By means of 'Design by Emergence' an oblique interface is proposed, feathering out the edge between the vertical Marconi Towers the horizontal city of Rotterdam.

Design by Emergence is a rule-based design approach where the designer designs (interaction) rules for building configuration simulations, shape grammars and building components. The emergent outcome is evaluated an rules are (re)designed and parameters adjusted.

The oblique interface builds on the theory of 'Fonction Oblique' by Parent and Virilio and various built implementations from e.g. Zaha Hadid, UN-Studio, OMA. It also addresses the theme of 3D-Mat buildings.

The project site is located on the main street of the TU Delft campus.The building consist of adaptable and
interactive housing integrated with public and semi-public studying and working spaces. The hybrid of the
working spaces mixed together with housing was chosen due to the increased number of people working from
home and the proximity of the building site to the TU Delft Campus, which needed additional study spaces.
For this project the main goal was to minimise unusable space of the housing complex during the day and night radii of attraction towards different functions. This simulation helped to achieve an optimized layout of the
spatial arrangement within the building, based on the agents’ paths.
Parallel to the studies of the agents’ flow within the site and the building, another study was performed on the
ergonomics of the space needed for certain activities. That study helped to create optimized apartments, where
places were designed for different activities that can be carried out while walking, standing, sitting or laying
down, and with a different need for privacy.
During the design process different parametric tools and simulations were applied. This helped to achieve the
complexity within the building and interaction of the spaces, which was impossible without parametric input.
The chosen concept led to a more social and interactive environment within the building. Spaces that are used
during the day for working places and public activities will become an extension of the private apartments in the
evening when people return from work/studies. Moreover inhabitants can customise their space according to
their preferences, making it more open or private.
time. This was achieved by taking into account the movement of the people within the building, their everyday
activities, space reconfiguration and an introduction of adjustable boundaries between private, shared and
semi-public and public spaces.
The site entrances and the circulation within the site were determined after running a simulation of a swarm of 4
different classes of agents approaching the site and circulating within it between different attraction points and
repellers. Different groups of residents were studied to create these 4 classes of agents, representing visitors,
families, bachelor students, master students and researchers. Each class of agents, depending on their
everyday activities, was given a different factor of cohesion, alignment and separation. Agents also had
different speeds, view angles and tail lengths (which other agents could follow), as well as different factors and

The scope of the project was the creation of a sustainable international air hub in the Caribbean region. The aspect of sustainability has been approached from all the facets it implies, ranging from energy to social and cultural sustainability.

How urban intervention facilitates the current cultural significance of Cuban “accidental sustainability” for alternative recycling in order to develop a self-sustaining city with minimizing dependence of import?

The border between El Paso (USA) and Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) is acting as a barrier. Exchange within the community of border people is undoubtedly obstructed by this militarized divider. The Chamizal Zone, a peculiar piece of land formed by the meandering Rio Grande border-river sitting in between the two cities, has the potential to function as a threshold. Emphasizing the distinctive ‘city island’ character of the Chamizal and making a third nation can change the perception and experience of the barrier. This third nation could come in the form of a binational stadium, that can be realized on the US side of the border at present, with the financial aid of American private investors. This enclave serves the entire community of border people, both Mexican and American.

This project will house the next generation of technology and startups. The design will reflect what is held on the inside through a computational design strategy progressing nonstandard architecture. The site will first be analyzed in terms of people flow, (where people come from, where they are most likely to go, where they are most likely to stay, etc) solar, wind and climate analysis, along with the local, visual and physical connections. These inputs will be used to define the boundary of the building within the site. They will also be used to define certain parameters of the building itself, such as heights, views, certain directions of structure, etc. Once the boundary is created, the program is determined and placed on the site. The overall design and form will be derived from spatial analysis of the required program. This will start with the analysis of what functions are required in a multi use tech exhibition and startup center. Once the programs and functions are taken into account, the analysis of the spaces, functions and uses will be cross referenced and tagged in order to determine which spaces need to be close to each other and which ones can be farther away. This will be accomplished through a script that places the individual programmatic spaces within the boundary in close proximity to other spaces that are required to be close. Once these spaces are defined and the areas are set, swarm logic, people flow simulation and environmental factors will shape the form and connect the spaces. The swarm logic will start from specific areas on the site where people can enter and connect the ground to the building and interior spaces. The autonomous agents will create a trail that will define other architectural elements critical to the design of the center. These would include public/ semi public spaces that lead the visitor into the building. People flow analysis will be used to create the internal flows of people in the tech and exhibition center as well as the external to internal flows and vice versa. The wind analysis will help to streamline the form so that the wind will not create extra stresses across the building, rather flow along the structure. The environment, climate and other factors will be taken in to account in order to create a low impact building that concentrates on performance driven aspects, revolving around and showcasing the tech industry.

In the micro/meso scale, the buildings skin and construction components will be explored to derive a new way to use Carbon Fiber (or composites) in the construction field. This part will fall under the category of Design to Robotic Production. The goal for this portion is to explore and create a self supported or minimally supported carbon fiber structure (or composite structure) that would integrate the systems, structure and aesthetics into the building pieces. Through the use of programming and biomimicry, the composites would be designed in a way that is structurally sound, aesthetically pleasing and performance oriented. The design of the building will incorporate Robotic Building technologies, as the whole building would be designed and built through the use of robotic manufacturing practices.

