This thesis explores the relationship between architecture and water in the Netherlands, focusing on how architecture can enhance the sublime experience of water in the Biesbosch. The concluding words of H. Marsman’s poem “Memory of Holland” – "And in all the regions, the voice of the water is dreaded and heard" – express the Dutch mentality towards water as a continuous battle. While the construction of the Deltaworks and the transformation of wetlands into polders may seem to show the victory of this battle, it raises the question: should we continue to adopt such a violent attitude towards water? Throughout history, water has been depicted in literature, art, and folklore not only as a destructive force but also as a source of life, imagination, and renewal. This duality aligns with the experience of the Sublime: a powerful tension Between awe and fear, urging reflection on our place within the greater natural world, while offering the possibility of spiritual engagement beyond institutionalized religion. This research addresses how architecture can create a meaningful relationship with water by examining Dutch attitudes towards water, exploring artworks and literature, and analysing the physical experience of water through fieldwork, mapping, and the study of natural processes. It also investigates water-related architectural case studies to understand how built environments can reflect and enhance the sublime qualities of water. The findings suggest that sublime architecture should embrace natural processes, acknowledging the frightening and discomforting aspects they may evoke. To deeply engage visitors, architecture should both harmonize with and challenge existing perceptions of self and place. By doing so, the dual nature of water can shift from a source of fear to one of sublime reflection.

Life and death are important issues that everyone experiences in the lifetime. Life is usually a symbol of hope and happiness, while death is a of loss and separation, which is relatively heavy. As a place where most people store their sorrow and memories of death, public cemeteries carry a lot of thoughts and reflections about death.

In Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China, cemeteries are considered to be places where people’s souls live after death, requiring good feng shui conditions and appropriate area and shape to allow the dead to rest in peace.

This research investigated public cemetery as a monumental public space, it carries on a person’s memory of one’s experience and could be expanded to a family or a group’s collective memory. Through the research for cemeterial history and rituals, as well as the result of questionnaire, the necessity of design is clear, which requires creating more different types of space in the future, balancing appropriate symbol, integrating with the surrounding natural scenery, in order to better meet the requirements of the new generations for memorial and remembrance.

The research focuses on my individual memory and family collective memory about Chang’an Ci’en Yuan cemetery, where my grandma and grandpa were buried. Guided by four design principles derived from analysis: diversified atmosphere, memorial symbolism, natural structure and publicness,together with ritual. Chang’an Ci’en Yuan cemetery will be redesigned to vitalized various forms of memory about death and integrate public space into a vibrant and more powerful public cemetery.

At the same time, from the perspective of scale continuum, this research provides with a design principle for other public cemeteries in Xi’an that can be used for reference probably in the future, and reshapes a better atmosphere of Xi’an public cemeteries.

Delta landscapes are formed of dynamic natural, rich systems built up over thousands of years. Over time, the Deltas have been converted to the will of. Their strategic position for trade and the fertility of the lands are, among others, two clear conditions for human benefit. But what man did not consider was that with this exploitation the balance of natural systems in the Delta would be disturbed, leading to a decrease of the Deltaic value. With the pressing issue of urbanisation, sea level rise, and increase of temperatures Deltaic areas have to rely on balancing the natural system with Anthropogenic interest. This problem applies also to the Mississippi Delta in a relatively short period it has lost a great amount of sediments to the Gulf
of Mexico causing a decline in size, which eventually resulted in a loss of local safety, economies, identity, and ecological value. This is a direct effect of the Anthropogenic system that has ignored the natural system. The rich history, the ecology, and the local economy need protection from future climate changes. A new attitude is needed to avoid more losses, not only of sediments but mostly of rich landscapes, ecologies and identity. An attitude where the natural system will be better understood and prioritized, where man-made interventions will be more in favour of increasing and maintaining this quite fragile and rich Deltaic system. Therefore a set of three main principles, supplying sediments, trapping sediments, and 0keeping sediments was established to direct an exploration of new ways of coping with the current problems and create new opportunities for the Deltaic system of the Mississippi.

This thesis explores landscape architectural design approaches for the reclamation of mined landscapes in the Appalachian Coal Region, aiming to foster public appreciation and emotional connection. The study delves into the concepts of scale continuum and ecological grief, using a landscape-based narrative approach to reclamation for developing design principles that can transform post-industrial sites into spaces of cultural, ecological, and social significance.

