The Stockholm Library, opened in 1928, was designed by the notable Swedish architect Erik Gunnar Asplund. From its beginning, the library was an important element of the city's architecture as well as its social infrastructure. Nowadays the library asks for a change, following the new society and its challenges.
The project proposes an extension, respecting the monumentality of the existing structure, complimenting it and reinforcing its relation with the surrounding. The new structure should address the lack of scale and program diversity, offering a unique infrastructure where contemporary society would provide their needs and strengthen their relationships.

This thesis, titled "Inviting the Public," explores the design and transformation of the Public Library in Stockholm, encompassing the monument of the Asplund Library and its three annexes. The project addresses contemporary needs for public libraries to serve as multifaceted community spaces beyond their traditional role of housing books. The research investigates several core questions: How can the Asplund Library be fully public and barrier-free? How can neglected access routes be revitalized into inviting public spaces? How can the annexes be preserved and repurposed to form a cohesive campus with the main library?

Through thorough analysis and design iterations, the thesis proposes expanding the annex buildings and transforming existing access routes into interconnected spaces that promote both passage and leisure. This evolution aims to enhance the library's role as a center for lifelong learning and community engagement. Case studies of modern libraries in Oslo and Helsinki provide additional insights into integrating diverse functionalities and flexible usage of space. Ultimately, the project envisions a Public Palace that caters to evolving societal needs, fostering an inclusive environment for learning and community interaction.

This project reimagines the interaction and connectivity between public buildings and the urban networks. Central to the design is an internal street that adapts to the terrain, tying Asplund’s library, the park, the observation hill, the lamella, and new event spaces together, and ensuring access from all directions. Inspired by Scandinavian commercial passages, this new linear-structured complex allows visitors to linger and enjoy the space in any season.

The "exoskeleton" expansion brings extra capacity and versatility to the existing buildings and substitutes as the main part of this new social and cultural destination. It provides the Asplund building with the possibility to be restored as a repository for books and studies. The devolution and reconstruction within the new hierarchy embrace a diverse and hybrid spatial aesthetic and transform the temple of books into a contemporary complex of reading, making, and sharing.

The project redefines the essence of library spaces, maintaining traditional reading rooms while introducing areas that prioritize freedom and spatial experience. Timber frames on tamped concrete plinths create distinct rooms, each integrated with its surroundings: a street connecting the bazaar and the park, a loggia fronting the hill, a pavilion by the pond… Guided by the belief that a well-configured space invites natural use, the ambition of this project is to create a welcoming and adaptable public interior that transcends the constraints of function or programme, starting a poetic dialogue with the ground we inhabit, and the world as a whole.

The master's programme in architecture constantly raises the subject of "positioning": How do we position ourselves as designers? How should architecture place itself in a broader environment? The graduation studio of Interiors Buildings Cities focuses on "Palace", referring to complex public interiors whose societal responsibilities are constantly re-interpreted over time. This project on the Stockholm City Library, in particular, urges us to reconsider the meaning of "libraries" as public spaces today – and in the future – and challenges us to adopt such transformation concerning Asplund's architectural legacy.

This also raises the question of how we, as future architects, deal with the past, present, and future.

The previous competition's intricacy emerged from the architecture and competing interests among the library institution, the municipality, and other political bodies. This project, therefore, seeks to form an opinion on how we treat a heritage building. This is especially relevant for architects nowadays because we need to know what to do with the old to build new. Sustainbility of architecture regards not only the tangible aspects but also the intangible ones. Adding another layer of time, therefore, gives the existing heritage building a new life. Yet, we must be aware that our current architectural proposal may not be, and will never be, the ultimate solution.

Just as a library holds books reflecting layers of human knowledge across time, its architecture bears traces of interpretation from different generations. I think that is the charm of this architectural intervention.

This project is a proposal for an extension to the Stockholm City Library, designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund in 1928. It raises the question of how should a modern democratic library look
like. Given its proximity to the historical library, the project also examines how to respond to and honour Asplund’s legacy. The project offers a new volume which allows the Stockholm City Library an additional 4000 sqm. It takes a position in the landscape, that allows the historical building to maintain its monumentality. Architecturally, the extension continues the dialogue with the existing library through a typological rearrangement, while also establishing its own distinct expression. The project aims to meet the needs of a modern democratic society by creating spaces that support various atmospheres and interactions, both formal and informal.

This project addresses the spatial challenges faced by the historic Stockholm City Library, designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund and opened in 1928. Renowned as a catalyst for library innovation, the library now struggles to accommodate the evolving needs of a modern library, with limited space for diverse study areas, group and private rooms, and community functions. The historical and architectural significance of the original structure constrains internal modifications, making an alternative solution essential.

