Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant global increase in mental health disorders, predicted to rise even further. University students are particularly affected due to their high prevalence of and sensitivity to mental health-related problems. Specifically in the Netherlands, this is further exacerbated by the ongoing housing crisis, which forces many students into poor-quality, cramped accommodations. This research explores how phenomenological principles can inform student housing design to enhance mental well-being. Using a literature review, case studies, interviews, and participatory sketching, the study identifies key architectural elements that support mental well-being. Among these, the most important findings highlight the importance of accessible and visible greenery from the dwelling, ample direct sunlight, quiet bedrooms, communal spaces and the presence of a courtyard.

This thesis explores how sensory design principles, shaped by the perspectives of visually impaired children, can enhance the accessibility of educational environments. The primary research question is: “In what way can the perspective of a child and sensory design principles enhance the accessibility of educational environments for visually impaired children in, for example, the Tarwewijk?” The study emphasizes the integration of sensory elements such as sight, touch and sound to create more navigable and supportive spaces for these children. A mixed-methods approach was employed, consisting of a literature review, observations in blind simulation environments, and interviews with an architect who has a visual impairment. These methods provided valuable insights into the practical application of sensory design for visually impaired children. The research revealed that multisensory design elements, like tactile markers and sound cues, significantly enhance accessibility and foster cognitive and social development in visually impaired children. Prioritizing sensory inclusivity in design can promote greater independence and engagement in these spaces. In conclusion, sensory design informed by the needs and perspectives of visually impaired children improves the accessibility and usability of educational environments. Future research should build upon these findings by incorporating more case studies and expert insights to deepen understanding and enhance design practices. Keywords: sensory design, visually impaired children, accessibility, educational environments, multisensory design, tactile markers, sound cues, sensory inclusivity, independence, cognitive development, social development.

Habits profoundly physical and mental health, shaping behaviours such as exercise, diet, and
social interaction. Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), responsible for 70% of global deaths,
are closely linked to unhealthy lifestyle factors, including inactivity, poor diet, and social isolation. Tarwewijk, a neighbourhood in Rotterdam, shows elevated rates of obesity, limited healthy food options, and challenges related to mental resilience and social interaction, making it an ideal context for exploring architectural strategies to promote healthy habits.

This research investigates the role of architectural design in fostering health-oriented behaviours, bridging gaps in the interdisciplinary understanding of habits, health, and architecture. Drawing from environmental psychology and anthropology, the study integrates theoretical insights from scholars like Jane Jacobs and Jan Gehl with the concept of “nudging” to subtly encourage healthier choices while addressing ethical considerations.

Fieldwork, case studies, and literature reviews form the methodological backbone, uncovering existing and missing habits in Tarwewijk and assessing architectural influences on behaviour. Key findings highlight the significance of multifunctional spaces, accessibility, visibility, and the integration of transit and destination roles in designing for health. Case studies reveal the potential of adaptive spaces and spontaneous activity programming to promote participation.

The study culminates in design guidelines tailored to Tarwewijk, emphasizing:
1.Integration of local habits into programming.
2.Addressing NCD risk factors through the program
3.Ensuring participation by enhancing multifunctionality, transit-destination synergy, programming spontaneous activities and spatial visibility.

The research contributes to understanding how architecture can influence habitual behaviours, offering actionable design principles to reduce NCD risks and foster healthier communities.

With the rising numbers of people with dementia and unsuitable houses for people with dementia there is a need for alternative housing for people with dementia. Previous studies are focussed on designing for people with dementia and not on their caregivers and the caregiver’s burden. This research focusses on decreasing the caregivers’ burden and finding a way people can stay at their home longer. Through literature studies, interviews, fieldwork and floorplan analysis I analysed how people with dementia and their informal caregivers experience their current living spaces and how they conceptualize future ideal possibilities for housing. Results indicate a design complex that allows people to move within the complex helps people to stay in their familiar environment. Furthermore, informal caregivers can rely on neighbours who are in similar situations. This research is necessary addition to current research because of its focus on people with dementia and their informal caregivers as duos who want to stay together.

