This thesis investigates the relationship between the computer and the architect. It begins with exploring the profession of an architect that was redefined in the XV century. By doing so, it helps the reader to understand the way the architects performed their profession throughout the centuries, until the digital revolution. After that, the thesis uses the project of Biocenter by Peter Eisenman as a case study to help the reader understand how the computer started to be used and what it was used for in the process of architectural design. Overall, this thesis will show various ways the way the computer was used in the early years of digitalisation and what changes it made in the architecture industry.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the application of Herman Hertzberger's core architectural theory ‘polyvalent space ‘in the actual design project. The design principle of ‘polyvalent space’ can be interpreted more thoroughly and reliably by studying the contents of his publications and analysing Centraal Beheer office Building. The first chapter refers to the theoretical elements shaping Hertzberger’s conception of ‘polyvalent space’ from four aspects: linguistic structuralism, architectural structuralism, the design theory of Aldo van Eyck and the Forum magazine. In the second chapter, the analysis of design proposals for the town halls of Valkenswaard and Amsterdam and Centraal Beheer company illustrates the formation of Centraal Beheer office building. The final chapter will focus on the analysis of Centraal Beheer office in terms of dynamic architectural functions, the fundamental structure of polyvalent space, the relationship between collective space and individual place, and inviting forms for users.

Voor de MSc2 course AR2A011 wordt er een geschiedenisscriptie geschreven met betrekking tot een onderwerp naar keuze. Dit paper onderzoekt de architectonische waarden als gevolg van de Vierde Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening die in de periode van 1991 tot 2005 een onuitwisbare stempel op de Nederlandse architectuur en stedenbouw heeft gezet. Beginnend met de geschiedenis achter de ruimtelijke nota’s in Nederland wordt duidelijk gemaakt hoe beleid zijn weg in de Nederlandse architectuur heeft gevonden. Vervolgens worden de stedenbouwkundige en architectonische aspecten van het beleid onderzocht en wordt er vervolgens op verschillende schaalniveaus gekeken naar drie Vinex-locaties, om te concluderen dat de plaats, landschap en centraal gestuurde ontwerpvariatie een terugkomend aspect is.

This thesis aims at depicting the Kröller-Müller commission which involved Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) and Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934), followed by a research of the Berlagian origin in Mies. Firstly, Mies’ short stay in the Netherlands in the summer of 1912 when he was dealing with the Kröller-Müller project is represented in a detailed manner, with a series of details given, to show extensively Mies’ activities and some events during this certain period which are closely associated with Mies. Mrs. Kröller-Müller played a critical role in the whole Kröller-Müller project, because she was the one who shifted the whole commission from Peter Behrens to Mies. Secondly, the significance of the Kröller-Müller project to Mies is explained, from the aspect of Mies’ own attitudes, and more importantly the whole case as the trigger of Mies’ further dedication to Berlage’s thoughts and works. Some letters of Mies and related people are given as evidences of Mies’ huge investment in the project. Finally, an analysis of Mies’ Berlagian origin is carried out by comparing Berlage’s thoughts and architecture to the counterpart of Mies’. This analysis is divided into two categories, first the European period of Mies and from the tectonics he learned from Berlage, and second the American period and what he learned from Berlage’s theories. After this analysis, it is clear that Mies could have been inspired greatly by Berlage, and based the frame of his own architectural philosophy on Berlage’s argument where he emphasized a style - ‘unity in diversity’, or the existence of a universal principle, which is very consistent with Mies’ homogeneous grid system.