The housing crisis in the Netherlands has been a growing concern, resulting in public outcry. This crisis stems from long-term political preferences for market-regulated housing, resulting in rising prices, increased rents, long social housing waitlists, and foreign investment-driven property purchases. The dissolution of the Ministry of Housing in 2010 and subsequent decentralization of responsibilities further worsened the situation. However, the ministry’s reinstatement in 2022 underscores the urgency to address this crisis.
A primary issue is the quantitative shortage of homes, with the government aiming to build 900,000 houses by 2030 to accommodate population growth and changing household structures. However, land scarcity, particularly in densely populated areas like the Randstad, complicates this goal. Thus, densifying existing urban areas emerges as a possible solution.
Post-war neighborhoods, present significant potential for densification. These areas, housing around 710.000 people, face socio-economic challenges, including the concentration of vulnerable demographics, increased perceived loneliness, feelings of unsafety, and social alienation. Addressing these issues requires strategies that combine physical redevelopment with initiatives to increase social cohesion.
This research explores the potential of housing cooperatives to both densify and enhance social cohesion in post-war neighborhoods, using Westwijk in Vlaardingen as a case study. The investigation covers historical design principles of post-war neighborhoods, changes over time, and the principles behind housing cooperatives. Housing cooperatives, characterized by their non-speculative nature, focus on diversity, sustainability, and long-term resident care, offering a promising alternative to traditional housing models.
Switzerland, known for a large percentage of the houses being owned by housing cooperatives, provides two interesting case studies that are examend as a case study. The Kalkbreite building in Zürich, and Warmbächli in Bern. The case studies reveal several design principles that enhance both individual and communal living quality. These projects display transparency and community engagement, providing valuable insights for similar initiatives. While the design principles identified are not exclusive to cooperative housing, their integration with a democratic and active organizational structure creates a unique quality.
In conclusion, housing cooperatives present a viable solution to the housing crisis by facilitating densification and fostering collective living. The findings from this research offer a framework for incorporating cooperative housing models into post-war neighborhoods, potentially revitalizing areas like Westwijk by addressing both quantitative and qualitative housing needs. This approach not only increases housing availability but also enhances social cohesion and liveability, aligning with the broader goals of sustainable urban development.

Chapter 1: National Productive Park Delfland
This chapter summarizes casestudies from “Redesigning the Deltas.” It discusses the various factors that led to the design framework of the Urban Dyke.
Chapter 2: Research
The second chapter provides the foundational research that informs the design. It critically examines contemporary approaches to real esta-te concerning environmental impact. This chapter investigates whether architecture can play a significant role in minimizing the environmental footprint of the construction industry. The findings offer practical gui-delines for architects, designers, and developers to achieve real estate projects with minimal environmental impact.
Chapter 3: Research by Design
The third chapter involves design-based research that led to the concept of the Urban Dyke. It explains how casestudies and existing architectural theories can lead to an integrated design. This design aims to enhance the valuation of post-war neighborhoods like Tanthof in Delft while also serving as a flood defense. Each chapter is interconnected, providing a comprehensive understan-ding of how the Urban Dyke concept can address both environmental sustainability and urban development challenges.

The paper establishes the need for a parametric design tool in contemporary tall timber construction, combining literature studies, expert interviews, and case study analyses. Findings reveal seven key challenges, including economic feasibility and fire safety, and explore techniques from recent tall timber developments. The conclusion highlights the potential of tall timber in reducing carbon footprint, balancing costs and sustainability, and introduces a parametric design tool serving as a decision-support system for architects, promoting the transition to timber as the main construction material in high-rise structures.

Intergenerational co-housing could provide a solution to enable the ever-growing group of older people who want to live independently for as long as possible. The government also encourages older people to age in place to relieve pressure on healthcare services. For this form of housing to succeed, there must be good social cohesion between generations, where both older and younger people benefit from mutual exchanges of knowledge and support, ensuring they both feel cared for and valued. Building mutual relationships is essential to making these communities a success.

The aim of this research is to identify architectural elements and best practices that promote social encounters among different age groups, thereby enhancing social inclusion. This interaction between built environments and social dynamics originates from Foucault's concept of architectural influence on behavior and Bourdieu's idea of habitus.
To increase the willingness to move among different age groups, their housing preferences have been researched and categorized into the eight domains established by the World Health Organization to create an age-friendly neighborhood.

