The theme of this year’s Urban Architecture graduation studio was ‘Last Green in Town’, which focuses on the twenty-four hectare piece of wasteland in the northeast of Brussels called the Friche Josaphat. The Friche used to be a marshalling yard but is now a field of wild nature and great biodiversity, where the railroad tracks that cut the site in half are still in operation by a local train line. The piece of land is very closed off to its surroundings by borders of trees, fences, and the railway, so accessing it is difficult. This has caused residents that live close to the Friche to know little about it, whereas the Friche is not at all empty and lifeless.

I propose the design of a small neighbourhood that consists of multi-generational living in combination with a hospice. The hospice is designed to be an intimate part of the neighbourhood, making it a part of life, rather than the end of it. With this new neighbourhood, the Friche will be valued again as a nature reserve that now becomes part of the city of Brussels again. But most importantly, the design responds to the housing problem that Brussels is facing. By designing for multi-generational living, I give space for different forms of households to live in the city, which contributes to not only quantity of new housing, but also social quality.

The Ways of Dwelling research that runs through the design like a red thread, is the analysis of the ways of dwelling of my grandparents. With this research, I mapped out the different patterns, rules, habits and uses of my grandparents in the different houses that they have lived in during their lives. They have experienced different family structures, that each resulted in a different way of using certain spaces in a home. I made a set of drawings where you can see these patterns in the floor plans of their homes using different colors to categorise everything. Some parts of the drawings fold open, which allows you to compare how and why certain spaces were used differently over time. The texts in the drawings describe ways of use, tied to different spaces, so the reader can find out in what way my grandparents lived.
With the findings from Ways of Dwelling, I set building rules for the design, which resulted in the design of the small neighbourhood that contains adaptable apartments, family houses, multi-generation houses, communal spaces and a hospice. The building rules determined a number of choices in the design, such as the entrance of the houses, the liveliness of spaces, the adaptability, and the design of the hospice. This way, the research became a practical design tool for the design.

In light of the endless capitalistic growth and energy & climate crisis, the project rejects the prevailing anthropocentric defitnition of a "comfortable" interior. The thesis begins with on-site fieldwork and personal interviews within elementary education. The research of "micro-climates" or micro-atmospheres in an elementary school is projected on the design location, benefiting from the micro-climates of the location. The result is a school building design in Friche Josaphat in Brussels. The design of the school focus on the careful placement between the city and the ecological site (Friche Josaphat), and experiments with a new interior climate for the education. The building envelope is imagined as a gradient of spaces instead of on clear separation of in-/outside. The layout and envelope design of the classrooms create thermal and atmospheric varieties as a productvie way to engage with micro-climate while reducing energy consumption.

Brussels, a city built on a wet marshland, has a rich history of landscape design and engineering. Earth was removed and resettled to create higher ground while parks and avenues were built to patch the gaps among different infrastructures. Thus the network of green spaces and parks in Brussels has become an important topic of its modern and contemporary urban development. Recently, there is a massive abandoned trainyard around the north-east suburbs of Brussels, waiting to be urbanised and transformed into a new neighbourhood. This situation was chosen to be the brief of the graduation studio of the urban architecture studio 2023 at TU Delft.

Within the expanding and mutating city of Brussels, there exists a derelict piece of land, a friche that is contested by humans in the midst of a pressing housing shortage. The friche once operated as a marshalling yard but discontinued its operations in 1994. Owing to a lack of human appropriation and a lapse in policy making, this yard began to rewild itself, becoming a safe haven for non-human inhabitants. Development authorities found themselves at odds with locals and ecologists who advocated for the emergent landscape to be left to its own devices, eventually leaving the friche in a state of limbo and uncertainty.

And with this passage of time, a heterotopia was born.

The heterotopia is a counter space in the city, removed from traditional time and place, that demands a rite of passage and that, which begets several places at once.

As an ode to this last, heterotopic green in Brussels, this project becomes a balancing act and mediator between the friche and the city : a border of collective housing, an “alt"(ernate) house/community space and a bathhouse that would be nestled and hidden within these borders.