Addressing ecological grief, characterized by emotional responses to environmental loss and degradation, the research advocates for strategies that emphasize accessibility, new appreciation, and adaptability. Ensuring open access to reclaimed landscapes fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility, while providing educational opportunities about the reclamation process enhances transparency. Promoting an open-minded approach, the design integrates artistic and cultural elements that highlight history and transformation, challenging traditional aesthetics and conflicting reclamation practices. The principle of open-ended design emphasizes flexibility, supporting the natural processes and ecological succession, allowing for continuous community engagement, both physically and mentally.

The final design, titled the ‘Appalachian Memorial of the Mined Landscape,’ reflects large-scale regional narratives trough site-specific design interventions, ensuring that reclamation efforts resonate across different spatial dimensions. This integrated approach applies the strategies of accessibility, new appreciation, and adaptability, allowing the grand themes and stories of the Appalachian region’s history and ecological context to be experienced in a detailed, intimate setting of individual sites, connected by intelligible routing.

Through these strategies, the research aims to create resilient landscapes that honor the region’s history and ecological context, offering new opportunities for public interaction and stewardship. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on landscape reclamation, providing actionable insights for practitioners and policymakers aiming to rehabilitate and reimagine mined environments.

The Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica) is a unique and shrinking biome, with less than 20% of its original coverage remaining. It has played a pivotal role in Brazil’s history, serving as the entry point for colonization and the centre of numerous economic cycles. This thesis explores the historical, environmental, and socio- economic transformations of Southern Bahia region near where the Portuguese first arrived in Brazil in 1500.
Deforestation and degradation due to extractive economies, agricultural expansion, urban development, and industrialization have diminished the forest, exacerbated climate change, and caused frequent environmental disasters. These activities have also led to the impoverishment and displacement of those with ancestral ties to the land. The core issues of land ownership and power concentration have fragmented communities and biomes, leading to severe socio-environmental consequences.
This thesis highlights the importance of revisiting the historical narrative of the Atlantic Forest landscape, by focusing on local communities’ perspectives and knowledge. These communities possess valuable practices that enable subsistence while preserving the environment. Their inclusion in territorial planning is crucial for sustainable futures.

Cities all over the world are densifying because of population growth and urban popularity. By 2050, more than two thirds of the global population is expected to live in cities. (Zumelzu & Herrman-Lunecke, 2021) This trend raises concerns about the influence of urban environments on mental well-being of residents, as city living has been linked to increased risks of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress. (UD/MH, 2022) Where especially the acceleration of urbanization and its spatial implications is argued to be of a negative influence on inhabitants mental health. (Zumelzu & Herrman-Lunecke, 2021) However, urban living also offers mental health benefits and empirical evidence tells us that environmental factors can have both a positive and negative influence on mental health. (Hajrashoelih et al., 2018) The relation of spatial design and mental well-being is therefore starting to emerge as a fundamental concept, and leads to the rising importance of designing cities with restorative qualities.

Urban areas must prioritize promoting good mental health and providing support for those with mental health issues, ensuring inclusiveness through accessible restorative qualities (Roe & McCay, 2021; UD/MH, n.d.). However, densifying urban environments exacerbate segregation and inequality, hindering the population's ability to benefit from mental health-promoting urban design and increasing the risk of mental health problems (Roe & McCay, 2021). This asks for an inclusive and restorative approach, which has led to the main research question of this thesis: To what extent can public space design restore mental health of diverse individuals within the densifying urban context? With a focus on the differences in experience between various social groups and an emphasis on marginalized groups. This choice driven by the desire to see if the needs of some groups are overlooked. The research will be carried out within the selected case study: Bos en Lommer, Amsterdam. To build a theoretical background, research into mental health, methods for restorative and inclusive design, and their environmental implications will be done. Using this knowledge, the case is analysed from an academic perspective to identify important areas for increasing the restorative and inclusive environment.