An analysis of case studies from intergenerational communities in Germany, Belgium, and Norway revealed insights into privacy levels, collective spaces, safety perceptions, and circulation patterns. The findings highlight the importance of creating in-between spaces that serve as informal meeting points, promoting social inclusion and community cohesion. By integrating functional design elements and fostering intergenerational interactions, the research aims to identify best practices for developing inclusive and supportive housing environments that cater to the needs of all age groups.

The currently mostly inefficient resource management neglects valuable existing stocks, and grey
energy and emissions contribute to a building sector misaligned with climate goals. Amid these
challenges, rammed earth, an ancient material, is experiencing a sustainable construction resurgence by transforming under-utilized non-hazardous soil excavations into a building material. However, traditional on-site fabrication is expensive and labor-intensive. The investigation of four already existing methods of prefabrication combined with requirements in sub-urban residential housing generates a strategy of how the use of the material can be scaled up considering aspects of efficiency, circularity, and aesthetics.

As the accelerating climate change has its effect on the frequency and intensity of rainfalls and the rising sea level, more interventions need to be taken to protect our cities from unpredictable floods and droughts. Therefore, adjusting and transforming our current existing city structure to an inclusive water-retaining system city structure with a healthy living environment has to become a priority when shaping our future-proof city. Our cities should have a sponge function that allows the building to absorb and release water when needed. Unfortunetly, among people there still is lack of awareness when it comes to sustainable water re-use and collective water management. The question that remains is how we can motivate all stakeholders, to work together on collective water management as the people with a low income will not have the capacity to invest but might be willling to help maintaining this system. Research about the integration of sustainable urban drainage systems on three different scales is created (landscape scale, urban square scale and social building scale) that can be used to help guide designers and planners tackle the water problem areas and still be able to build in floodable areas while reducing the safety risk of people living there. The motivating factor on how to stimulate people for water saving habits is here of essence. Using water as visual element in design, might help bring on the idea of how water could be re-used, while it also helps to bond people. Biomimicry and biophilia contribute to the creation of these building typologies, that visually and physically influence our well-being, and are aspects that are both visual pleasant design principles that help create understanding. These three topics could be combined using water as a connecting bridge, which led to the following research question: “How can the qualities and potentials of natural water cycles be embedded in our current city structure to connect water, nature, and buildings on different scales by translating research about biomimicry, biophilia and water sensitive design interventions into a design approach for an existing area?” The aim of the design is then to optimize the existing city structure regarding water conservation and revitilize the current living environment to a healthier habitat that benefits inhabitants on multiple aspects. From the research and design process, it has become clear that it is quite a challenge to intergate water sustainable systems where people can have interaction with, but the design approach has showed that it is possible to implement the technical interventions in an aesthetical, but convincing way, without disrupting the overall design and could even lead to innovative new design ideas. The design is hereby used as a translation tool to address communities on how to become sustainable on indoor and outdoor level. By using different design criteria that can be applied to each location with a unique approach, the research becomes generic but is still location specific. And since the existing areas that are facing floods and drought are being transformed into interconnecting spheres of water retainment, a deeper connection to nature is created. Looking at all the interventions that need to be built and integrated it would cost a lot of investments to be able to build water resilient buildings that function as a sponge. Stakeholders need to be convinced of the long term benefits the building would generate for them, like insurances. It turns out that you have to use smart tricks, like using cheap and local building materials that would outweight the costs of the sustainable urban drainage systems. By focussing on the small sustainable technical water re-use improvenemts, it can help to strenghen our environment regarding flood risk reduction is therefore of imporance as it brings a more positive glance of the future and encourages people to think of creative outcomes.

The building industry's emphasis on cost-driven standardization has led to more waste, prompting a need for resource-efficient methods. While coreless-filament winding (CFW) with materials like flax fibers show promise, a research gap is present. This study explores how computational design, coupled with coreless-filament winding, can create modular, demountable, and aesthetically valued fiber-based building systems. The methodologies chosen are research-by-design and prototyping, which generates various design options that are supported by literature and insights from an expert in the field. The viability of flax fiber-based building systems, using CFW, relies on the intended function. While flax is optimal for structural and thermally insulated elements, addressing weatherproofing and flammability necessitates a combination of different fiber types in bespoke fibrous tectonic structures.

