This thesis addresses the growing issue of loneliness in urban areas—especially among the elderly, single parents, and children—by investigating how playful, sensory-integrated environments can foster social connection. Focusing on Pendrecht in Rotterdam Zuid, the study draws on Johan Huizinga’s Homo Ludens to explore play as a spontaneous, sensory experience that supports well-being. Using a holistic, multi-method approach—including ethnographic research and spatial analysis—the study finds that loneliness is linked not just to social factors, but also to physical and environmental conditions. Challenges vary across age groups, pointing to the need for inclusive, accessible, and stimulating public spaces. The thesis proposes “playful peripheries”—networks of sensory-rich, welcoming spaces around Pendrecht—as a design strategy to encourage curiosity, interaction, and environmental health. Ultimately, it argues that combating loneliness requires designing urban spaces that promote both human and environmental well-being through play, accessibility, and sensory engagement.

Low literacy remains a persistent societal challenge, particularly in disadvantaged urban areas like Feijenoord, Rotterdam, where 36% of adults struggle with basic reading and writing. This research explores the potential role of architecture and the built environment in enabling literacy development. Through a combination of literature review, demographic analysis, interviews, and observations, this research aims to investigate if built facilities in Rotterdam-Zuid can promote and enable the development of literacy among residents to contribute to a more inclusive and destigmatizing society.

The findings reveal that existing literacy-promoting amenities in Feijenoord, such as community centers and libraries, face challenges related to visibility, accessibility, and stigma. Insights from interviews with low-literate individuals highlight the importance of multifunctional, inviting, and destigmatizing environments. Transparent entrances, clear signage, and a welcoming atmosphere can significantly reduce psychological barriers and encourage participation. The study also emphasizes the potential of multifunctional accommodations (MFAs) and camouflage learning, where literacy development is seamlessly integrated into everyday activities such as sports, cooking, and social interactions.

This research concludes that architecture, when thoughtfully designed, can contribute to enabling literacy by creating engaging, accessible spaces that support informal and formal learning. By leveraging spatial design strategies that prioritize inclusion, cities can empower low-literate individuals and foster more just urban environments.

Architectural graduation project containing a research and design for the Notre Dame of Paris. The research focusses on reinterpreting the Notre Dame of Paris based on seven interviews. The interviews are bundled in a set of narrative drawings that approach the building and its environment as intangible domain containing rather the social context. Based upon this research a design for a reconstruction is proposed. A new roof and spire is introduced and explained along the ambiguity of the research and by the eyes of people.

Over the past decades the act of play has taken on an ever-decreasing form of
importance in society. This not only leads to the absence of its accompanying
architecture, but also to more boring, uniform and hollow spaces. With the ambition of designing for the homo ludens of today, research was first carried out into the characteristics of places where play arises, after which these findings could be translated in architectural objects provoking introspective play through a deep experience of place, to be found at De Hoge Veluwe National Park.