Workshops and interviews with diverse, marginalized resident groups are conducted to understand their experiences and needs within the urban environment. These include methods like mental mapping and photo evaluation, aiming to capture subjective place experiences. The utilization of creative, participatory, and qualitative research methods is emphasized. which is also acknowledged as crucial within the framework for restorative cities by Roe and McCay (2021). The results of this extensive analysis through fieldwork are used to discover the conflicts in experiences among diverse user groups within Bos & Lommer. Finally, findings from theory and research are integrated in the proposal of a design example on a medium scale, illustrating various small-scale conflicts within one site.

The Paraná Delta, a vital component of the La Plata river basin, is facing severe environmental degradation due to human activities and external pressures. This thesis explores the adaptive capacity of the deltaic system and stakeholders in the ‘Los Pájaros y sus Pueblos Libres’ reserve (LPPL), aiming to propose a strategy for sustainable development of the delta as a whole. The study aims to investigate biophysical processes, governmental policies, and socio-economic and cultural characteristics related to the delta and to propose a strategy for enhancing and promoting sustainable development in the region. A thorough literature review has been conducted regarding relevant existing research and data collection has primarily relied on desk research, (GIS-)data sourcing, and policy documents. Additionally, interviews with experts have been conducted and a thorough site visit has been undertaken. The results of the research contribute to the understanding of the ecological value of deltas and reveal the critical environmental degradation and diminishing ecosystem services specifically in the LPPL area in the Paraná Delta. The thesis emphasizes the importance of adopting a multifaceted and integrated approach that addresses the challenges faced by the delta. It underscores the significance of developing an adaptation plan based on NBS and strongly considering and reviving local knowledge for socially and culturally acceptable solutions. Stakeholder engagement emerges as a crucial factor in fostering collaborations and partnerships that promote a collective system of care and enable sustainable practices. The proposed strategy also advocates for localized interventions that can serve as a driving force for positive change in the entire delta. Sustainable tourism is identified as a strategic tool for conservation and regeneration, raising awareness about the delta’s ecological value and diversifying the existing local economic model greatly dependent on intensive agricultural practices and responsible for the loss of ecosystems. Finally, the thesis challenges the existing conservation framework and proposes a more flexible and adaptive approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of the delta and its surrounding areas.

As an archipelagic territory of 7,641 islands, the Philippines is dealing with multiplicities of identities, resources, and risks that are pressured by a centralized and homogenizing development paradigm, fragmenting critical socio-spatial landscapes that further creates a hyper-vulnerable state in the face of the climate crisis. The project touches on uncovering the dialectics between indigeneity and modernity in space, and revealing critical values that traditional and indigenous knowledge systems have that are potentially made for evolutionary resilience with identified river basins traversing critical biodiversity corridors as sites for exploration and understanding. These critical zones - The River Interface - encompass megadiverse complex social-ecological systems, coalescing frontiers of pristine Philippine biodiversity, ancestral domains, urban domains, and the rivers that tie them altogether.

Framing the River Interface Unit’s pattern from The Source, The Confluence, and to The Mouth, with its embodied values of Extraction-Interposition-Consumption, respectively over the riverscape, then prompt envisioning of futures to be tackled more deeply and how these can be formed from cycles of memory that are present in practices of care as well as the biophysical phenomena shaping this, opening up which adaptive capacities can be enhanced and enabled. Where these cycles occur in space are then identified to see opportunities as to how they can be guided by principles of a decolonized process, embedded recognition of pluriversality, and implemented socio-spatial justice through a renewed form of governance. These shall then guide the making of space and allowing care to be the mode of an evolutionary and adaptive riverscape fabric. Projects for each part of the River Interface Unit system are then developed through a process of nostalgic envisioning.

With the identification of ‘Memory’ as the key adaptive quality that the indigenous hold, the use of Nostalgia as a design strategy aims to envision collective climatic futures through the River Interface’s capacities for memory, consciousness, and organization. These capacities are then enhanced by Nostalgia’s ability to reinforce self-continuity in moments of struggle and crisis undergoing the processes of assimilation, accommodation, and co-evaluation. Hence, this can establish through space, multiplicities of culture with a core memory system, embedding in long-term memory an evolutionary resilient and truly adaptive way of life. In the search for a solid archipelagic identity and its significance in the response to the urgency of climate change and its effects, the project aims to offer clarity and freedom for a country longing to know who it is, its potentials, and believe in its true worth. From the accumulated identities of Exoticism, Exhaustion, and Helplessness, we turn to the true and beautiful nature of our group of islands of a nation we call home that is clearly Delicate, Diverse, and Dynamic.

