From Space to Place
Reimagining The Collective Identity of Delfzijl
E.R. de Jong (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Antonio Cantero – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
S. Lee – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
T.A. Daamen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
The project 'From Space to Place' explores how architecture can respond to the psychosocial impact of Groningen’s gas extraction issues on the local population, while supporting the development of the leisure economy in the region. Through a design in Delfzijl, a coastal town in the northeast of Groningen, a fragile socio-economic context is studied in relation to the development of the tourism industry. The project uses the ‘third place’ theory by Oldenburg (1989) as a framework to explore how architecture can mediate between addressing residents’ psychosocial wellbeing and becoming a socio-economic catalyst for the region, which leads to the following research question: How can a ‘third place’ in Delfzijl embed a sense of place and foster psychological resilience for residents, while performing as a socio-economic catalyst for the region?
To answer this question, the project combines literature readings, reference projects and a research-by-design approach to design a spatial intervention that addresses the aforementioned concepts. It concludes that the introduction of a mixed civic programme, split between a pavilion and main building, can serve both residents and visitors without losing its value and identity as a public destination. Using spatial strategies such as framed views, distinguishing materials, layered circulation, and differentiating spatial atmospheres, a sense of place and psychological resilience are fostered and strengthened. The design demonstrates that architecture in Delfzijl can mediate between wellbeing, identity and revitalization in a complex socio-economic context.