This research aims to develop design guidelines that foster a healthy living environment in the Tarwewijk neighborhood of Rotterdam. The focus is on creating a project that not only enhances residents’ well-being but also contributes to local biodiversity. By integrating nature into the design, the study will explore how ecological strategies can positively impact residents. Understanding these design interventions will help create living spaces that promote healthier, more sustainable lifestyles for the community, ultimately aiming to prevent future issues related to well-being.

The research emphasizes that designing a healthy living environment is a multifaceted approach spanning various scales, each playing a vital role in enhancing the overall well-being of Tarwewijk residents. In neighborhoods like Tarwewijk, where health challenges and environmental concerns intersect, integrating nature and co-housing principles across various scales can create a supportive, resilient, and healthier environment. These elements not only improve the quality of life for individuals but also foster social cohesion, a sense of community, and biodiversity, key factors for long-term well-being. To address this, designers can incorporate various guidelines applicable at different scales to enhance residents’ well-being.

MADE TO MOVE is a design that addresses the growing health issues caused by inactivity, especially in neighborhoods like Tarwewijk in Rotterdam- Zuid. Worldwide, and particularly in lower-income areas, physical activity is decreasing, leading to negative impacts on our health. This project offers an innovative solution: an office design that encourages employees to join sports sessions after work. Additionally, the building’s roof, accessible to local residents, provides free sports and social facilities. In a city like Rotterdam, where space for sports facilities is becoming increasingly scarce, this concept offers a smart way to create more opportunities for movement without taking up additional space.

This graduation project explores how architecture can support informal care practices and foster social cohesion in urban neighborhoods. Set in Tarwewijk, Rotterdam, the project combines participatory research, feminist care ethics, and spatial analysis to understand how care manifests in public and semi-public spaces. Through interviews, observations, and mapping, the research identifies “care nodes”,  spatially defined places where informal care emerges. These findings were translated into a design proposal for a community-centered intervention, including a public square, a multifunctional building with a communal kitchen, and inclusive housing. The design emphasizes accessibility, interaction, and flexibility to facilitate everyday encounters and support care as a relational and spatial practice. Rather than treating care as a fixed program, the project approaches it as an evolving and situated form of engagement, embedded in the rituals of daily life. This work contributes to architectural discourses on care, commons, and inclusion, and proposes a methodology for designing with, rather than for, communities.

This history thesis tells the story of a pioneer: architect, visionary and inventor Jón Kristinsson (Reykjavík, 1936). He is a well-known figure within the Dutch context for his integral approach to architecture and his perseverance in pursuing his ambitions for his designs from the late 1960s until the early 2010s. The following research question is addressed: What was the role of Jón Kristinsson in the development of minimum-energy building design in the Netherlands?. In the first chapter, a brief history of sustainability is given, historically grounding the thesis through overview literature by architects and professors Djalali & Vollaard (2008), Loorbach (2024) and Steele (2005). It becomes clear that Kristinsson does not stand alone, pioneering his own approach while following new ideologies. In chapter two, the history of minimum-energy building in the Netherlands, as written by scholars Van Hal & De Vries (2000), Zeiler (2013), Melet (1999) and Kristinsson himself, is combined with the history of Kristinsson through primary sources and case studies. Kristinsson develops his integral design approach early on, while Dutch policies follow international crises at first. Only from the 1990s, after a time of experimentation, a programmatic approach was applied nationally, characterized by non-compulsion and rational norms. It is evident that Kristinsson played various roles, both as an architect and a teacher. As a pioneer, he contributed not only to the physical development of minimum-energy buildings, but also to the development of an ideology that is integrated sustainable design. These are the kind of stories we need to tell, to continue working towards a sustainable future today.