The world is changing, and the impact of climate change is becoming increasingly apparent. in our daily lives. The need for people to change their unsustainable behaviours is clear, particularly in vulnerable neighbourhoods where the effects of climate change are most pronounced. Not only are environmental vulnerabilities being exposed within this context, but social vulnerabilities as well. That’s where this project comes in. The aim is to take an eco-social approach to urban design, creating purposeful and sustainable interactions within these neighbourhoods to help achieve a more inclusive and sustainable future. The influential role that the physical environment plays in shaping our behaviours needs to be recognised. It can either facilitate or dismiss specific actions, particularly in relation to sustainable behaviours. Encouraging sustainable behaviours in public spaces requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses community awareness, everyday decisions, and recovery and protection behaviours. To effectively promote environmental actions, it’s crucial to tailor interventions to the needs and capabilities of the local population, considering factors such as affordability, feelings of safety, and cultural backgrounds. With this in mind, the project proposes design interventions that gathered in a pattern language. By considering local capabilities and sustainability behaviours, design propositions are made for four places within Bloemhof and Tarwewijk - each representing a different approach in terms of scale and functionality. The final designs represent a future in which a strong community practices sharing and repairing within a balanced and natural streetscape.

"Arctic Symphony" is an exploration into the intersection of architecture, music, dance, and the temporal dimensions of the Arctic landscape. This project, originally started as a graduation project, transcends traditional architecture by embracing the ever-changing dynamics of the Arctic environment and human interaction.

At the core of the project is the concept of 'time', investigated through physics, poetry, and neuroscience. Based on this research a series of 'graphic scores' was made as a visual representation of the seasonal rhythms of the Arctic landscape. These scores further inspire the design of the architecture later referred to as a 'living structure, an architectural entity that evolves in with the natural elements, accommodating human interaction while simultaneously undergoing a cycle of deterioration and rejuvenation.

The graduation was complemented by a performance, brought to life by dance, music, and a narrative that echoes the architecture's journey through the Arctic seasons. The performance is an interpretation of the scores and offers an experience of the Arctic's temporal reality. This part of the project has gotten its own legs and is accessible through the 'Arctic Symphony' YouTube channel.

The essence of 'Arctic Symphony'-project lies in the temporal aspect of the architecture. Just as music and dance is not static, frozen in time, neither should architecture be. Architecture should be dynamic and ever-changing, echoing the ebbs and flows of the Arctic landscape itself. The project signifies a dance with time, where the architecture, the landscape, and human activity are all performers on the stage of the Arctic Symphony.

Urban foodscapes project addresses issues concerning the food supply chain in London. It aims to combat problems created by current agri-business practice such as long, complex logistical chains, food waste, carbon emissions, wasted water, energy, labour and land scarcity. Foodscape, being both global and local, lies on the intersection of multiple material and immaterial flows, therefore the problems it creates cannot be solved by one discipline alone. The research unfolds the most pressing issues concerning the food supply chain and proposed urban strategy attempts to find ways to improve the system by integrating social and technological aspects to close food-related material and immaterial loops by looking into urban synergies to limit the waste of resources and create new social opportunities that will constitute a framework for the future projects of this kind.

The river Rhine is Europe’s economic powerhouse. Without the Rhine, the Ruhr area and the port of Rotterdam wouldn’t have developed into the economically leading industrial regions they are today. The economic power of the Rhine comes forward from the ability of humans to control the river. By rectifying and canalizing the river and constructing dams and locks, the ships’ ability to navigate the river increased. This focus on economic development has caused critical environmental problems. Floods, droughts, and pollution are the most notable environmental threats to humans. This is intensified by climate change as extreme rainfall events and periods of drought will become more severe. Our current paradigm in flood risk management tells us to endlessly keep heightening our dykes, which is not a sustainable path to deal with flood risk. Heightening dykes also leads to shifting the problems elsewhere. If a river is not given space to flood its natural floodplains, it is forced to flow downstream more quickly, leading to a higher peak water level and potential floods downstream.