The bathhouse intends to serve as a vessel for the purification of the being (human and non
human) as one transitions from the surrounding city into the haven of the heterotopic friche,
purged from the weights of regular life and time. The “bathhouse of enchantments” is therefore, a physical and metaphorical place where not only people but also other migratory guests of the friche come to rest their weary minds and bodies. It is not only a spiritual vessel of wellness, but also performs a social function of synergizing communities and rekindling an intimate relationship with the nature of the friche that is so far missing.
In addition to this, the proposal also becomes a water collection and management system for the east side of the friche, where it can initiate and facilitate the growth of a constructed wetland as a habitat and resting place for the growing species of migratory birds, bees, dragonflies and others.
The design unravels in layers and tales - from the urban-ness of the housing, to the transitory nature of the collective alt-house and finally, to the heterotopia of the bathhouse and its temporal gardens. It narrates the complete journey of moving through the city, into a sublime and magical realm. Time becomes the essence of the project, where the bathhouse and alt-house shape shift, appear and disappear with a play of time on three scales - daily, seasonal and longue durée.

The proposed intervention perhaps serves as a precedent - a newfound narrative of brownfield and post-industrial plot development, which are so often the “last greens” in town. Peeling and delayering, dissecting and revealing the “as found”, it embraces the need for the heterotopia and its virtues in the city, which would otherwise be obscured in the tenacious and expanding urban realm.

Analysing the possible relationships between nature, ecology, and industrial landscapes through the lens of our relationships and perceptions of nature in the Anthropocene. The project discusses the historical development of industry, and the opportunities these developments pose, as well as discussing the current intrinsic and circumstantial qualities of industrial landscapes with regards to biodiversity and non-human life.

The premise from the book:

"As said before this project is not a typical research. Although many sources are used, no data is collected and no hypotheses are proven. It is an active research, an artistic research one
might say, which is ongoing and really never finished.
Instead of proving arguments it is more about the practice of doing. While it starts out more analytical, which can be seen in the following pages. At a certain point the project turned more intuitive. There was a realisation that this approach would gain me more, just as the potential reader.
That is why the project is structured around three made films. All three completely different in subject, media and technology. But together in the end they might complement eachother
and reveal a greater value.
The order is one: “Terrain vague”, the film for P1, almost like a stop-motion. This mainly focuses on the Friche, and is a kind of site analysis. Two, :”Walk like me”. A camera verité style street documentary. With a combination of fiction and reality giving a glimpse of (Brussels) urban life. And lastly a film where all media are techniques are blend, and hopefully, everything from the year comes together, in one final film presenting the design of the storyhouse “A window to the world.”

“From Humus to Human: A Repository of Remembrance” explores the profound and intricate connection between humans and soil, delving into the fundamental aspects of human identity, belonging, and the cycle of life. It highlights the natural process through which we emerge from the earth, only to ultimately return to it, symbolizing the unity, continuity of life.

The project is situated in “La Friche Josaphat,” a former marshalling yard in Brussels that, over time, has been gradually reclaimed by nature. Inspired by this unique and evolving setting, the design proposal emphasizes the preservation of a patch of tall spruce trees, which stand as a powerful symbol of growth, resilience, and the enduring flow of life. These trees are surrounded by the ‘repository,’ a gallery of niches where visitors can retreat in solitude, reflect, and engage in personal acts of remembrance. These niches offer a view leading toward a memorial garden, creating a tranquil and serene atmosphere for honoring memories, fostering reflection, and experiencing quiet contemplation.

The ‘Repository of Remembrance’ is embraced and protected by a ring of dwellings. These clusters of housing units serve as both a physical and symbolic mediator, between the rhythms of everyday urban life and the sacred, reflective realm of remembrance.

The project’s main goal was to confront the homogenized (or general) architectural landscape that I believe has dominated since the industrial revolution. This investigation is rooted in the belief that buildings should always relate to their context, drawing from both historical and contemporary insights. The Arriere Garde project emerges as a testament to this philosophy, establishing connections on three scale levels: urbanistic, architectural, and technical.

Urbanistically, the masterplan is tries to get rid of the rigid boundaries, creating a seamless integration with the existing neighbourhood. The building is strategically positioned to act as a bridge between the current neighbourhood and newly designed masterplan. By incorporating a diverse program - a train station alongside community-focused functions such as a library, co-working spaces, and a coffee bar - the design reinforces its role as a connector: connecting the new with the past.

Architecturally, the project resonates with the local context through its massing and materiality. It captures the essence of its surroundings, reinterpreting architectural details in a contemporary manner. This dialogue between the old and the new ensures that the building is not an isolated object but a harmonious addition to its environment. The design speaks the language of its local context, yet with a modern articulation that respects and revitalizes local traditions.