This thesis concerns the historical relationship between the built environment and water in the Dutch delta area. The area is a region characterized by its proximity to water. This brings benefits like fishing, trade, and culture, but also comes with threats, like floods. The study addresses a gap in the literature on this topic related to the built environment. The research aims to determine what the built environment in the Dutch delta area can tell us about living with water.
The thesis goes over a historical analysis and three case studies: the Plompetoren in Koudekerke, the church of Simonshaven, and the town of Zuidland. The first is the only remnant of a drowned town, the second is a building that withstood multiple floods, and the third is a town showing variation in outcome between different streets as a result of the flood disaster of 1953.
From these studies, it can be determined that resilience against water is more important than protection from water. Elevation, material choice, and spatial planning are essential. When a form of protection fails, it is vital that it is possible to recover quickly.
As climate changes and the sea level rises, more and more coastal regions worldwide face similar threats. The lessons learned from this thesis are thus becoming increasingly important nowadays.

The thesis explores the historical ethnographic study of the Malaysian domestic garden which integrates a multi-disciplinary lens, taking into account areas of architecture, landscape, culture studies, food studies, and media studies. It argues that the nuanced perception of the garden and its close relationship with the kitchen in the Malaysian context is tied to a shared cultural origin of the village which helped shaped perceptions of botany, practice, and food. This relationship is subsequently maintained into the urban-suburban context and reflected in the layouts of housing plans and present-day community gardening projects.

This thesis explores the act of community gardening within the metropolitan landscape, using the Vredestuin community garden in Rotterdam as a case study. It investigates how community gardens function as complex spaces that touch upon multiple fields of study.

Through a multidisciplinary approach, the research draws from the fields of Landscape Architecture, Phenomenology, Philosophy and Social Geography, engaging with the works of Edward Relph, Saskia de Wit, Michel Foucault, Henri Lefebvre, and Edward Soja. It contrasts the concept of place, as explored through the lens of Landscape Architecture, with the social production of space, examined through the lens of Philosophy ans Social Geography.

By participating in its daily activities of the Vredesruin, the thesis uncovers the lived reality of this space: its inclusivity, challenges, and the networks it fosters.

Ultimately, this research advocates for an assertive spatial approach. It calls upon Landscape Architects and designers to move beyond disciplinary boundaries and to mediate between the municipality and the community; to embrace multiple viewpoints. Community gardens, it argues, are not just sites of cultivation and gardening pleasure, but active, social, and political spaces that hold transformative potential for shaping more just and inclusive metropolitan landscapes.

This thesis examines Amsterdam’s Vondelpark through a historical and architectural lens, revealing a complex conflict between cultural preservation and environmental sustainability. Designed by Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher in the English Garden Style. They envisioned it as a romantic, picturesque retreat within the city. However, it has been proven that this design, based on aesthetics, is not compatible with Amsterdam’s geotechnical foundation.
Built on top of unstable peat soil without the common layer of applied sand, Vondelpark faces continuous subsidence, groundwater issues and high tree mortality. Chapter 1 delves into building on the geological foundations of Amsterdam, highlighting its challenges. Chapter 2 will explore the park’s origin and the historic characteristics of the design. Chapter 3 will focus on the ecological consequences for the trees: roots unable to grow, pruned trees, failed attempts to save what is left, and the reliance on artificial interventions to keep up the ‘natural’ image.
With growing evidence of this environmental mismatch, the park’s monumental status limits the chances of alterations. This leaves the result of a park caught between past and present. While celebrated for its natural beauty, it needs an increasing number of unnatural efforts to maintain that beauty. With the case of Vondelpark, this thesis highlights a broader dilemma in park design: how to accommodate historical preservation with ecological sustainability in a world that is changing. It argues that future urban landscapes must look further than a static image and embrace an ecologically integrated design.