Hyperbody has set an exercise for students who are graduation on the design studio. For this exercise the student needs to develop a proposal for 6500-7000 sq. m. of student housing on the Green Village in Delft. The Green Village vision is to create a sustainable future together and that all starts with the health of the students themselves since they are the ones who's going to live there. Stress seem to have a really negative influence on the health but also the performance of the students. For this project i tackled this problem by reducing the stress level of students on their way home. During commuting students are often still outside the present. They take their work back home which can result in low quality sleeping and on long term even result in lack of performance at the university.
The concept therefor is to work with the route student take towards their homes. In order to give the route more meaning, spaces and function will be integrated in the route. Profiles on the route are never same. Edges of this route exist out of benches, shelters, workplaces and nature. Especially nature plays an important factor of fulfilling multiple function. Not only does nature improves the mental state of people but it also serves as shading, fall prevention and orientation of the spaces by the colours of the plants.
The goal is to relax the mind of the student on this route. Based on that the route is designed with smooth shapes in order reduce disturbance of the mind. By using flowing curves, shapes will never break in segments. This leads to less impulses on the human mind.
Once students will reach their home. The design languages and materialisation changes from free form abstract architecture made of concrete to orthogonal space efficient architecture made of timber. The reasons for choosing wood is because its a warm material that makes it pleasant for student to live in, but also because timber is sustainable and relative easy to work with. Where the concrete part of the building is public, the dwellings are personal and more temporary. After some years the interiors of the dwellings could be easily upgraded to newer standards.
All dwellings are orientated in such a way that one side is facing a space covered by an ETFE roof which provides the space underneath for additional passive heating. The other side of the dwelling will face regular Dutch climate. With a cold and warm side of the dwelling the space can ventilate passively. Hot air underneath the ETFE roof will rise and pulls the colder air throughout the dwellings. Depending on the temperature the ETFE roof can let the hot air out to regulate the temperature.
As mentioned before, the free form part of the architecture will be made from concrete. The overall form will be divided in building components. These elements will be pre fabricated. Based on the digital model a mold will be milled of expanded polystyrene and later reinforced with steel an poured with concrete. These elements will be stacked on top of the constructive walls of the dwellings and solidified together with freshly pored concrete. To insulate the dwelling polyurethane foam will be sprayed up against the inside of houses.
Computational strategy. The strategy to create and mostly generate the architecture is not only needed for fabrication but also for the design itself. All the freeform wished results are brought back to from roughly 64 faces to 4 faces per building component. From this reduction functions (bench, workplace, etc.) are assigned to different areas of the overal plan based on data. Then all the details will be generated by the grasshopper script. Faces will be added where needed and later on smoothed and polished to get the final result. For orientation of the user, colour will be assigned based on location of where the user is located within the plan. The size of plants will be planted according to the results of solar radiation inside the dwellings. And ceilings of the public space will be shaped according to structural analyses.
All these things will come together in functional and pleasant architecture in order to reduce the stress of students who are commuting from university to their home.

The concept is to design a living environment, a habitat, for immigrants, Ex-pats and refugees, who are granted asylum. This habitat is meant to be a stepping stone in their integration process, in which they learn about Dutch culture, language and prepare to be fully adopted in Dutch society.
The location of this centre is in the Europoint-towers in Rotterdam. The open floor plan and good connectivity make it a great location. The towers, which are now partially occupied to house offices, also have a growing amount of vacant space. This vacant space is believed to increase significantly in the near future, possibly resulting in the towers to be completely unused. The goal is to give a new purpose to these towers. The main purpose of the habitat is to help immigrants integrate into Dutch society. The programme will therefore include, study/meeting spaces, lecture halls and an information centre. To bring the immigrants in contact with Dutch citizens, the building is designed to stimulate and make possible interaction between them.
Because the refugees only live in the habitat for a short time (up to a year), the amounts of people living in it will constantly change. Combined with the many compositions of families, like single people or families with kids, these factors will ask for an environment that is able to adapt to the changes. Dwellings should be custom configurated to fit the spatial and functional needs of each family, while providing the right amount of privacy.

The borderlands between the U.S.A. and Mexico are usually associated with problems of immigration, violence and illegal trades. As a reaction, the architecture of the border and its crossings is one of aggression, control and exposure creating an identity and spatial experience that undermines and damages the binational communities, socially, politically and culturally. The binational border, by its nature, is the place where differences in culture, language and politics meet. A balance between its resistance and permeability potentially creates an environment that attracts and stimulates authenticity and diversity.
At the heart of the twin-cities of El Paso, U.S.A. and Juarez, Mexico, lies the second busiest crossing along the U.S.-Mexican border for which I made a new design. The design has to deal with over 50.000 people crossing every day both on foot and by car. In the design I enlarged the space between the border check points creating a political free zone in which I tried to oppose the current architectural trend by focussing on, freedom and ambiguity in movement and use and on spaces that offer shelter and privacy. The border is materialized as a 25 meter tall wall that encloses a contextual vacuum in which the people, the current border and the existing crossing can be seen in a new light, and can act free from contextual connotations and expectations.