A new addition is proposed south of the library, positioned between the pond and hill to integrate harmoniously with the natural landscape while respecting Asplund's original vision. This extension connects to the existing building at the ground and basement levels and features flexible, open spaces on the main floors, allowing for a variety of study areas. The upper level houses administrative offices, freeing space in the original library for its intended functions.

Externally, the addition is designed to reflect the library's dual role as a community hub and study space, with materials like stained wood and stone cladding that blend into the surrounding context. This expansion not only addresses spatial limitations but also enhances the library's connection to the city and natural surroundings, ensuring the preservation of Swedish heritage and maintaining the library’s role as a vibrant community resource.

In summary, the design proposal is a new building for the contemporary art museum the M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerpen), which in the future will be the Flemish oriented contemporary art museum VMHK (Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art). The project location is the existing court of appeal on the Zuiderdokken in Antwerp. The existing building will be demolished because of spatial and technical requirements and will make room in my proposal for a new museum: The building arises from the park, which the building faces. A landscape slopes up to the building's public ‘forum’ space. It is a raised level, where one can look over the flood defenses onto the river, while the art handling truck enters the building underneath. This artificial landscape, which forms the base of the building, consists entirely of recycled concrete, with various repurposed aggregate materials. Above the forum space rises a large volume, a biobased box, with all the 'silent program' of the museum. The careful placement of circulation cores allows for large art spaces.

As the institution of art has developed, systematic biases have survived because they are embedded into institutional practices. The art world remains discriminatory and the art commodified, not able to provide its full public value. While contemporary artists have tried to remove themselves and their work from the gallery, they remain unsuccessful without a new form of exhibition.

M HKA, a contemporary art museum in Antwerp, Belgium with roots in anarchitecture and the anti-museum, is moving to a new site, and with that comes the opportunity to address the art world and many points of tension within it. The institution wants to participate on an international level but keep its Flemish roots and identity. The site of their future location is also part of a larger urban transformation and the site of another building that is possible to redevelop.

When designing for M HKA, it will be important to keep these points of tension in mind. The museum appears to currently be balancing many of these dilemmas already. How will this new structure enrich the surrounding environment without gentrifying the area and further marginalizing minority communities? M HKA has the opportunity to address these issues and lay a new foundation for how a contemporary museum should operate. If done successfully, the architecture of this space could very well replace the current standard of the white cube.

This master thesis aims to raise a discussion about the new Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp. The competition brief for the redevelopment of the M HKA, published by the Flemish Community in 2019, is taken as a key reference point. The brief proposes a move into a new, purpose-built museum on the site of a courthouse building that will be demolished, two blocks down from the current site, as an urban focal point for the newly built monumental linear public park in Antwerp South. Within this urban plan, the existing museum would most likely be demolished to make room for a new housing development.

However, the political and financial motivations behind the move to the new location, which is, according to the brief, based on the site’s iconic potential, can be questioned. Especially since M HKA’s anti-institutional history is intrinsically connected to the existing museum. During the 1980s, a 19th-century grain warehouse was squatted by a group of Belgian artists as an alternative gallery space and was converted to a museum to accommodate M HKA in 1987. Instead of building a new museum on the proposed site, this project proposes a museum building that continues to grow from the existing museum and extends its industrial character. The existing museum is placed in relation to both the large industrial structures, documented by the Bechers, and the cathedral, which can all be characterized as large structures that exist out of different parts that have developed over time and are able to accommodate different alterations by either adding or removing parts. The construction of the proposal is spread out over different building phases so that the museum can be kept open during the construction. The proposed museum of contemporary art is not a static institution but an anti-monument that is able to respond to changing societal, political, financial, or institutional changes, in which the possibility of incompletion becomes part of the building.

The Tate Modern in London occupies a central place in the art world and in the evolving discourse of what a contemporary art museum should be and how art should be displayed. Due to its size and complexity, grasping the labyrinthine building was a daunting task. In its urban context, the Tate effect draws millions of visitors spurring development in the disadvantaged Southwark borough where it resides.2 While inside there are many ideas, processes, and programs packed into this building. Beyond the art, it also functions as a shopping mall and an electricity substation.3 Unsurprisingly, the Tate Modern was referenced in many of the readings, podcasts, and discussions in class.

The new VMHK (Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art) is not intended to be just a museum, but an attraction open to all. A place where people can go to see an art exhibition, grab something to eat, read a book, etc. Mies van der Rohe once said that “the first problem is to establish the museum as a center for the enjoyment, not the interment of art.” Accomplishing this task means removing all kinds of barriers between institution and community. Only in this way do art and culture truly become a 'social lift'. Indeed, how can a museum think of positioning itself internationally if it cannot even open its doors to its community? The new Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art is an always open door. A museum open to all.

The Flemish Museum of Contemporary Art is a proposition developed in response to the brief released by the board of MHKA in order to expand their institution’s scale and reach.

