This research examines the Barbican Estate, a celebrated icon of Brutalist architecture in post-war London, through the dual lenses of its aesthetic innovation and the ethical complexities of its construction. Designed by Chamberlin, Powell, and Bon Architects in the 1950s and built between the 1960s and 1980s, the Estate emerged as a utopian vision to revitalise a bomb-ravaged city, blending residential, cultural, and public spaces. Its signature textured concrete, achieved through labour-intensive bush-hammering process, defines its aesthetic, creating a dynamic interplay of light, shadow, and greenery that softens its monumental forms. While this materiality aligns with Brutalism’s emphasis on raw, exposed surfaces, it also reveals tensions with the movement’s ideals of material honesty and ethical integrity.

The study addresses two key questions: How does the Estate’s labour-intensive construction challenge the aesthetic appreciation of its concrete design? To what extent does Barbican embody Brutalism’s ideals, a movement defined by Reyner Banham as rooted in material honesty and ethical integrity? Drawing on Banham’s The New Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic? Le Corbusier’s modernist influences and socio-historical analyses, like Adrian Forty’s Concrete and Culture, the research juxtaposes the Barbican’s architectural brilliance with its construction realities. Archival testimonies from the University of Westminster’s Constructing Post-War Britain project reveal harsh working conditions—prolonged exposure to vibration, asbestos, and inadequate safety measures - alongside industrial disputes that delayed the 20-year build. These findings expose a stark ethical compromise: the celebrated concrete aesthetic came at the cost of worker exploitation, undermining Brutalism’s social ethos.

The Barbican’s legacy thus emerges as paradoxical. It thrives today as a vibrant community, its Grade II Listed status affirming its architectural significance, yet its construction history challenges its alignment with Banham’s vision. This thesis argues that true architectural success must reconcile aesthetic ambition with ethical responsibility, urging a re-evaluation of the Barbican as a design triumph and a testament to the human stories embedded in its concrete surfaces.

This paper poses the question of whether skyscrapers are modern cathedrals, functioning as symbols of power and beliefs. Some skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building, a National Historic Landmark, embody contemporary beliefs. However, existing studies focus on the aesthetics, technicalities and influences of the Chrysler Building only within its own historical context with little reference to architecture or cathedrals in other historic periods. To address this knowledge gap, this thesis compares the Chrysler Building to the iconic Florence Cathedral which represents religious authority and Renaissance spirit, seeking to unveil the political messages of the Chrysler Building and investigate its function as a symbol of power parallel to premodern cathedrals.

Despite the 500-year disparity, the Chrysler Building resonates with the Florence Cathedral in various aspects. This study scrutinizes how the political landscape in the two eras caused similarities and differences in the symbolism of the two buildings. From the background competitions, Florence Cathedral displayed the religious power and civic collaboration of late medieval Florence, while the Chrysler Building represented the ‘race to the top’ in market rivalry and industrial progress in early 20th century America. Chrysler’s crown resembles the Florence Cathedral’s huge dome as a pinnacle symbol of reaching the sky. Yet, ornaments reveal the Christian belief in the divine and the modern technological ambitions respectively. Both edifices employed advanced technologies in craft, while the craftsmanship represented medieval collectivism and individuality in the machine age.

Through literature, variety of images from different periods and first-hand drawings, this research consolidates findings from historical and architectural perspectives. In addition, juxtaposing these buildings offers a premodern lens to canonical buildings that highlights symbolic meaning and historical resonance. Eventually, this paper proposes that skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building continue the legacy of cathedrals, in the height and scale, in demonstrating power and values, as a monument of their times.

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.

This project explores how continuous iterative drawing and model making can contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges and potentialities of an existing building in its relation to a new programme.
In Brussels, a post-industrial landscape split in 2. One side has flourished into one of the most bio-diverse places in the city. The other is filled with a multitude of smaller industrial buildings. At the edge of a railway track a warehouse from the 60s is repurposed into a vocational construction school. The circular ideology is embedded in the school by a recuperated material depot. Consequently, the project focuses on only intervening where needed, using quick & dry interventions as much as possible.
Through an extensive research consisting of drawing and model making the discrepancies between the challenges and potentialities of the existing building and the new programme are explored. This deep understanding; of what there is and what is needed, makes it possible to intervene efficiently in unexpected and playful ways.