This thesis explores the evolving relationship between architecture and nature in the Netherlands, focusing on how the perception of nature has shifted from an extractive to an integrated, nature-inclusive way of living. Historically, Dutch architecture was marked by mastery and control over the landscape, through land reclamation and rational spatial planning. This research analyzes historical and contemporary case studies using image analysis to reveal how these changing values are visually and spatially constructed. Drawing from literature in environmental psychology, architecture theory, and urban planning, the study shows how architectural practices reflect broader societal shifts in the human-nature relationship. Images of nature are carriers of Dutch identity, reflecting cultural and environmental values. As these perceptions evolve, so too does the role of nature in design. This study highlights how nature is not merely a backdrop for architecture, but an active cultural element embedded with meaning, identity, and ideology. By doing so, it contributes to architectural history by showing that understanding contemporary design requires a critical reassessment of our historical relationship with nature.

There is a lack of research into how the proliferation of the mission station became part of the tangible colonial infrastructure (road, rail and military networks) which crept into the African landscape. Importantly, Frescura (1985, 2015, 2021) lays the groundwork for this by documenting the multitude of mission stations within the South African landscape, as well as their impact on the societies in which they were established. This research aims to close this gap by pulling together the establishment of mission stations in the Eastern Cape and their relationship to other functions such as healthcare and education. These relationships were precursors to the subsequent expansion of the British colonial empire. The sequential chain of mission infrastructure spaces and buildings are explained through maps constructed by the author, archival photographs and drawing analysis. The data depicts a range of infrastructure networks, from broader transport/logistical and governmental infrastructure to spaces of exchange (what is happening in an individual classroom at a granular level). This essay further explores the repercussions of this infrastructure history on the present day education system in the former Transkei/Ciskei regions in the Eastern Cape.

This thesis examines the historical development and contemporary revival of earth construction in architecture, investigating how vernacular building techniques are being reinterpreted in response to today’s environmental and social challenges. Through a comparative and historically grounded analysis, the study explores how earthen architecture—once rooted in collective, site-based knowledge—has evolved across regions and continues to shape sustainable design practices.
By combining historical research, visual analysis, and case study methodology, the thesis demonstrates that many so-called innovations in earth architecture are grounded in long-standing traditions. It highlights the shift from communal building methods to industrialized systems, raising questions about authorship, access, and the role of the architect in mediating between inherited knowledge and contemporary demands.
The findings argue that understanding the cultural and technical history of earth construction is essential to reimagining architectural practice in more ecological, inclusive, and context-sensitive ways.

Keywords: Earth construction, building techniques, sustainable architecture, vernacular architecture, building history.

Nowadays, Biophilic Design (BD) has become more well-known in architecture, without a good understanding of the term’s conceptual foundations and, therefore, its true meaning. Existing literature predominantly focuses on the characteristics and features of BD, while the historical context of its emergence is underexamined, leading to conceptual misunderstanding and a gap in the literature. This study explores the development of the term BD, primarily in the United States, from the mid-twentieth century to its formal definition in 2008 by positioning it in a broader historical and interdisciplinary context. Based on the analysis of primary and secondary literature sources, this research identifies four significant moments of collaboration between experts from different disciplines that led to BD’s formulation. Moreover, it highlights multiple influential figures throughout the emergence, most notably Stephen Kellert, who first mentioned the term BD at the beginning of the 21st century. The study shows that BD is a broad term shaped by theories in an interdisciplinary context and is, therefore, not confined to the single discipline of architecture.

Architecture in Africa didn’t begin with colonialism, it had deep roots long before. People built with the local land, using methods that worked for their climate, culture, and way of life. These systems weren’t outdated. They were smart, flexible, and sustainable. Colonial rule disrupted all of that. Western models were brought in, and slowly, local traditions were sidelined. Even after independence, many countries kept building with Western ideas, thinking that this showed progress. But these designs often didn’t fit the environment, and they made countries more dependent on imported systems. This thesis follows that story. From the early days of disruption to the present-day efforts to bring traditional building back, it shows how African architecture changed and how it’s being reclaimed. The effects of imitation were felt not just in how buildings looked, but in how people were taught. Still, this isn’t just a story of loss. It’s one of resistance too. Architects like Kéré, Kamara, and Fathy have shown that local traditions
can offer powerful solutions. Their work proves that you don’t have to choose between being modern and being rooted in place, you can be both. African architecture needs more support, through education and policies which values local knowledge. Reclaiming architectural identity isn’t about nostalgia, it's about building futures that are sustainable, inclusive, and grounded in cultural identity. That’s not just a design challenge. It’s a shift in mindset.

