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.
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In social quandaries is an analysis of three council housing estates dating back to the 1960s, all situated within the Greater London area. The analytical framework was informed by the book “Paris Haussmann: A Model’s Relevance,” which extensively examines the Haussmann plan in Paris, employing various mediums such as writing, drawing, and photography to explain its characteristics across different dimensions.
Drawing upon the research, my study concludes in several recommendations that form the foundational basis of my research-based design. These principles have been derived from a qualitative analysis of the estates, incorporating insights from two books that cover various factors that are crucial in establishing architectural and urban spatial quality. The principles are: facilitating interaction and vegetation, the incorporation of pedways and walkways, densification, mixed typologies, a multifunctional plinth, and the inclusion of courtyards.
Consequently, the design process that has been undertaken centers around these guiding principles, using them as primary elements to create architectural and spatial quality within the redevelopment of a London council estate.
By doing this I try to complete my design objective, which is to demonstrate the value present in the social housing stock of 1960s London, emphasizing the importance of preserving or redeveloping these buildings rather than resorting to demolition. ... Read more

This thesis explores the potential of difference and disruption as a productive ground for approaching gentrification in London. Multiple forces are driving the process of gentrification, the focus lies on the aspect of postmodern consumerism. A cultural change in which the individual, through a variety of choices, can meticulously stage their own identity. This causes an erosion of cohesive norms and values. Moreover, the cityscape is changing into enclaves whose coherence with the bigger scheme of the city is diminishing. While the original urban experience, with its complex and uncertain character, is essential to form interfaces between people from different walks of life and therefore truly address intricate problems.
My research is a search for possibilities for an open society in which architecture becomes a medium for negotiation, a domain of confrontation. Approaching this angle requires a critical approach to the reciprocal relationship between architecture and the social. Moreover, in search of differences, places of juxtapositions are derived through selective mapping and research. To fully understand the difference in experiences of the same places and find opportunities for concurrence. Unfortunately, during the research, it turned out that there were too few leads. As a result, the design shifted from wanting to bring together different target groups, to a more activist direction. Namely, providing agency for displaced residents.
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This research explores the redevelopment of the H-block in Bricklane, emphasizing participatory design that foregrounds social, cultural, and symbolic processes. By focusing on “minor architecture,” the project prioritizes community engagement, low-resource interventions, and the lived experiences of residents, framing urban design as both a physical and social practice that challenges conventional power structures. ... Read more

Marketplaces are one of the most lively and magnetic spaces in the cityscape. They play a significant role in the history of the development of London, especially in the ‘long’ 18th century. Marketplaces have passed the test of time, reflecting on the socio-economic and urban changes and are still in use nowadays, to quote Ken Jones “we are what we consume, and our consumption priorities describe our society”. What makes them so successful is their inclusivity and the ability to accommodate the changes in the fast-paced urban environment.
The changes the 21st-century cities are facing need urgent response. They have to densify in order to accommodate the growing urban population, the new developments bring an additional layer of the threat of the homogenisation and detachment of the new inhabitants from the public realm, as well as gentrification and connected with that relocation of locally established communities. The research analyses the inherent qualities and the essence of marketplaces and searches for similar characteristics in other places in the city, and theoretical works to propose an overview of possibilities to create public spaces that are responsive and inclusive towards their current and new inhabitants.
Firstly, the paper analyses the past and present state of retail in London with a concentration on retail markets, learning how they operate, what traits they represent, and what role they play in the city. Further investigation looks at the importance of those places for local communities and the ways it is manifested, as well as examples of both successful and failed regenerations of the public realm concerned with community values. Understanding them showcases the ways of possibility to go against the current of changes
proposed by the new developments. Lastly, theoretical references showcase how did the designers previously approach the topics and unique, combined characteristics of the marketplaces that came to light during the previous analyses. This comprehensive analysis creates an overview of the possibilities in the designer’s vocabulary to respond to the fast-paced changes in the urban environment.
The research serves as a base for a design project for a neighbourhood public space in the borough of Tower Hamlets. The proposal highlights the values of the existing community and looks into ways to combine them with the new developments in the neighbourhood. The design combines the reuse of existing buildings in a post-industrial context as well as proposing a new development for the neighbourhood. ... Read more