This project focuses on sound in architecture and the urban environment. The location of this project is Friche Josaphat, a green and biodiverse area located in Brussels. Being a void over the last years, this place changed into a biodiverse landscape. The main question of this research is: what is the sound of the Friche? By listening and analyzing these sounds through making music, information about the context of the building site is gained. A sonic plan is made which serves as a base for the landscape design. A Sonic & sculpture park has been designed where the sounds of the Friche will be emphasized through adding more diversity in the landscape of the Friche and adding sculptures, sound art and places to listen to the sounds. The visitors center that is designed is one of the two entrances to this park. This building creates a gradient in sound from the urban environment of brussels to the park and introduces the visitor to sounds. The building also shows a gradient of materiality from urban to green. The visitors center is an educational place for people from the neighbourhood and contains a café and exhibition about sounds and green. After designing the building a new sonic plan is made, but then on building scale. Music is composed to emphasize the different atmospheres in the building.

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.

This research project addresses the urban development issue of fragmentation in Brussels, Belgium, by using a vacant wasteland as a case study. It examines three key phenomena—Bronxification, Disneyfication, and Brusselization—that have contributed to the city's fragmentation into disjointed patches, a condition referred to as Capsular Urbanism. The research uses a patchwork metaphor to explore borders and boundaries through textiles, aiming to redefine elements that mark urban edges and define border zones to reconnect fragmented urban areas.

The methodological approach combines a literature review, site observation, and metaphorical exploration through textiles. A distinction is made between boundaries, which are physical barriers that create separation, and border zones, which are transitional areas where interactions take place. The research unfolds in two primary stages: examining the physical boundaries of the Friche to understand its structural characteristics and spatial relationships, and using textiles metaphorically to explore strategies for reintegrating urban patches. Findings emphasize the importance of overlaps where interactions happen. By strategically positioning public amenities at these edges and fostering multifunctional spaces within buildings, urban fragments can become interconnected, promoting social engagement and reducing physical and social isolation.

This strategy is applied in the design project for revitalizing an old warehouse currently used for hosting EU Parliament events. Positioned on the border between two municipalities, the site offers an ideal opportunity to address fragmentation in Brussels. The proposal involves expanding the event space and transforming the warehouse into a cultural hub that caters to both EU professionals and the local community. This transformation enhances the building's role as an event venue by turning it into a vibrant, inclusive hub that bridges diverse groups, fostering interaction and unity in a previously fragmented urban area.

In a world increasingly under pressure due to housing shortages, urbanization, and climate change, the Friche Josaphat stands as the last green in town in the midst of metropolitan Brussels. However, urban green spaces are usually experienced by distracted urban audiences, preoccupied by day-to-day issues of bills, work, and children, or absorbed in the over-stimulating digital worlds within their smartphone screens. Therefore, it is important to rethink contemporary approaches to nature and urban green space.

The design of my building intertwines memorable and immersive experiences with nature in a cinema and housing tower to allow residents and visitors to discover the special and sublime in our everyday lives. It is rooted in my research into land art projects, which provide great insight into exaggerated constructions of nature and how sequential journeys and vantage points influence their designs. I also looked into drawings and projects of stage set designer/ architect Hans Dieter Schaal who explores in almost endless experimental drawings, different surreal pathways surrounded by a synthesis of natural settings and man-made structures. I created my own drawings that speculate on spatial experiences and journeys for my project. They were done instinctively, with elements recognizable of the Friche occasionally interjected, such as the train tracks and sloped terrain surrounding the edges of the site. They tie in architectural themes I have been addressing such as augmented nature and hyper-nature, immersive experiences, emphasis on journey to create a theatrical staging of spaces and allowed me to speculate on the relationship between my proposed building and the Friche.

By provoking those who experience them into re-encountering their relationship with the natural world, this can lead to new engagement and imaginations, even empowering them to make changes. In doing so, urban green spaces become not just environmentally resilient against the increasing forces of climate change, but also resilient from demolition to meet demands in ever-growing cities.

The research of the relationship between a traveling theatre and it's context on an abandoned rail yard in Brussels, followed by the proposal of an urban plan and new theatre building ensemble at the site entrance.

