The shopping mall as an urban catalyst: The case of Leyweg Winkelcentrum
P. SPYRIDONIDOU (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Uta Pottgiesser – Mentor (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
FWA Koopman – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
L.G.K. Spoormans – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
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Abstract
The present graduation thesis “The shopping mall as an urban catalyst” explores the idea of an urban structure where working, crafting, living, meeting, and learning are entangled. The aim of this exploration mainly lies in the creation of a “skill city”, where groups that have not yet been fully integrated into the area under research can be the protagonists of a vibrant neighborhood, while the shopping mall from a place of consumption is transformed into a community core, a place of production and exchange. At the same time, this project is a continuous research on how an existing structure with its embedded values can become future-proof, ensuring it both remains a point of reference and accomodates change according to the shifting needs and demands. This aspect was examined under the scope of urban adaptability and its interplay with the notion of heritage; revealing design strategies that were implemented on the redesign of Leyweg Winkelcentrum. To conclude, the exploration of the new role that shopping malls, as urban centers, could adopt in an ever-changing context as condensers of public life, its diverse aspects, and social groups, as hubs for social interaction and as cores of community life can be regarded as the motivation for the development of this project.