This master thesis introduces the concepts of socio-ecological symbiosis and clearance as means to improve water safety, the connection between humans and water, and the natural habitat. The central question of this research is: How could water safety downstream be supported by upstream design interventions in the Northern Upper Rhine Valley, based on methods in which socio-ecological symbiosis and clearance are central? As upstream water management strongly influences the downstream water safety, design exercises are executed in the Northern Rhine Valley with the goal to improve the water safety both downstream and locally. Three typological design exercises are set up which together form the proposed future water management strategy of the whole Rhine Valley.

The current approach in riverine climate adaptation strategies aims to accommodate all functionalities of rivers into one singular riverbed, but runs into the limitations of an integrated spatial system. The research shows that the different functionalities of rivers, i.e. the different riverine regimes, in synchronization will lead to a decline in performance of these separate regimes.

This thesis project Perspectives on the IJssel explores and illustrates an alternative future for the IJssel, in which an integral approach is paramount but with a methodology build on spatial decomposition rather than spatial integration. The project argues that integrative design through spatial segregation in parallel systems offers a widening of solution space within an integral approach.

This thesis builds on the proposition that the ocean is both an urban and social space. Therefore, marine planning needs to consider socio-cultural risks and opportunities to be deemed sustainable. This reconceptualisation is especially relevant for the Barents Sea, where retreating sea ice leaves the ocean more accessible to marine traffic and resource extraction every year. However, the current practice of marine spatial planning (MSP) responds predominantly to geopolitical and economic demands for resources like gas and oil - only the monetary value of the ocean is considered. It fails to provide an understanding of the ocean as a space of cultural values, memory, and meaning. As a result, the socio-cultural impacts of offshore development remain alarmingly unmapped and unknown. As an interplay between research and design, urbanism can understand human-sea relations and employ this understanding in spatial interventions, where MSP cannot.
Following this hypothesis, I aim to approach the Barents Sea as an urban and local project. What does it mean to be at sea, to be changed by the sea, and to change it in return? How is the local economy of life dependent on conditions of marine space? And how can urban designers use this knowledge to affect change. In the first place, this is a theoretical work. I hypothesize what offshore urbanism should entail, propose entrances of design, and compose design principles in the Barents Sea.

The theory is tested in a case study: the coastal community of Hammerfest. The current network composition of the Hammerfest maritory shows a system that is overdependent on petroleum activity. The project proposes two pathways of change towards a future where Hammerfest depends on a variety of alternative marine industries. As such, the community becomes more resilient to changes in offshore petroleum. Particularly after 2035, when the current production fields are depleted and extraction moves seaward, away from Hammerfest.

Network analysis forms a key point of entrance for the maritorial design. The project regards ships as islands that are inhabited, occupied, and built by humans. They are urban nodes at sea. The maritory can thus be read as an interdependent network of nodes (islands, platforms, pipelines, ships) connected by the movement of goods and people. I use marine traffic density data to analyze the nodal patterns of movement. From it, we can read the organization of marine uses and their spatial relation to Hammerfest.
I then select one node from the current network, the island Melkøya, to redevelop as the root of the proposed transition. The prospected departure of the gas industry established on Melkøya provides an opportunity to repurpose the island. Through the act of deconstruction and rehabilitation, the gas processing island is repurposed as a public port, harbouring local marine industry and recreation. From the island Melkøya, a new economy of life is allowed to grow seawards.

Ultimately, the purpose of this research is to actuate academics and urbanists to use design as a means to inform and inspire MSP, and to open the discourse on offshore urbanism.

The evolutions of human culture–nature relationships from histories demonstrate all changes in how people manage and perceive their land. In the past, the relationship between humans and nature was known to have high interdependency reflected by integrating people’s activities and behaviour towards nature. This integration can be seen through rituals, rules, and folktales, including awareness, responsibility, and respect between nature and humans. However, some influences gradually alter the relationship and nature by entering the Anthropocene era and industrialization, modernity, and globalization. Thus, it becomes divisible and changes the ways humans perceive and manage landscape (McHarg, 1992).

On the other hand, rich natural and cultural land, namely Toba Caldera Geopark, is facing shifts in its economic scheme: becoming the main priority in the tourism sector in Indonesia for national economic growth. Thus, it raises three main challenges that need to be addressed to achieve sustainable and inclusive tourism while also promoting socio-ecological resilience within local society. The first is about revealing nature capacity, continuity, and limit in order to address biophysical integration. The second is about unfolding the changing of human cultural identity that is presently (and in the past) becoming tourism assets and vulnerably to loss because of sharing culture, social well-being, and prosperity in order to promote social resiliency. And third is about determining the in-between systems that have a relatively huge influence on this nature-culture interrelationship and its evolution. Moreover, these challenges align with the existing master plan to give synergic feedback to present tourism development within the area.

