectivism, and uniformity were the new driving forces of everyday life. This estate features prefabricated panel buildings surrounded by communal outdoor spaces, all made to foster an ideal socialist community. However, reality was far more different. An analysis of three different building scales —building, urban, and social —reveals the gaps between planned design and everyday reality. This research relies on archival materials, site visits, photographs, and oral interviews to make its case. There is a consistent misalignment between the designer's intention and the actual use of spaces by their inhabitants, as the analysis reveals. Designated communal spaces often remained underused, while informal, intimate spaces like the stairwell or the front of the house became spaces of interaction. These contradictions reveal that architecture is not fully capable of controlling its users; it can only set the scene. Residents adapted and reimagined their spaces. Rather than seeing the estate only as a failed utopia, this thesis argues for a more complex and deeper point of view. This paper challenges the architectural canon's neglect of ordinary housing by recognising both the limitations of planning and the different ways in which people have shaped daily life. It argues that spaces like the József Attila Estate are essential to understanding how architecture is truly lived, not just designed.
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This thesis explores the influence of German designer Lilly Reich (1885–1947) on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe during their thirteen-year collaboration and examines why her contributions have been overlooked in architectural history. Modern architecture has often been portrayed as the achievement of singular male architects, while many female collaborators, including Reich, played critical yet underacknowledged roles.

Before meeting Mies, Reich had established a career in textiles, interior, and exhibition design. Her early work was characterized by geometric forms, strong material and colour contrasts, and spatial compositions using textiles and individual objects, with a strong emphasis on craftsmanship and education. In contrast, Mies’s pre-collaboration work developed within architectural practice, focusing on open floor plans, restrained palettes from building materials, and fluid transitions between interior and exterior spaces.

The study compares their individual design characteristics and traces Reich’s influence across key collaborative projects, including Die Wohnung (1927), Café Samt und Seide (1927), and the Tugendhat House (1930). In these works, Reich’s characteristics such as textiles as spatial elements, bold colour contrasts, and compositions, merged with Mies’s architectural style, creating a shared design language. While authorship often blurs in such collaboration, material choices and interior arrangements frequently shows Reich’s influence.

A key case study is the 1931 exhibition The Dwelling of Our Time, the only occasion where Reich designed an architectural space alongside Mies. Their two houses, connected by a wall, offer a direct comparison: Mies’s design was spatially open, experimental, and visually integrated with the outdoors, while Reich’s was more compartmentalized, functional, and privacy oriented. Despite similarities in layout and style, Mies’s work was highly praised, whereas Reich’s was described as rigid and lacking the “elegance of the expert,” reflecting gender bias and the ongoing “solo author” narrative. Reich was frequently described as Mies’s “assistant” rather than co-author, and even her independently designed contributions were often ascribed to him.

The thesis situates Reich’s under-recognition within broader mechanisms of exclusion, in which architecture is defined by the building as a final product of a single author, marginalizing collaborative and interdisciplinary contributions. Her expertise in interiors, textiles, and exhibitions, domains historically labelled “feminine” and less architectural, remained undervalued despite being integral to their joint projects.

Ultimately, this study shows that Lilly Reich’s contributions were not merely supportive but co-creative, shaping some of the most iconic works attributed to Mies. Recognizing her role not only restores her authorship but also argues for a redefinition of authorship in architecture to include less visible yet essential contributions. ... Read more