The Dutch elderly housing system has a gap for vulnerable elderly. The Dutch policy on elderly care is to continue living at home for as long as possible and moving into a nursing home with 24h care when living at home is not possible anymore. However, a large group of elderly is not served by this policy. This group is the group of so called vulnerable elderly. Living at home might be tough for them because of the incidental care they need, but moving into a nursing home is unnecessary. For these groups of elderly a new housing form is needed. In order to create this new housing types, transformation of existing vacant buildings could be a solution. Empty plots to build on are become increasingly more scarce and with the climate crisis the existing building in The Netherlands should be renovated in order to improve their sustainability. In this thesis research was done on what design guidelines would be needed in order to create a new social housing complex out of an existing building. The results show that a form of co-housing with mixed living for elderly could be a solution. In these co-housing complexes the emphasis lies on creating social connections through shared spaces. These social connections improve both mental and physical health, whilst at the same time relieving pressure on the Dutch care system by increasing informal care between resident. The results of this investigation are a number of design guidelines which need to be implemented in an existing utility building for transforming this building into a succesfull co-housing for elderly. These desgin guidelines are combined into a building concept showing the basic design ideas for creating a senior co-housing complex with mixed living.

This research is about designing for people with dementia. The Dutch population is aging and
double aging, causing an increase of people with dementia. This also causes a growing imbalance between people who need care and people who can provide care. Adding to this are the current living arrangements for people with dementia not sufficient. Therefore the central question in this research is: what living environment features can contribute to the quality of life of people with dementia, and provide them with the care they need.

The aim of this research is to define design guidelines that provide people with dementia with sufficient housing and a qualitative living environment through all stages of dementia. And to see if this can contribute to the efficiency in care, so that people with dementia can still get the care they need.

This research obtains information through literature study, case studies and a fieldwork in an elderly care home to provide an answer to the main question. This research defines four main topics that contribute to the quality of life of people with dementia: distinctiveness, familiarity, independence and biophilic. This research investigates these topics on different scales. First the scale of the dwelling, than the building, and at last the near surroundings. Finally, this research has a chapter from the perspective of the caregiver on the living environment for people with dementia. This results in design guidelines.

It can be concluded from this research that by bringing together the fields of dementia,
dementia care and architecture, a qualitative living environment can be created for people
with dementia with a high quality of life. A higher quality of life will contribute to the efficiency of care and a decrease in the demand for care.

With a growing elderly population in the Netherlands, this also challenges our existing housing options and the care system. In particular, the risk of dementia significantly increases with age. About 68 percent of people with dementia in the Netherlands live at home and get care from their family or close social network; often their partner. When an informal caregiver can no longer manage the care of someone with dementia, it becomes a significant reason for considering admission to a nursing home or an assisted living facility. There are currently few options for both partners to continue living together when they wish to do so.
To explore the collective requirements of both partners, the following research question was answered; ‘What living environmental features can support elderly couples who wish to live together while one of them experiences dementia, to maintain their shared living arrangements?’.
Literature research, fieldwork, interviews and case studies show several design guidelines that can be considered when designing for people with dementia, as well as their unaffected partner. For the partner with dementia, ‘wayfinding’, ‘accessibility’, and creating a ‘home-like small-scale environment’ were found to be important to consider while designing for them. For the ‘healthy’ partner, it was found that it is important for them to be able to ‘live a normal life’, to ‘take some pressure off’ of them, to ‘ensure the safety of their partner with dementia’, and to ‘be able to do things together with their partner and separately’.
As the elderly population continues to expand, it is crucial to explore innovative living alternatives to ease the strain on informal caregivers and the healthcare system.

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.”

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.