Symbiosis Unearthed proposes a renovation design for three postwar flats in the 'Westelijke Tuinsteden' of Amsterdam. The aim of the project is to transform the outdated flats into a regenerative, symbiotic community by improving the existing architecture, adding two storeys, and introducing communal functions to the site. The landscape is an important part of the design; the green space in the area is transformed into a regenerative forest, that forms a healthy environment for all living beings, and at the same time provides wood for the renovation and maintenance of the flats. Through the implementation of the urban and architectural transformation, and a local wood system the postwar site is turned into a healthy, urban living environment where people live with the land, and not from it.

In a time of increasing awareness for the environment and rising energy prices, an efficiency in our material use is of paramount importance. This research is built on the notion that the design of light structures has a positive effect on the energy use of the built environment. The tent has been chosen to examine this approach of lightness in the domain of architecture. In an attempt to make the tent more efficient, the parasitic properties of the tent system are utilized by attaching it to an infrastructural object that can be found everywhere in the world: The Flyover. In the paper, a framework is developed to classify boundary tensioned membrane tents (a branch of the tensile structure systems), combine twelve of those types with the flyover, and evaluate the combinations by measuring them against spatial and structural attributes. The design portion is focussed on a a metro flyover in Rootterdam South. Multiple small-scale intervention will be introduced to heal the urban fabric surrounding this flyover.

An increasing massive volume of wind turbine blades are coming to end-of-life in the Netherlands. These components contain mostly fibre-reinforced plastics, which has been banned from landfill and incineration. Since then, companies and institutions have spent their efforts to expand the lifetime of this material by developing a circular wind hub with various circular strategies. While some strategies, such as recycling or recovery, are less desirable due to low-quality outcomes and environmental pollution, repurposing seems to be a potential option, which uses decommissioned blades in certain products, such as building elements in one-off applications. This strategy can be enhanced by reprocessing the applications through multiple-use cycles. This research will investigate that concept based on the building layers principle to figure out its feasibility and the potential to extend the lifetime of the end-of-life material.

This paper investigates the potential of passively lowering the operational energy requirement of performance buildings in the Central European Climate. The energy consumption of this typology is largely caused by mechanical ventilation to cool and ventilate the theatre during shows, necessary for the thermal comfort and ventilation requirements of the audience. Mechanical ventilation in theatres needs to significantly over-provide ventilation air in order to cool, and the exhaust air is not allowed to be mixed with incoming air, making them are inherently inefficient. Passive design strategies can lower the energy requirement of buildings during operation, by efficiently using ambient elements and simple laws of physics. Berlin, which perfectly embodies Central European’s climate, experiences strong seasonal climate variations. In the hotter summer months, there is a low ambient cooling potential. However, the climatic conditions are sufficient for a direct connection between the theatre and the ambient air, which would result in no need for HVAC during operation. There is a high ambient cooling potential in autumn, winter and spring. This potential can be fulfilled by efficiently integrating thermal mass, indirect evaporative cooling in the roof of the theatre, radiative cooling in the ceiling of the theatre, natural ventilation through buoyancy stack effect or wind-driven cross ventilation. These methods are addressed on macro scale and deserve micro scale validation of a site before implementation.

An important part of people and their wellbeing is their living environment. Because of the increase in population and buildings, urban areas suffer from densification and diminishing green environments. These urban environments have substantial risk of mental illness, such as depression and anxiety. Green environments and qualitative features of building have a positive impact on people and their mental health. Because of lacking space caused by the large number of existing buildings, it is important to look at the possibilities to facilitate these healthy living environments within the existing urban fabric.

As a testcase within the research paper strategies for decreasing depression/anxiety levels and -risks in the urban context of Boerhaavewijk (Haarlem) are investigated, with the focus on urban green infrastructures and the facilitation of passive and active care. This research gives a method of improving mental health in urban environments, by providing a system of internal and external interventions with a scoring on effectiveness, cost, amount of functions, passive or active care and implementation time, together with the reflection of users, designers, and planners.