Located between the most historic part of the city and the newly developed New South it is in relation with both, just as it is in relation with the history of the institution and the unknown future of the world of art. Finding the balance between the publicness of such an institution and the necessity to protect valuable pieces of art was the driving point for multiple design decisions.

My proposition takes advantage of the existing building located on the site and the spatial qualities it offers. The smaller in-scale spaces are supplemented with larger galleries. The old and new parts are combined in a coherent way under a seamless façade. Its monolithic and shiny face stands out in the city becoming a new icon for art and knowledge.

The key idea of the project is to take an art museum as an installation that provides a series of stages that allow art to happen. The design of the museum is to some extent the curation of these stages.

Architectural graduation project containing a research and design for the Notre Dame of Paris. The research focusses on reinterpreting the Notre Dame of Paris based on seven interviews. The interviews are bundled in a set of narrative drawings that approach the building and its environment as intangible domain containing rather the social context. Based upon this research a design for a reconstruction is proposed. A new roof and spire is introduced and explained along the ambiguity of the research and by the eyes of people.

The graduation thesis deals with the architectural redevelopment of the National Bank of Belgium. It examines how this refurbishment can benefit the bank, the city of Brussels, and its inhabitants.

Built to its limits, the introverted character of the complex reflects the historical need to secure Belgium's financial reserves within its walls. Since its completion, however, there has been a fundamental change in the demands placed upon it. Industrial functions, such as printing and storing currency, have moved out of the city or abroad. At the same time, finance is becoming increasingly digitised. In response, the National Bank decided to redefine itself physically.

The proposal examines the optimisation of space through various changes to the layout of the offices to fit the bank's desired programme, as set out in the competition brief. The project recognises that the reduced surface area required by the bank allows a large part of the site to be given over to the city. The proposal not only suggests not new uses but new spaces that become part of the urban fabric, establishing connections and refuges for urban life, both public and private.

Future Bank, the graduation studio of Interiors Buildings Cities 2021/2022 revolves around the transformation of the National Bank of Belgium, a 90.000 m2 triangular building block. The design proposal for this transformation is based around the adaptive re-use of the vast, complex, existing building that the National Bank of Belgium currently is. The building is filled, or rather cluttered, with materials. Ranging from building services like ducts and heating, standardized elements such as raised floors, partition walls, suspended ceilings to objects such as chairs, tables, shelves. Essentially, the function of many of the building components is to obscure building services like ducts, cables and heating. Undressing, re-configuring and displacing are the three main actions in the strategy of the design. The design proposal aims, among other things, to make building services active instruments in the interior of the office, that no longer need to be obscured. The New National Bank of Belgium reveals the illusion and theatre of the office. Attempting to make space fully available for its inhabitants and visitors. The New National Bank of Belgium merges the public of Brussels with the employees of the bank. New public entrances are to be found on the ground floor, both leading into the monumental banking hall of the building. A permanent exhibition space, where the Belgian art collection of the bank is offered to the public of Brussels.

The Future Bank is a reconstruction project, designed for the existing building of the National Bank of Belgium. However, it is also an act of exploration into the potential of built capital, regardless “good” or “bad”, to be transformed to communicate contemporary ideas and to represent different values than the ones which were at play at the time of its inauguration. Thus, through this project I try to understand and utilize the power, embedded in existing architecture, to link past, present and future in a discourse of questioning, challenging and change.

The Future Bank involves the transformation and adaptive reuse of the National Bank of Belgium in Brussels. A vast closed off urban block, designed to safeguard the states treasures hasn’t moved with the ever changing ambiguous role of the bank. The project introduces a new public plinth for the city of Brussels to appropriate together with a conglomerate of different office environments for the banks employees. As architect, taking on the role of bricoleur, the existing building structure has been approached as a source of pre-constrained materials. The metaphorical tools of the axe and pocket knife are used to eke out new meanings within the existing building structure. The misfit building will be healed by stitching together on different scales. In that way creating an architectural continuity which allows future adaptation and even an informality that invites to do so. The minimal interventions aim to heal the existing, minimizing our impact on the limited resources that our planet has to offer. The result is a strategy which must be considered before diminishing a building that misfits its contemporary role.

The National Bank of Belgium stands as a fortified conglomerate of historic patchwork structures, within central Brussels. With its inherent role having shifted from that of a safekeeper of physical goods towards a mere office, the building can be made publicly accessible, taking on an active role in the city.
By understanding the existing building through the layers of the shell (as physical infrastructure with a lifespan of about 60 years) and sets (of furniture and partitions which are constantly replaced) the bank can be manipulated and re-used.
The careful clearance of the inner courtyard allows for an extension of the existing ‘shell’. A new framework, inserted within the courtyard, only revealing itself as chapters within the monumental facade.
The bank's excessive storage of outdated ‘sets’ become active elements in the spatial formation of the new bank. Providing an alternative narrative to the rapid regeneration of the office interior.