Technically, the use of local materials is a vital part of the project. Historically, buildings have been tailored to their environments through the use of indigenous materials and construction techniques. The Arriere Garde project adheres to this tradition, integrating passive design principles to achieve a sustainable building. The choice of materials, coupled with natural ventilation and the use of high thermal mass materials, reflects a commitment to both environmental responsiveness and contextual adaptation.

In conclusion, the project champions the idea that architecture must transcend mere function and form to engage deeply with its context. By weaving together local architectural traditions, vernacular history, and contemporary innovations, the Arriere Garde project exemplifies a 'contemporary vernacular.' This approach underscores the importance of designing buildings that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also contextually rooted, fostering a sense of place and community. Through this lens, the project offers a solution to the homogenized architectural landscape, advocating for a future where buildings are intrinsically connected to their context, creating environments that are both meaningful and enduring.

Everything ages, and everything ends. Borders blur, and definition collapse. Inspired by Robert Smithson's work on landscape and entropy, this project explores the process of aging - time becomes a medium to strengthen the connection between building and people. Buildings cannot avoid time nor are they sand static. They are affected by their environment and they affect us. There is a special connection which forms when a building ages/ patina, as we see it grow we start to form a connection with it - in a sense the building transforms from a space which we live in to a space where we lived with. To wrap all those ideas together, mostly bio-base materials were used. The affect of the environment creates an aesthetic for the bio-base materials which conveys its sustainable vritues. Furthermore the affect of the environment also highlights the fragility of the skin of the building which hence encourages people to care for it and extend its life.

'The Scarred City', the theme of the Urban Architecture graduation studio in 2022/2023. This location-based studio started with Droixhe/Bressoux, a troublesome and difficult area in Liège (Belgium), as the overarching project site. Starting with fieldwork and participatory research into the hidden social structures of Bressoux and Droixhe and resulting in the importance and absence of nature in the area and its relevance, this thesis grew into a project aiming to contribute to childhood development in Bressoux and Droixhe by strengthening nature connectivity. Drawing workshops on the theme: 'what is nature?' with primary schools in Rotterdam, in comparable demographic neighbourhoods, where key to understanding children's perception of nature and observing their nature connectivity and inspired and aided in the design of a children’s community/leisure centre in Park de l’Oasis. A building which functions as the anchor between child and nature and where the design and its current natural environment go hand in hand to achieve the project’s aim.

Both urban voids and Bressoux are facing the same issue - exist in the city but do not belong to it. The voids are the by-product of urban planning, and the relationship between positive space (massing buildings) and negative spaces (voids) is barely included in design consideration. Generally, these spaces are perceived as a phenomenon of emptiness, neither productive in the urban fabric nor possessing a recognizable role in the neighborhood. Therefore, they never truly integrate into the neighborhood and indeed exist as urban segregation.

However, the nature of emptiness is also regarded as a kind of spatial quality and possesses a certain degree of potential. The project aimed to reposition the role of voids by seeing them as volume and a new interior to the neighborhood. By exploring the movement between interior and exterior, inverting the solid void, it is aimed to transform voids as a mending tool to reconnect the dispersed neighborhood as well as create an alternative public space that truly belongs to the locals.

The 'Fluid space' project has demonstrated that the study of Finding Forms and the abandonment of assigned functions for buildings has led to a refinement of architectural design specific to the site. At the same time, the project raises questions about contemporary problems in architecture, such as sustainability and the dominant practice of function-based construction.
The results of Finding Forms experiments - influence, grid and scale studies - resulted mainly in testing intuitions, which were then translated into design aftejavascript:void(0);r a reflection. Material and technical requirements influenced intuitive forms at a later stage. This posed the project’s greatest challenge: maintaining sight of the experiments despite the guidelines of material and technical requirements and keeping choices constantly reflecting with intuition.

This project was concerned with the design of a homeless shelter in the neighbourhood of Bressoux, Liège. Positions of three architects regarding the attitude of Weiterbauen are explored and expressed through an essay, ultimately shaping a personal architectural position towards the social and architectural embedding of a homeless shelter in the neighbourhood.

"Interwoven: Rethinking Work-Live Relations in a Post-Industrial Neighborhood" is a graduation project focused on the neighbourhood Bressoux in Liege, Belgium. This project aims to address the socio-economic challenges of a post-industrial city by reimagining the relationship between work and living spaces. By repurposing existing industrial structures within the neighbourhood and integrating new buildings, the project creates a vibrant and interconnected community. It provides opportunities for local craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and residents to work, collaborate, and engage in shared activities. Through thoughtful design, the project seeks to revitalise the neighbourhood, foster social cohesion, and empower the financial and social position of the city.