In the design proposal the found strategies are implemented in the renovation and add-on of a post-war flat and its immediate environment in Boerhaavewijk (Haarlem), with the objective of making it more sustainable and facilitate for better mental health, by the implementation of green infrastructures and the facilitation of passive and active care to decrease the depression/anxiety levels and-risks of its users.

Overpollution with plastic waste is becoming a leading concern globally, but even more so at island destinations popular among tourists. Tourists generate 3 times more waste than local residents, overuse local resources, and often lead to a change of the identity of the location (the so-called “disneyfication”). This project combines the topics of using recycled plastic elements in architecture, conceptualising more sustainable tourism patterns, and empowering local communities to become active participants in the fate of their land. The island of Bali, Indonesia, is used as a case study, as due to its international popularity, the symptoms of overtourism are apparent and already under discussion.

The object of the project is a community centre for an existing community on the island, which is growing in popularity among locals and aims to attract more foreign visitors- both as a source of income, and as a way to learn about the world first-hand. The design is developed in a way that caters both to the needs of the local community and the likings of temporary visitors, and facilitates meaningful interaction between them. The technical part of the research is focused on determining the availability of the plastic materials in the island’s waste, assessing its potential based on existing recycling technology and relating it to the architectural demands of the island.

The structural concept involves a combination of bamboo with vernacular connections and innovative plastic elements, all suited for community participation during the design process. The goal of it is to be easy to construct and be transferrable and adaptable to various programmes and locations with similar needs and characteristics- from Southeast Asia to the Caribbean islands.

A new product is developed and prototyped as part of the project: a plastic roof tile, which can serve a number of functions depending on its assembly, and which uses the inherent qualities and durability of the plastic material as shaping factors for its design.

The building industry's unmistakable share in climate change ensured that many policies have been implemented to reduce its impact. However, most policies cover the operational energy and -emissions of buildings, and not their upfront embodied impacts. Fortunately, wood-based building products proved to be viable alternatives to more conventional materials such as concrete and steel since they have been attributed a lower environmental impact. Thus, they are often regarded as sustainable. However, the sustainability of wood is not absolute. The research paper explores just how much more sustainable wood-based structures are compared to their conventional counterparts in terms of their embodied impact. It turns out that a sustainable building starts with compact city design which has a lower energy use per capita. This sustainable urbanism paradigm, in combination with timber building design, yields the lowest environmental impact. Moreover, technical innovation in timber engineering ensured that it is now able to compete with concrete and steel, and the added benefit of timbers versatility vouches for its use. In the research paper, Life-cycle-assessment (LCA) is applied to a built case in Rotterdam which illustrates the environmental benefit of multi-storey timber building structures, even in the most unfavorable scenario for the timber variants. The findings of the research directly inform the architectural design. The design proposes a way forward for the TU Delft amidst many contradictory considerations; How can the TU Delft accommodate the growing student population whilst complying with its sustainability goals? The design focuses on the worst-performing building on campus, building 22. It has been redesigned in accordance with the TU Delft ambitions and facilitates cross-pollination between different faculties. Because if we want to truly tackle our most urgent societal issues, we should bring all ideas together, and have a diverse group of people look at them creatively.

As the Global South continues to rapidly urbanize, finding affordable and sustainable housing solutions is paramount. The Global Housing Graduation studio provides the opportunity to design new housing typologies through environmental and social lenses. São Paulo’s challenges with rapid urbanization and social inequality has left more than a million residents vulnerable to the impacts of water scarcity, lack of public infrastructure, climate, environmental risk, and climate change. Urban expansion during São Paulo’s economic boom in the 1970s led to a considerable increase of illegal land occupations in the city’s peripheries. The development of the informal settlements formed in the peripheries thus superseded the speed at which proper public infrastructure for potable water, sanitation and electricity could be implemented.

Residents in the peripheral neighborhoods occupy open land in areas of varying environmental risk, susceptible to soil degradation, flooding, landslides, and health risks due to waste discharge. They cannot access publicly supplied water or sanitation and must rely on water cisterns, illegal connections or self-made sanitation disposal to acquire the necessary infrastructure to lead a healthy life. These risks, in addition to the future risks of climate change, disproportionally impact those living in informal settlements, due to their social vulnerability and socio-economic status.