In this paper, design principles for a co-housing project focused at young adults (18-27 years old) wishing to live in the Tarwewijk in Rotterdam Zuid are being proposed. These principles are based on literary research, reference projects, fieldwork and workshops held for students familiar with the design location. Topics that are touched upon are affordability, co-housing principles and the living wishes of young adults wishing to live in Rotterdam Zuid. While the target group did not perfectly fit the proposed target group, results were interpreted as if they were. The most important findings through different methods of research, among others, include that different types of housing should be realised, the building should contain several shared facilities in rooms which have a flexible floorplan, the neighbourhood should be involved in shared spaces, housing units should be designed as small and with as little walls as possible and that bathrooms and bedrooms should always be private. These results were combined into a design brief specifically created for the Tarwewijk in Rotterdam Zuid, yet the basic principles can be implemented in other affordable co-housing projects as well. ... Read more

Under the overarching theme of Bricolage, the studio’s task has been to rethink the given situation and to develop a proposal for the revitalization of the Molenpoort site in the south of the city of Nijmegen – both on urban and on spatial scale. There, the shopping mall of the Molenpoort Passage has implanted itself in the middle of the old town. A manifesto of contemporary architecture from the 70ties, comprising a faceless building complex, merely dedicated to shopping and consumption in an atmosphere of constant overstimulation. Based on two hypotheses, (i) that human beings are strongly dependent on rituals and routines on the one hand, and (ii) that we are increasingly in need of a built environment that radiates stability and community on the other hand, the question arose about the connection/interaction between architecture and the performance of rituals. How can we develop an architecture, which encourages daily as well as ceremonial rituals which become an integral part in humans regular habits, in order to strengthen a sense of belonging and togetherness? The idea for my urban plan was to break up the big mass (the shopping center), into a loose ensemble of smaller buildings, which fit in size into the surroundings and unite the plot into a new community. Overall it shall be a place of education and hospitality. With the design of a primary school and boarding house I wanted to create a safe environment and once again a community, a school community, with its own rituals and routines. ... Read more

This project is about the transformation of a shopping mall called 'the Molenpoort' located in the city centre of Nijmegen. From this location I try to enter in conversation about - and most of all - with architecture. I try to challenge what the change of perspective from people to buildings can mean when looking at a city, to the interrelationships between buildings and building elements and what it can mean for our realisation of time. What can we learn about time and trends we find nowadays in architecture? What time is this place? By anthropomorphizing buildings I try to apply terms coming from social studies on buildings - on architecture. The project will show that a very refined way of looking at several architectural scales is reached while at the same time complexities related to construction, climate design, architecture and urban design are covered. Key terms which are finding their way on all these facettes are reciprocity and kinship.
Moreover, this whole research is done within the theme of our studio 'Bricolage' which encouraged me to intertwine research and different design methods with each other resulting in a very diverse set of products - from film fragments, rendering images, collages, working models to products like technical one-point perspectives drawings made by hand.
In the end, the most important notion for me was that a building as a character is not interesting if it is completely straight, following the engineered rules, like a real person is not interesting without an internal conflict. I dare to say now that the building becomes a speaking character from its peculiar irregularities, strange features, awkward bendings. Let’s embrace and celebrate architecture from here and give it a face.

