An architectural project for a biodiverse embassy, creating a place for close encounters with the other creatures of the city. The goal is to create awareness and interraction with other species both on a local and global scale and provide the means for a biodiverse community of urban species.

To revitalise the modern urban public spaces in the war affected areas of Rotterdam, this project uses the concept of 'play'. Play can be an effective method to deal with the diversity of actors that make use of public space today. By creating a common (play) ground - imaginary space in the designprocess; and mysterious interactive experiences in the design itself - the whole range of public can be part of the making and using of undervalued and underused public spaces. In doing so, you also create a field for interaction between the different strangers of the public.
An underused but busy area in the city center has been chosen to project the imaginative stories on- into physical interactive instalations.

The aim of this project is to bring the forgotten land of the RingA10 back to the city, by transforming the one purpose space into a multifunctional place of its own identity. The project Kunstwerk Ring A10 aims to connect the highway, the city and the human creating the layer of “In the ring” between “the inside” and “the outside”
on the map of Amsterdam. This will be done using the participatory methods of
research and design with a specific focus on redefining identity and creating perception of place.

METRO POLIS refers to the reciprocal relation between the urban environment and the metro system in Tokyo, Japan. In November 2016, its largest fish market was planned to relocate, leaving behind a vast territory in one of the central wards. As a strategy to connect this post-industrial territory to the everyday of the Tokyoites, a metro station is proposed in a former market hall of the Tsukiji Shijio in Chuo-ku, Tokyo. The design aims to release the potential of the transport hub as an urban centre, by redefining the metro station as a generous, inclusive place for the Tokyoites. Also, an urban plan is proposed which combines housing, commercial functions and offices.

This project has studied the different gates of Maastricht, looking for their grammar. The gates have turned into a public colonnade in his building that changes proportion and rhythm as you move through. To give the gates a contemporary form the natural stone has been replaced by precast concrete. The details work as modern ornaments that enhance the spatial experience and give a sense of direction.

The Italian fashion brand Fendi moved their headquarters to the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in the end of 2015. This iconic building, also known as the square Colosseum, is not only famous for its frequent appearance in movies, but also as one of the most important examples of architecture during the Italian fascist regime. The building was designed to host a museum during the World Expo of 1942, but was never used as such because of the Second World War. This original function and its recognizable design makes it contested heritage.
This graduation project aims to show an alternative approach to contested heritage by making a redesign for the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, for another, non-existing fashion brand.

The thesis is about designing a Ceramic Center in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The building excist out of workshop rooms, exhibition spaces and archive. There are three main themes that come back into the design of the ceramic center, namely the traditional way of buidling in the historical city, the urban fabric and the building typology of the region.

Abstraction plays a central role, as both a language and an essential tool for design. However, because it can be vague, confusing, and even paradoxical at times the process of abstraction is rarely explicitly investigated in architectural education. As a result, inexperienced architects often do not have a clear idea of what abstraction is, or how to best use it. The following research sets out to address this problem by proposing a simple, yet comprehensive teaching model that would aid beginner architecture students in their understanding and use of abstraction.The designed extension for the national library of Bulgaria is an example of the proposed teaching model and the described abstraction process applied and tested on an architectural project.

The notion of citizenship has been a subject for many socialists such as T. H. Marshall as it is a broad notion and enhances many aspects. Some connections have be found and discussed in the Post- Modernism period, between the values defended by citizenship and educational architecture. Although this relation has been explained generally but has not been illustrated through tangible architectural means. Therefore, the narrative architectonical aspects remain unnamed. Through this research and design proposal, I intend to analyse tangible architectural means that are narrating the values of citizenship in order to apply some of them in my design proposal. This research consists first of literature studies to enlighten the broad and complex meaning of citizenship and reveal its different aspects. The second part consists of three case studies Burgerweeshuis (1960) by Aldo van Eyck, Parque educativo Saberes ancestrales, (2013) by Taller Sintesis and Ambiantes de Aprendizaje (2014) by Colectivo 720. These case studies will serve as analysis projects in order to point out the architectural means related to the citizenship’s notions. Through this research, I found out that by defending civil, political and social right, citizenship is a term which enhance degrees of activity and participation. Thus, the notions within the citizenship definitions are on different levels related to tangible aspects. Their safekeeping could even be depending on the spatial configurations and architectural means of the environment where these rights are being applied and put to practice. The notions that are tangible can be divided into two categories: the spatial identity and the spatial aspects. From the spatial aspects the boundaries or delimitations are the closely related to architectonical means. The values of citizenship are narrated through the range of existing delimitations. In the realised case studies, these delimitations are used as a pattern or code that contributes to the comprehension of the building’s program and the proportion of imposing delimitations is not superior to the amount of endorsing delimitations, which is important in order to generate a participative dialogue between the user and its environment, also called ‘realm of citizenship’.

A design for a Centre for Ceramics with workshops and exhibition space in the historical centre of Maastricht.

Stone relates to the human body in a fundamental manner. The design Reconnecting Man Made and Nature – Within the Wall is a reflection of craft and material culture embedded in the city of Maastricht. Investigating the city as a collection of spaces defined by its physical properties was a starting point for the design. Crucial for the development of a design scheme was focusing on different scales, and tension between material and human. Anthropological research retraces the origin of Belgian limestone apparent in the city, by following the river Maas and two climbers. By capturing the weight, touch, and texture of stone the research investigates how material can influence human perception and introspection. The design is developed focusing on changing scale and relation of the building to the city and to its inhabitants. The design binds natural properties of materials with its crafted representation. By focusing on a fundamental architectural element – the wall, the design is developed from the detail outwards, progressing from the prior detail of cavity wall to the building and urban scale. The design proposal – Ceramic Centre - focuses on the walls and how they can take on prior qualities of the stone. Physical as well as sensual properties of materials (smell, temperature, moisture) are used to navigate through the space of the building. A double wall surrounds all blocks, from solid to hollow, from hot and cold, light and dark, connecting man-made and nature.

The thesis, consisting of a design for a ceramics centre in Maastricht, deals with two main themes: the urban institution and the local use of natural stone. Architectural research focuses on (in)formality and visual perception of historical domestic façades in Maastricht featuring natural stone. The results of this study are used as a design tool to shape the identity of the ceramics centre as an open, inviting and approachable public institution. The local language of building with natural stone is translated into a contemporary form using precast concrete elements. Urban massing, structure, materiality and organisation of the programme are informed by a research into Maastricht’s industrial heritage, specifically its inner-city factory complexes. A tripartite load-bearing structure and spatial experience offer a variety of atmospheres to showcase the production of ceramics and shed light on Maastricht’s disappearing industrial past.

Vulnerable people with a psychiatric disorder are no longer staying in institutions outside of society, from now on the will live in the neighbourhood, in the so called ‘inclusive society’. In reality, some challenges need to be overcome such as loneliness and social isolation while living independent, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of people with psychiatric disorders, absence of the necessary safety nets of outpatient care, a lack of suitable low-cost rental housing and a society that is not entirely inclusive. This is to be seen as ‘the illusion
of inclusion’. In my research I aimed to develop architectural principles to enable psychiatric patients to live independently within the neighbourhood. These architectural principles were developed by means of a literature review, best practices and interviews. The architectural principles serve as a method of testing the design. Even though the design itself is positioned on a specific location, these principles are a general guideline for designing for independent living with a psychiatric illness.