Connecting through Rituals
How architecture can support social rituals - with a special focus on schools and exemplified by the proposal to revitalize the Molenpoort Passage in Nijmegen
S.E. Ihrig (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
PELJC Vermeulen – Mentor (TU Delft - Situated Architecture)
J.D. Fokkinga – Mentor (TU Delft - Architectural Engineering)
Leeke Reinders – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Situated Architecture)
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Abstract
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.