Furthermore, the design explorations in this project aim to balance the present and future ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, and cultural services) embedded in the landscape and local culture since the past. The understanding starts by theoretical formulation, including all elements that influence the evolution of human culture – nature relationship. Then, this theory is used from analysis to strategic design. Firstly, the deconstruction of the performative landscape from the past to present and its relation to culture. The deconstruction is classified into softscape and hardscape and tested in two different areas with different characteristics. Second, the re-construction of all interventions by proposing new schemes of strategic pathways by considering governance systems, uncertainties, collaborative management, and evaluation of existing masterplan. Lastly, projecting scheme of simulation by using a local perspective to grasp the limitation of this thesis which is site visiting.

Housing sites are urgently needed and one location that has been designated for this purpose is the Zuidplaspolder. The Zuidplas municipality would like to retain the village character of the existing villages, as it is highly valued by the inhabitants. It has therefore been decided to build a fifth village in the polder, instead of expanding the existing villages. However, this very deep polder has a number of problems, including the water system, the soft peat soil and biodiversity. Climate change will exacerbate the water problems, while oxidation of the peat will also contribute to climate change. This raises the question of whether it is wise to build in this polder. This project investigates whether there is a sustainable way to build a village in this polder, by putting the water system and biodiversity first. It will be investigated what form suits the polder, but also the people who like to live in a village. What ultimately contributes most to sustainability, in this time of great uncertainty about how great the consequences of climate change will be, is the temporary nature of the village, which leaves other options open for the future.

Aligning the urban environment to concrete urban processes, increasing the liveability, is one of the major challenges urban planners are facing. Adapting the built-environment to cope with soil sealing, climate change, the densification of cities with the ‘compact city’ concept and other urban demands, constantly pressure the quality of urban environment. Being part of the Dutch building culture for centuries, urban domestic gardens have played a significant (spatial) role in Dutch cities, taking up a significant part of the urban environment, and providing a private outdoor space for residents. The ongoing urban processes can or will affect the role urban domestic gardens play and how they are being used or implemented into the urban environment. For this research, the neighbourhood the Tarwewijk in Rotterdam has been used to investigate and explore how urban domestic gardens can contribute to a more liveable urban environment through a sustainable urban regeneration, in response to concrete urban demands. The research shows that rethinking the implementation of urban domestic gardens leads to an increase of the liveability in the Tarwewijk, by using specific, transferable values to improve the quality of the public spaces and buildings. Transferring the values related to eating, learning, working, playing and meeting from the social environment, and greening, cooling and infiltrating from the physical environment into public spaces increase the accessibility to values of gardens, without the need to provide urban domestic gardens to every single household, taking up valuable space in existing cities. It also shows that the regeneration of urban domestic gardens to semi-private shared gardens serve as a mechanism for the densification and diversification of the built environment, improving urban structures and physical forms, with related social processes and liveability.

During the past few decades urbanization has been occurring at a very fast pace, claiming new territories by spatial expansion and occupying the last precious open spaces that are left. Urban growth, in combination with rapid climate change and the neglect of ecological processes, has had severe negative effects on the environment. Therefore, improving the quality of life in urban environments and transforming them into resilient cities has never been more relevant. At the same time, as current practices of urban development are failing to cope with the existing conditions, new opportunities are occurring. One of these opportunities are the unused and forgotten areas generated by urban growth that occupy large parts of the urban web. Despite their derelict appearance, these spaces provide a haven for spontaneous vegetation - the (so called) Third spaces. The Third space is a concept forged by the theories of Ignasi de Solà-Morales and Gilles Clément and refers to all types of places that constitute a territory of refuge for biological diversity. As a result of their abandonment, the Third spaces evolve into secondary landscapes that are colonized by pioneer species and perform ecological services. With Athens as the context of the proposal, this thesis aims to explore the potentialities of the Third spaces in the new processes of urbanization and re-envision their role as support for new ecological, morphological and cultural interrelations within the urban landscape. In order to do that, the area of Eleonas is chosen for intervention, as a characteristic example of an agglomeration of Third spaces among the post-industrial remnants and empty spaces found in the heart of Athens metropolitan area.

