From Smooth City to Porous City

Abstract

Contemporary cities are becoming increasingly diverse, while at the same time public space is often characterized by anonymity, generalization, social fragmentation, and a lack of spontaneous interaction. This graduation project, Buurtenergie, investigates the role of architecture in redefining public space within a hyperdiverse society through the transformation of the Power Plant in The Hague. In this project, public space is understood as both indoor and outdoor space where strangers, despite their differences, can coexist with mutual respect. People can appropriate the space and engage in everyday encounters.
The research combines a theoretical study with systematic observations of public spaces in The Hague. Literature from architecture, urbanism, sociology, and philosophy is used to examine themes such as porosity, social cohesion, appropriation, and the relationship between design and everyday social interaction. These insights are complemented by ethnographic observations that investigate how different users interact with architectural interventions in public space. Together, these methods result in a catalogue of spatial interventions and design principles that form the foundation of the architectural proposal.
The design proposes the transformation of part of the Power Plant into a new form of public space that extends beyond the conventional distinction between building and city. Rather than prescribing fixed uses, the project creates spatial conditions that encourage appropriation, temporary occupation, encounter, retreat, and experimentation. A flexible spatial framework, consisting of accessible infrastructure, adaptable program, gradual transitions between inside and outside, and a diversity of spatial qualities, allows the building to evolve alongside the changing needs of its neighborhood while maintaining its public character.
The project concludes that architecture can contribute to social cohesion in hyperdiverse cities not by controlling behaviour or accommodating every possible need, but by offering opportunities for diverse forms of use and interaction. It therefore redefines public space as an inclusive and porous environment, both indoors and outdoors, that supports coexistence, (temporary) appropriation, and everyday encounters between strangers. In doing so, the project demonstrates how architectural interventions can contribute to more democratic, adaptable, and socially resilient urban environments.