I decided to upload my work together with the final presentation text and my design journal. In that way I hope that people can follow the experimental and challenging way of looking and - maybe one day - want to share some thoughts with me.
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Shopping Passage The Molenpoort in Nijmegen is an indoor shopping centre that in current times is struggling with decreasing visitor numbers and rapidly growing shop vacancies. The municipality of Nijmegen has plans to demolish the building completely, and create an outdoor -generic- shopping street with apartments on top. Research points out that there is no need for more chain stores in the city centre of Nijmegen, instead people want more specialized shops with local products. A new urban plan for the area is designed, in which parts of the original building are demolished, but most of it is kept to house new programs. Focus of the urban plan was chosen to be the public Music & Arts School, which is created in the existing concrete structure located in between the busy Molenstraat and the new green courtyard. A detailed investigation of the existing structure of the building pointed out some systematic characteristics of the construction, and on the other hand some unique particularities. The leading concept of the design became to articulate, show and appreciate these characteristics and particularities of the existing structure. The Music & Arts School has a variety of rooms, all with different acoustic requirements. The final design is a result of experimentation with the goal of finding the sweet spot between the poetics that came from the structure and the functional requirements for the interior spaces. ... Read more

This thesis aims to develop a new urban and architectural condition for the site of the existing Molenpoort shopping centre, within Nijmegen’s city centre. The project aims to investigate how play can be considered as part of urban and architectural design in an attempt to make a healthier and more engaging city to live in. ... Read more

Nijmegen, known as the oldest city in the Netherlands, shows many periods and events in history in its architecture. Ruins, walls and contrasts of styles are proof of events that had shaped the city as we can see it today. In the borders of the centre, The Molenpoort, a hybrid between a shopping mall and a passage that was before a place of encounter, has to turn into an empty area and is now about to change.

The following document aims to present architecture as a process in continuous transformation, exploring how new interventions can adapt to existing conditions, respond to given needs, and speculate about a future in which buildings will need to evolve.

A decomposition of the city and the site’s layers and fragments will be the base for an architecture intervention. Strategies to create an adaptable architecture to its contexts and can be transformed in the future will be explored and implemented in an urban proposal.

Bricolage will be used as a methodology to achieve a project that combines many elements that the city has to offer into a coherent architectural proposal. ... Read more

Transform is the keyword for the situation we are in. The climate is changing and we do to. Our needs change every day, and we like the change. We like the transformation, because that is life. We search for goals. Goals that help us to become something we always wanted to be. This year was all about learning and evolving and I enjoyed every minute of it. Even the lows with all that happened in the world and around us I tried to make the most of this year. I found my self as a student that is slowly transforming in something that looks like an architect. I learned to trust myself and my decisions and followed my fascinations. This book became a journal, a collection of my memories, thoughts and designs. It has been a journey. And you will see that though out this booklet. In addition to this booklet I have written a story that explains the coversation between me and the project. The project ‘The Spring’ is not only a search to master the science and art of making space, but also to search for the poetics of space. Architecture is more than making room for people, it forms people and how they live. With this project i tried to study the changes we can make to solve the problems of to day and the future. ... Read more

Bricolage is a interesting word.It was used with reference to some extraneous movement and means an unexpected result，It was later derived as a
means of solving problems only using the tools at hand. And this essay is a journey to compare bricolage in daily life and bricolage in architecture field to discover what bricolage means in city renovation in both urban and architecture scale. ... Read more

The design and research developed in a Lexicon of bricolage definitions of Nijmegen, becoming a new way of recomposing an understandable language as a research product that could be shared but also interpreted by everyone. The research highlights the value of the context, related to typologies, fragments using beguinages as a guiding reference as urban enclaves that generated positive alterity worth re-propose in the contemporary city. Moreover, in the “Bricolage layout” I propose an interpretation of the term bricolage from a theoretical and practical framework including works of art, literature, architecture, design as representative elements of the approach. The layout concludes with some of my critical conclusions to design with the aim of diffusing the concept of bricolage as a guiding approach that everyone should consider, and find the bricoleur hidden in them. ... Read more