Development-induced displacement of residents within informal settlements is enforced by the São Paulo municipal government, to permit the implementation of public infrastructure such as water lines, sanitation, drainage, street paving, and the removal of housing structures in at-risk areas. While the purpose of displacement contributes towards a positive outcome - upgrading neighborhoods with much-needed services, or rehousing residents to safer environments – the social impact of displacement is palpable. Forced displacement may move residents away from their sources of income and social networks, considerably impacting their mental well-being or exposing them to financial precarity. Readaptation to new neighborhoods or lifestyles can also be difficult for residents.


The project seeks to create a balance between social and climate resiliency to address the challenges of environmental risk and resettlement. The project proposes a new social housing system, built on the principles of clustering and the Radburn Plan, to achieve an urban design which integrates public space with rainwater flows, public infrastructure, and housing. The project location, Jardim Campinas in Grajaú, São Paulo, is used as a framework for the urban system to rehouse displaced residents from various communities onto one site. The socio-ecological design approach is implemented at each scale – urban plan, sector, cluster, and dwelling unit. The design aim is a renewal of the urban fabric, by building upon existing social and ecological networks to reinvigorate social connections and relationships between natural and built environment.

São Paulo, like many other urban centers worldwide, grapples with a stark contrast in living conditions and spatial inequity between various income groups. Nowhere is this divide more evident than in the sprawling favela areas, where marginalized individuals face numerous challenges in their daily lives. The existing housing in these areas often lack essential amenities, basic infrastructure, and a sense of community. This spatial inequity and social injustice perpetuate a cycle of poverty and exclusion.

In this context, there is a pressing need to explore innovative architectural design solutions that not only enhance living conditions but also foster inclusive communities within São Paulo’s favela areas. The overarching goal is to bridge the gap between different income groups, create opportunities for marginalized individuals, and address the systemic issues that perpetuate this divide. This research aims to investigate how architecture can be leveraged as a tool for social change, aiming to improve the quality of life for residents in these underserved communities.

To achieve this, the research will delve into various aspects of architectural design, urban planning, and community engagement to identify strategies that can empower marginalized individuals, promote inclusivity, and create environments that are conducive to social and economic advancement. By addressing these challenges through architectural innovation, this research seeks to contribute to a more equitable and just urban landscape in Sao Paulo, offering valuable insights that can be applied to similar contexts worldwide.

This research delves into the understanding of self-constructed settlement as a complex adaptive system, specifically focusing on Anchieta Occupation in São Paulo, Brazil. The design hypothesis posits that informal settlements embody highly adaptable systems, offering valuable insights for housing development strategies. The complex socio-economic and historical context of São Paulo’s rapid urban growth, coupled with the array of housing solutions that have arisen, underscores the necessity to reassess these informal settlements. This research explores the concept of a mutual-aid social housing cooperative as an alternative approach guided by the principles of complex adaptive systems, capable of addressing the evolving needs of the community. Drawing inspiration from the successful model of mutual-aid housing cooperatives in Uruguay, this study employs a structured framework based on seven fundamental characteristics of CAS: aggregation, building blocks, flows, diversity, tags, internal models, and non-linearity. Understanding the dynamics of land occupation and guiding housing development or upgrading strategies without stifling self-building and selforganizing forces can lead to remarkable robustness.

In a future not so far away,2050, we envisioned a part of the city freed from infrastructural barriers; a future in which railways will travel underground, with less crowed places and better connections, especially at the two shores of the IJ, or where the station is located, whose location marks a clear border between the city and river. Forgetting that there is another part of the city after that.

The main purpose of the project is to provide a physical connection to the area next Centraal Station. As today the only way to cross the IJ River is through the ferry. This results in an inefficient connection.

The secondary, is to host some activities within the bridge structure.

A mixed program that reflects the two different identities at the shores of the IJ, busier, more global on central station, therefore a visitor center with exposition spaces and other amenities, a library on the north side, to expand and enhance the cultural activities on the north side. Therefore, the project also wants to highlight the different characters of the two areas concerned.