"Floating for Health" is a project of the Architectural Engineering graduation studio at the Delft university of Technology. This research and design project explores the problems of rural flood-prone areas in low-income regions and proposes a solution for the lack of healthcare facilities. The context that has been chosen is the region of West-Bengal in India, which experiences yearly floods during monsoon season. Due to Global warming this region is expected to experience more severe weather events over the next 50 years, this puts an enormous strain on the life of the inhabitants in these low-income rural areas. Flooding events in these regions create polluted water which can easily spread water-borne diseases and the water disrupts infrastructure to access healthcare. The focus of this project is to create a modular solution that is amphibious so local healthcare facilities can be constructed and remain accessible during floods. The proposal is a building system that can be pre-fabricated or fabricated on site and allows for communities to construct their own facility. This plywood building system consists of plywood parts and wedges to minimize the need for specialty tools and precision. The basic building system is designed as a main structure with the possibility of adding facade elements and roofing. These additions allow for local craftsmen to contribute to the design and create a final aesthetic that fits in local tradition. The proposed design is specified for West-Bengal but the basis of the building system could be used for regions all over the world.

Erosion for Betterment is a graduation project within the Landscape Architecture master track at the TU Delft. The project examines an underdeveloped coastal area in Ghana that is sadly facing severe erosional threats due to previous unfortunate human activities. It offers an unexpected direction in handling issues as such by proposing an inventful and sustainable way of living profiting from the originally presumed risks.

The aim of this project is to explore the possibilities of establishing a new relationship between water and the city of Dordrecht, aiming towards a sustainable future. In one of the lowest parts of the Netherlands, increasingly threatened by climate change and cloudburst flooding, the feasibility of a stormwater management plan is explored, intertwined with urban life through solutions such as inundation parks and floodable zones, seasonal buffers, watersquares and visible waterlines. Drawing inspiration from precedents such as the Copenhagen climate adaptation strategies, the island of Dordrecht can stand up to future challenges, through a water-resilient landscape architecture that succeeds a shift of attitude towards sustainable practices, but also strengthens the identity of Dordrecht as an attractive, historic watercity, designed to work with water, rather than against it. Water, here, becomes an agent able to transform the city into an adaptive, amphibious spatial entity, that can offer alternative urban experiences.
Focusing in the area of the 19th century Schil, the city is organized through a system of buffers and waterlines, using existing or new public spaces or parts of
the urban infrastructure. The traditional enclosed courtyard, the “hofje”, plays
a key role together with private gardens and watersquares, being the main water
collectors and leading stormwater to an inundation park through a maze
of waterlines. Visible flooding processes and above-ground waterbodies compose
an everchanging landscape, a space with infinite faces and atmospheres,
highlighting the dynamic nature of Dordrecht and bringing experience to the forefront.

Nowadays, cities are quickly growing and therefore infrastructure is a very important element in the urban environment. Large scale infrastructure like highways and railways connect the cities from distant places to each other in an efficient manner. The hard and dominant structure only provides for connection on top of it, but acts as a barrier for the perpendicular connections, which can even lead to separation of the two sides entirely. Large scale infrastructures were built from the perspective of the traffic on it and took little consideration of its surroundings and lead to the creation of the undefined spaces around it. The spaces that are created around large scale infrastructure usually only function as buffer zones. These are needed to keep a certain amount of distance between the highway and its surroundings. This distance can vary depending on the type of surrounding. While these spaces are used as buffer zones, the presence of the highway also causes certain limitations on the functionality and other usages of these spaces. This then often results in the spaces not being used or even being abandoned and neglected all together. This phenomenon occurs all over the world in large cities where highways go through urban areas. Especially in such a small country as The Netherlands, the space we have is limited. Nowadays we always stress the fact that we should be making multifunctional spaces, but these spaces around the highway usually only have the function of buffering between highway and its surrounding. However, these spaces have the potential to become something much more than just the leftover spaces of a highway. In my graduation project I want to address this issue, especially when considering that in the near future, most of the cars will be using electricity instead of fossil fuel, which will decrease the air pollution and noise from the engine. With this, the view on the spaces around the highway will change for the better and will allow for more different uses of these spaces. The main research question of this project will be: “How to transform the leftover spaces created by large scale infrastructure into places that can incorporate new functions that can solve the local or urban issues, while at the same time stays coherent?” Rotterdam was chosen as my location, because it is the longest orbital highway of the Randstad cities, it has many different types of areas it goes through and highway itself is also tightly encased by the city for most part. For the analysis I separated it into different layers, representing the leftover spaces and infrastructure, the potentials on large scale networks and the triggers for development. When overlapping these layers, we can see which potential is best suited for which area. The ring road is strongly divided into two halves. And within the halves, it breaks up into smaller pieces. So it is important to start with strong relevant ones. One of these important spots is the area near Kralingse Zoom. This area has the potential to improve the blue-green connections. As a conclusion of the local analysis, there is a wish to connect the city center with the green areas in the north, but the infrastructure form a strong barrier in between. And the forest itself is also only facing towards the south, making the connection to the north harder. By looking at the different heights and environments of the infrastructure, different zones are marked. And with the main goal in mind, each of these zones can contribute to by reacting in their own way. By utilizing the different spatial qualities that the area already has, the area around the large scale infrastructure can be divided into different parts, that each can react according to what that specific area needs. For instance by lowering the ground to increase the height of the structures, so both sides can be united.