Luigi Vanvitelli’s reuse project for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome offers interesting insights into the meaning of architectural reuse, providing relevant points of discussion even for the present times. Research shows an overwhelming amount of negative criticism around the intervention, starting at the time of its construction and continuing until the end of the 20th century. This paper aims to understand the reasons behind the enduring negativity the project faced, all the while examining the basis for such criticism.
Comparative redrawing was used to bridge the gap between rarely consulted archival resources, helping to clarify the paternity of different design choices. In addition, photographic surveys were used to analyse Vanvitelli’s design, while primary and secondary sources helped to understand how critics perceived the church.
The paper demonstrates how the reasons behind such critiques were not based on the intrinsic features of the project, but rather proved to be the result of underlying systems of thought. In fact, many of such critics are proven to consider one of the building phases (by Michelangelo Buonarroti) as perfect and untouchable, regarding all future development as damaging to that ideal state.
The results show how buildings, when emancipated from the influence of their creators, offer themselves to a broader multiplicity of readings. In addition, to fully understand the quality of a reuse project, it is necessary to shed any bias and refrain from establishing strong hierarchies between its layers.

This paper is a humanities thesis on the reuse of non-monumental industrial buildings.

Industrial derelicts are the modern-day sandbox for architectural reuse and are celebrated for their hybrid assemblage. This was not always the case in the twentieth century and the early 2000s. The thesis aims to theorize on mass reuse to investigate the meanings these industrial structures acquire through time and obsolescence, as well as the role of the urban context in this paradigm shift in reuse.

Based on a comprehensive review of literature on the buildings and theories of the post-industrial city, tectonic culture, and obsolescence, an analysis of three case studies was carried out involving steps of examining the context and the existing structures, then interpreting its meaning: SESC Pompeía in São Paulo, International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, and Caixa Forum in Madrid. An archive study, a site visit, and an interview with the architect were carried out for the second case. The three cases were eventually compared to one another to gain a panoramic view of mass reuse.

Three case studies analyzed and compared showed that a reconceived industrial building, representative of obsolescence and disposability, can also evoke acknowledgment, resistance, or even denial. Acknowledging the unique urban context of each case study, the paper closes with some insights: mass accumulates its meaning by circumstances, and these meanings are malleable through time. The findings reveal some insights on obsolescence and shed light on the debate of whether an existing mass inherits a disposability quality that justifies its demolition or not.

The Acropolis of Athens is the ultimate symbol of the Greek state and is synonymous with the history of the Greek nation. Despite the lack of information about its early history, it is clear that the transformation of the site and its buildings played a significant role in the socio-political actions that took place during each period. The aim of this research was to shed light on the changes that have occurred to the site and its buildings, and to assess their impact. Through an analysis of some of the extensive literature and archival research, it was possible to discover the changes that took place and their significance or reflection on society. What emerged was a cultural osmosis that happened to the site and a massive rehabilitation of the site. History is constantly being transformed along with the ambitions of the victors. This is reflected in the buildings that are chosen to represent the change, and this leads to many distortions that, after some time, seem almost natural. When these changes are taking place, a clear dichotomy emerges: that of cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. In the chosen case study, we saw both present, in different percentages at different times. However, the most interesting part was understanding the reasons that shaped the percentages.

This thesis delves into the intricate urban landscape of Liège, Belgium, notably focusing on the fragmented neighborhood of Bressoux. The narrative evolves from the city's physical and social scars to the exploration of its diverse communities, hidden beneath the veneer of cultural diversity. Integrating insights from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, the study addresses the complexities of social integration and the dynamics of the multicultural demographic in Bressoux. It investigates how architecture can serve as a conduit to bridge the gap between different social groups and foster a sense of community.

The initial research phase involves extensive community engagement and documentation, revealing the isolated and divided nature of Bressoux, primarily due to the lack of public spaces and underlying socio-cultural differences. The researcher's focus shifts to comprehending the sociological impact of urban segregation, using literature references and comprehensive studies on the appropriation of space at various scales. Through photography and object analysis, the study identifies the diverse cultural markers and daily routines that contribute to the formation of social identities within the neighborhood.

Drawing inspiration from contemporary architectural principles, the research emphasizes the significance of participatory design in fostering community engagement and ownership. Analysis of case studies such as Cedric Price's Fun Palace and Lina Bo Bardi's SESC Factory underlines the pivotal role of user involvement in creating dynamic, adaptable, and inclusive public spaces. The study ultimately proposes a design strategy that encourages dialogue, participation, and the integration of diverse cultural heritages, envisioning a reimagined urban fabric that prioritizes social cohesion and mutual understanding.

As Liège grapples with the challenges of an evolving cultural landscape, the thesis project suggests a comprehensive approach to transform the urban environment of Bressoux. By leveraging the transformative power of architecture, the study seeks to facilitate a sense of belonging and interconnectedness, redefining the scars of the city into bridges that unite its diverse inhabitants.

'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.