Transitional territories such as lagoons are among the most impacted and delicate environments, threatened by the combined effects of climate change and human action. This Master thesis in Landscape Architecture examines the Venetian Lagoon in North of Italy as one of the most endangered and critical cases, as the last extreme flooding event of November 2019 demonstrates. The thesis aims to address the Venetian Lagoon hydromorphological sufferance, the state of neglection of its secondary islands, and the over-engineered flood defence design as crucial issues. From the research conducted, emerges clearly the need for redefining the role of the entire Venetian Lagoon in the next future, shifting its role from passive, being exploited and consequently damaged, to active, able to sustain resiliently the rest of the territory. In order to do so, the main strategy to be pursued is to reinforce the “barene” landscape, the brackish marshlands, fundamental for the hydromorphological and ecological survival of the lagoon. These brackish marshlands are able to limit tidal and wind impact, favour water exchange and act as an expansion vessel, but, from 20th century onwards, 70% of their surface have been lost due to anthropic actions. Therefore, the goal of the thesis is to employ the agency of “barene” to mitigate the impact of anthropic and natural threats, acting as a nature-based flood defence (function), to recover hydromorphological sufferance (flow), and to support the cultural, ecological and productive heritage (form), making the Venetian Lagoon function as a sustaining landscape infrastructure. The “barene” act as pivotal means to achieve a comprehensive vision for the Venetian Lagoon where functions, flows, and forms are implemented and designed as part of a unique co-operating system. The central area of the Venetian Lagoon is chosen as project site, being the most damaged hydromorphologically. Having researched on how natural forces (tides, winds, etc.) influence this portion of lagoon, different combinations of under-water and above-water concave structures are designed in harmony with these forces, to capture suspended sediments and promote accretion. In the most compromised cases, the structures are partially supported by initial dredges. The islands of the central lagoon become the perceptive points from which experience the transformation and the growth of this new landscape. In the end, the intertwined system of “barene” and islands, once grown sufficiently and matured, will produce a beneficial effect over the hydromorphological, ecological and biodiversity, and cultural surrounding environment. Through the process of research by landscape design, the project seeks to mitigate the threats of climate change and relative sea level rise in the Venetian Lagoon; provide a nature-based flood defence; create brackish marshland’s habitat for ecosystem restoration; invest on alternative forms of slow-tourism and foster different duration of stay in Venetian lagoon; enrich local community livelihood and economical vibrancy. Moreover, the project wants to consolidate and enhance the cultural image of the Venetian Lagoon, consisting of the diffuse sense of horizontality, reflection and visibility conveyed by the diffuse and unceasing water surface.

Located southeast of Albania, the village of Tushemisht is characterised by numerous water springs and freshwater canals emanating from these springs and dispersing through the village creating a network of water lines, and small water basins. Small houses clustered around these water lines, in some cases incorporating water into their courtyards and even their indoor environments,
create a harmonious and balanced environment. Like many other areas of Albania, Tushemisht has undergone a rapid urban development which has affected the quality and values of the urban and natural landscape. As such, new buildings such as vacation homes oriented only towards the impressive lake view
are replacing old, small and diverse houses that are already well integrated into the existing typical landscape. Land that was once used for agriculture purposes is being transformed into construction land where more multi-
story residential buildings are build that have nothing in common with the landscape and the typical architectural tradition of the village. The old tradition of fishing, fish farming and land cultivation have been replaced by
tourism-based economy. In general, people’s relation to water, and nature is being lost and alienated though time. Embedded in a culture of high informality and uncontrolled developments, the characteristic water element
of the village is in constant danger. Hence, it i crucial that these qualities are preserved and improved in the future by laying the groundwork for sustainable
development. This research aims to create a new design strategy to guide sustainable development of the village of Tushemisht by enhancing its landscape qualities. The design strategy consists of a new vision plan which
proposes a set of guiding principles for new buildings, water ways, routings, new boarders and road relocation. Furthermore, the design strategy will provide guiding rules based on existing housing typologies as well as introduce spatial elements to improve promote social and economic development within the village