The biggest city of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, faces increasing flood
risk, causing frequent sickness, loss of life, and widespread damage
to property. Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest growing cities in the
world. More than 70% of the residents live in informal settlements.
Many of them are located in flood prone areas like river valleys and
floodplains, which flood annually. Because of their limited coping capacity,
residents are not able to recover from the impacts of this flooding.
Due to the change of precipitation patterns, the flood risk is
likely to increase in the future, putting even more people and assets at
risk during more frequent and intense floods. This graduation project
seeks to answer the main research question: How can urban form
and landscape help to mitigate the effects of floods on citizens in Dar
es Salaam, Tanzania?
For areas with a high density of buildings, multifunctional courtyards
are proposed. The existing building structure is strategically densified,
and filled with new buildings to shape courtyards. Inside, a variety of
interventions reduce the water run-off into the river valley, treat waste
water and generate income via urban agriculture and aquaponic
systems. For the river valley the construction of “chinampas” is being
proposed, which creates a high retention capacity for storm water
while enabling agricultural activities and connectivity across the river
valley throughout the wet and dry seasons. At the edges of the valley,
different interventions are located in order to reduce and clean
run-off water before entering the valley. The combination of spatial
interventions to reduce the flood risk with urban agriculture reduces
the impacts and increases the ability of residents to deal with future
hazards.
The design proposals are supported by a implementation strategy
and complimenting policies which reduce pollution, steer future urban
development and introduce new renting models to host a higher diversity
of lifestyles with different economic abilities.

This project is mainly about the revitalization of the old port area of the Chinese city Xiangtan. As a riverside city located in the south part of China, Xiangtan has been through a long historical period during which some of the most formative moments of Chinese politics and economy happened. As the departure point and the cultural core of the city, the old port area, however, is now marginalized by the urban expansion and economic growth which impoverishes the old port area even more. Meanwhile, the old port area of Xiangtan is an urban area suffering from yearly flooding, during which the local residents have no choice but to move to other safe space provided by the government.
The basic design vision is to intervene the site area with a flood-proof urban scale built environment for local people to stay during flooding, introduce several positive programmes, and let them be the triggering factor towards a prosperous future of the vernacular community at the same time.

Landscape architecture design in Hunter's point of San Francisco, aim to achieve sustainable development facing to the combination problems of sea level rise, decreasing ecological and social quality.

Nearly 50% of the Dutch gardens is paved and this number is ever increasing. This negatively affects the environment. It contributes to biodiversity loss since less space is available as a habitat for flora, fauna and ecosystems. Secondly, the paved gardens do not allow the rainwater to infiltrate the soil. As a consequence, the rainwater is directly steered to the sewer system. With growing number of torrential rains due to climate change, this leads to an increased pressure on the sewer systems. Lastly, the paved garden negatively affects the temperature and the quality of the air as well. This project only focuses on the effects of the paved gardens on biodiversity, since this was the original interest of the foundation Operatie Steenbreek, which was involved in this project.

Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources, ecosystems included. These ecosystems, among other things, provide food, control the climate, support nutrient cycles and offer recreational benefits. Any loss in biodiversity is a matter of public concern, since it underpins the health of the planet and has direct impact on all our lives. However, there is a widening gap between humans and the natural world. The extinction of experience, a cycle of impoverishment that is initiated by the homogenization and reduction of local flora and fauna, followed by disaffection and apathy, needs to be combated to counteract the biodiversity loss. Within the context of the paved garden, this means that positive interactions between man and nature has to be stimulated. In addition, plants have to get a new and clear function in the garden. It is important that paved garden owners see the benefits of having plants in the garden.

The garden has served different functions over the centuries. Today, the domestic garden has mainly become an extinction of the living room. As a result, a high level comfort is one of the main requirements of the garden.

Many different activities take place in the garden throughout the year, varying from having dinner in the garden in the summer and playing in the sand pit, to activities that take place all year long, like storing bikes or that only occur once a year, like a big party. These activities can be performed alone, by different family members or by a group of people, of all ages. This leads to a complex interplay of social interactions. This demand for a high versatile usage of the garden should be taken into account during this project, in the short as well as in the long-term perspective. The product should offer the garden flexibility in space usage, different possibilities in function, and the ability to create an intimate place as well as an open space. To respond to the assignment, this should be done in a way that supports biodiversity.