The paper provides a deeper understanding of the Atrium from Roman antiquity and 20th century German Architecture. At first, starting with the writings of Vitruvius and the functional and social role of the Roman Domus. Then, continuing with the modern Atrium in the 20th century, with their new concept. Lastly, drawing attention to the Atrium designed by Heinz Bienefeld and his idea of using ancient concepts and combining them with a modern design. By comparing the ancient and modern Atrium concepts, this research is going to highlight the timelessness of this typology and, of course, its change of use throughout the different time periods.

This thesis critically assesses the architectural origin and developmental discourse of Cape Dutch buildings in South Africa, tracing back their formation under Dutch colonialism and questioning the ethical and ecological implications of their preservation in the present day. Structured around the key tension between vernacular adaptation and colonial imposition, the study observes the assumption that buildings constructed under the very real agency of enslaved and indigenous labour have been subjected to historical revivalism and modern conservation practices. With a focus on archival research, discourses of architects, theorists and writers, and material studies, this thesis observes the environmental substantiation for vernacular materials including clay and thatch, looking at the integrity of modern conventions that highlight aesthetically driven renovation versus viable, historical conservation. Although Cape Dutch architecture has been the subject of deep historical analysis, its ongoing relevance in forming contemporary heritage narratives and conservation strategies remains underexamined. Furthermore, heritage tourism exudes an additional burden on the redevelopers. This is explored with a particular focus on the revivalist efforts of, namely the architect and significant contributor to the trajectory of Cape Dutch discourse, Sir Herbert Baker, in the first decades of the twentieth century. His role in redefining Cape Dutch architecture as a national style is explored, as well as the implications for British colonial and Afrikaner nationalist identity projects. Additionally, the case studies of Groot Constantia and Vergelegen Wine Estate act to unpack this narrative and underexplored field, through revealing how architectural conservation collides with commercialisation, heritage tourism, and uncertainties of post-apartheid architectural identity. Finally, this thesis surfaces that rather than being preserved only as an aesthetic legacy, Cape Dutch architecture needs attention as a continued focus of negotiation, one that is evidently aware of its colonial past but also opens space for participatory practices of heritage. By connecting architectural history to issues of material authenticity, power and memory, this study contributes to broader conversations about how colonial-era architecture should be critically conserved today.

This research paper aims to reposition biodiversity not as a merely biological concern, but as a critical lens for architectural and landscape design. By tracing its historical and contemporary roles from the 16th to the 21st century, the study reveals how perceptions of biodiversity have evolved. A four-driver framework – cultural, symbolic, environmental, and economic, serves as the central hypothesis and analytical tool, applied through both visual analytical timelines of primary sources and textual analysis of both primary and secondary sources. These are contextualized through three Dutch case studies to examine how biodiversity has been integrated into design across time. The findings demonstrate a shift from biodiversity as a symbolic and cultural ornament to its current role as an environmental and ecological imperative. Historical practices reveal a continuity of values that shape modern ecological strategies, where nature emerges as an active component in architectural design. The study underscores that biodiversity-inclusive architecture is not a recent innovation, but part of a long-evolving narrative influenced by shifts in technology, policy, and societal values. It also
emphasizes that the four drivers do not act in isolation, but in constant interplay. Finally, the research highlights the importance of expanding the geographic and cultural scope in future investigations, positioning this study as a foundation for broader architectural discourse.