Bricolage is a way of thinking, researching and designing. From the perspective of architect, we build our realm using the existing constructing logic and limited materials, to make something new from the old, which seems to be a low-key but efficient way for renovation of Passage de Molenpoort. Date back to 1972, the popularity of the American shopping mall gave birth to de Molenpoort in Nijmegen, the first shopping mall in Europe. Because it is a product of emulation, the Molenpoort did not take root in the city, but isolated from the context and grew savagely in the city center. On the one hand, ignoring the problems and simply protect it as a heritage building make no contribution to the rebirth of “dead mall”. On the other hand, totally replace the Molenpoort with another building will also be a loss for Nijmegen. In my proposal, I step back and review the whole evolution history as well as thinking over the existing problems hiding in the Molenpoort. And then I use all the materials in hand and all the ideas in my mind, to bricolage a Commercial Fulfillment Center, which is not only a solution to reinvent the "dead passage", but also a transitional product between retail architecture and public realm aiming at returning our public life back to the urban realm. ... Read more

Mundanity and spirituality are two important key words in bricolage. However, with the development of the times, mudnanity and spirituality have taken on a new dimension. For mundanity, people's right to creative freedom in their everyday lives has been greatly restricted. In the case of spirituality, the complexities of the present age are also becoming increasingly apparent. This project aims to discuss how these two points can be reflected in the design. ... Read more

The design assignment is located in Molenstraat, Nijmegen, and involves interventions through two existing buildings. Finding place in both a historical building (the Parish Hall built in the 19th century) and an obsolete building (the Molenpoort shopping center built in the seventies) this project seeks for the specific interventions needed for renovation and transformation to enhance future use. This developed through both valuing the Parish Hall with its monumental façade and further ornaments of the past, and valuing the Molenpoort with its re-usable concrete structure. This juxtaposition of different interventions resulted in a sustainable, yet sensitive approach; by extending the lifespan of the buildings and simultaneously respecting the historical layers. This similarly aligns with the key elements of the urban plan, in which the aim was to create intimate spaces and to create an engaging place for the community.

The overarching theme of the studio was Bricolage, in which ' using what comes at hand' played a central role. Starting with an assembly of different existing structures, the project seeked for an assembly in experiences as well by the concept of a meandering route throughout both buildings. This project seeks close connections between the regarding buildings, artists and visitors by introducing the artist-in-residence program into the art gallery. This artists-in-residence program contributes to the mission of the art gallery: to bridge cultural boundaries and to create awareness for inclusiveness of different cultures. Hereby, the goal is to reach public engagement and access to art and artists of different cultures. By the artist-in-residence program, artists of different nationalities come together and contribute to the concept of this art gallery: to create, exhibit and share. As the regarding site developed beforehand as an assembly of different purposes, typologies and time, this architectural proposal aims to continue within this evolution of the site.
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What are the preconditions for aleatory occurrence of social interaction? Can unexpected public activities be catalyzed by specific spatial characteristic? The objective of the thesis is to explore the flexibility, mobility and adaptiveness in architecture and urban domain through the research of “Public Condenser” within multiplicity and complexity of political, economic and cultural conditions in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Instead of proposing fixed programs that inform people how to behave, the public condenser allows spaces for multiple narratives by diverse users. The design proposed a urban living room for sharing and creativity that facilitates the encounter of unknown. ... Read more

This thesis introduces the public Condenser, Spaces of Familiarity in the ultramodern district as a counter-reaction against the changing patterns of public, cultural and social practices, associated with the societal change taking place recently. Spaces of familiarity are the spaces where different patterns of social and cultural practices are stimulated in order to reinforce pluralism, social interaction, sense of belonging, and dialogue between the culturally, ethnically and religiously different people. The paper examines the notion of Heidegger’s familiarity using its apparatuses “involvement” and “understanding” within the milieu of the modernist context and its relevance for designing a contemporary public condenser which represents the changing patterns of public, social and cultural practices of the society.
The project, thus, explores the potential of familiarity by transforming the anonymous public space, into familiar and known public condenser for the diverse residents of the district. Architecture as the art of mediation and reconciliation between different elements, it will try to evoke public sense of belonging to the community and to its built environment, through being a mediator between the mono-functional modernist district and the diverse people of South-West district. ... Read more