The final concept is the Daeza, a rack with and integrated irrigation system where one can position plants on. It functions as a room divider for the garden.

The Daeza enables the user to create an intimate place, separate different activities from each other, and maximizes the potential of the open space of the garden. The product supports the flexibility of the garden especially during summer when the garden is used most extensively. In other seasons serves different purposes like covering the unused furniture or creating a nice winter scenery that is perceived from the house.

The product offers the garden owner a clear structure to position plants onto. Gardening becomes a matter of decorating the rack in which plants can grow, without becoming cluttered. By offering the customer a core pollinator-friendly plant package, they are helped in choosing a nice combination of plants regarding color, flowering period and benefits. The product enables the user to hang different things in the screen, this can be food for species, or personal decorations. In this way the user can express one’s identity in the garden and create something personal.

The Daeza stands out in the paved garden by offering a large and clearly demarcated surface, which is filled with plants. The vertical direction contributes to the composition of the garden. The visual impact of the Daeza encourages interaction between the user and wildlife.

Overall, the Daeza gives plants a function, a clear position in the garden and attracts the owners attention to them. This offers the first step in reducing the gap between man and nature, which is essential for combating biodiversity loss.

With climate change changing the world, literally, delta landscapes become more vulnerable. At the same time, delta landscapes become more densely populated every year, creating an uncertain environment for high density urban areas. In the Netherlands, cities are facing treats from the sea level rising, heat stress and
increasing amounts of rain fall. The high density combined with the hardening of surfaces in city areas, leaving little open green space with permeable soil, creates problems for cities in times of heavy rain fall.

Amsterdam is one of those cities, developing as the biggest metropolitan area of the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam wants to solve the problems with rain water management, while at the same time developing as a smart, innovative,
sustainable metropolitan area. Buiksloterham is a key area in this aspect, functioning as a test ground for sustainable neighborhood development.

To create a more sustainable way of water management, the thesis aims for Buiksloterham to become self-sufficient in water use. Storing rain water, re-using rain and grey water and creating high quality water are key factors for achieving this. The design creates 3 separate systems, one for black water which is cleansed by using a living machine. After the black water has been cleansed, it joins the grey water system. This system gathers all the grey water from the households in the
neighborhood, circulates this and passes it through helofyte filters for cleansing. Then this water joins the clean water system, a system that is created for a larger part of Amsterdam North. This system is connected to the households, so that the
households can re-use the rain water and cleansed grey water to create a circular structure.

In order to create more sustainable awareness for the inhabitants of
Buiksloterham and make the area function as a sustainable water community, it is important for the inhabitants of Buiksloterham to experience water (visual, audial, touch and smell), to have a say in the way water is managed in the area, to have influence on the way water is managed and to have responsibility over this system. To achieve this, water storage is applied through every scale. On the small scale,
changeable objects are added to the public space, integrated with water storage, so that the inhabitants can influence their public space. This creates an ambition
in Buiksloterham, that closely connects the inhabitants of the area to the sustainable way of water management. It also creates the possibility for the
inhabitants to adjust, add and change the system according to their wishes.

The combination of these two aspects, the technical water management part of the societal part which creates a sustainable community, creates an opportunity for both Buiksloterham and Amsterdam, to develop itself as an example of a new way of life, a more connected, interactive urban fabric with the environment and an
example of high dense sustainable urban development.

key words: water management, rain water management, rain water re-use, sustainable community, sustainable urban fabric, interactive design

The project proposes a new approach for the design of river riparian zones, researching on the debatable issue of living on the floodplains. In recent years, there has been a shift in the tradition of engineering the river landscape towards a more landscape-friendly perspective. However, the focus still remains usually on nature and recreation, while other functions, like housing, are restricted. In addition, the dikes of the Dutch defense system form strong borders between the urban fabric and the river landscape, allowing little to no interaction between them. The objective is to embrace the natural river processes and use the potentials of inundation and sedimentation as a condition for the creation of a multifunctional and sustainable landscape. A system of living mounds is integrated in the floodplains in balance with nature, through the use of local materials and sediments and with sustainable infrastructure. Main goal is also to ‘break’ the border of the dike and allow people of the surrounding cities to engage and reconnect with this unique, dynamic nature. Added functions, like the new community gardens and a visitor’s centre, act as an extension of the urban fabric into the floodplains and operate as a buffer zone. The proposal binds the dichotomy between processes and forms by combining process-oriented and architectonic-oriented decisions, that utilize the full potential of this dynamic landscape.

In this graduation project, I have tried to focus on the aspects of socio-economic development and resilience to sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay region. The comparison is between two cases namely East Palo Alto and Foster City which has a variable difference in their socio–economic the system in terms of the communities that it hosts and the vulnerability due to risk that is generated by the type of flood risk management deployed towards flooding. The project also compares the spatial quality and synergies generated by its social systems to understand what qualities exists and what qualities should be added in order to attain a sustainable urban environment.