This research addresses the pressing question: ‘How can the architectural design of elderly independent living facilities enhance well-being by promoting social connections amongst the elderly?‘. The aim is to generate guiding principles for socially connected independent living facilities, specifically targetting elderly suffering from social isolation seeking an alternative to aging at home. This research identifies a crucial gap between aging at home and relocating to a care facility, emphasizing the need for a new option. This intermediary option aims to provide elderly individuals with the opportunity to age independently in an ideal living environment with the possibility to foster social connections that further enhance their well-being.
The methodology employs a hybrid approach, combining top-down and bottom-up methodologies. The top-down component extracts archetypal principles primarily from literature and case studies, providing universal design guidelines. Simultaneously, the bottom up aspect centers on understanding the unique needs of the elderly through primary research, ensuring a responsive and context-specific.
The resulting design guidelines are organized across various scales, addressing the intricate needs of the elderly and fostering well-being. The study not only contributes to architectural endeavours but also addresses societal challenges associated with an ageing demographic. In a world predominantly focused on environmental challenges, this research emphasizes the urgency of addressing societal issues, particularly the challenges associated with an aging demographic.
The scope of the study is delineated by a theoretical framework integrating key theories from architectural design, well-being, social connection, and elderly wants/needs. These theories collectively guide the research’s ambition, providing a comprehensive foundation for the proposed design guidelines.
In conclusion, the study culminates in 16 Design guidelines meticulously organized across dwelling, communal space, building program, and site conditions. These guidelines offer a nuanced and multi-faceted approach to architectural design, addressing the intricate needs of the elderly, fostering well-being, and alleviating loneliness. The proposed guidelines serve as a holistic blueprint for architects, ensuring the creation of socially connected and well-supported environments for the elderly in response to the challenges posed by the aging population and the identified gap in existing options.

Mismatched architecture is defined as architecture whose current situations don’t match their original settings during transformation. This mismatch manifests itself as a mismatch in form, function, and context, among others. Mismatched architecture is a self-adapting process of architecture and society, it gives us an insight into the collective memories of the neighborhood.

Architecture and landscape in the urban environment are often the results of a mixture of economic, political, and social demands, and they sometimes grow into mismatched architecture when the demands gradually change over time. Sometimes mismatched architecture brings chaos and confusion, but “…in exchange, it contains a quality of freedom for production” (Kaijima, Kuroda, Tsukamoto, 2006). They are mismatched but fit.

For architectural designs, the question is, how to use the mismatched characteristics to create productive spaces?

The amount of elderly people in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly. In conjunction with the individualization of the population, this has led to a number of problems. There is a lack of suitable houses for the elderly, a lack of money and nursing staff in the health care sector and a high rate of loneliness among the population. New housing forms for elderly cannot be omitted and having social interaction and taking a moment to help your neighbours should become normal again. This research aims to find new ways in which architecture could contribute to a living environment where elderly in need of light care live together with people of different ages and households. The main question that is addressed in this research is: “What architecture and built environment features can encourage social interaction in a living environment between elderly in need of light care and their neighbours?”. To conduct this research, the most commonly used method is anthropological research. This is supplemented by literature research and case studies. The results of this study are a wide range of architectural aspects, on different scales (dwelling, building block, neighbourhood), that stimulate interaction between elderly in need of light care and their neighbours. These aspects are translated in design guidelines.

The project is situated in the neighbourhood of Bressoux in the post-industrial city Liege in Belgium. Bressoux felt at first as a deserted place. It gave the impression that only people live here because of financial necessity. The people with better jobs move away, the ones left behind seem forgotten and neglected. “The winner takes it all!” is the attitude of our economy (Brugmans, 2016, p.6). What is left for the ‘others’? Are they the ones hidden behind the facades of Bressoux? What will their future perspective be?
In order to explore the lives of the people in multicultural neighbourhoods like Bressoux, a common ground had to be found. I believe it is food. And to be more specific: bread. Bread is used in almost every cuisine of every culture. Therefore the research follows the journey of bread trough time, space and the everyday life: Daily bread. The historical and social-cultural research of the production and consumption of bread, also led to an extended research on milling and (communal) wood-fire ovens. The research gave awareness of the importance of how we deal with our primary needs of food, warmth and community. They should be more visible and more directly involved in our daily lives.
The conclusion of the research is translated into the design. The design contains a communal oven within a living room for the neighbourhood, connected with a mill factory using the traditional stone-milling. This is situated in an existing building and surrounded by seven new-built apartment blocks. The apartment blocks consists of three or five apartments, all connected with the chimney of a tile-stove which provides most of the warmth and is located on the ground floor in a shared space.
The mill gives the neighbourhood the opportunity to buy local produces and healthy flour and the communal wood-fire oven a place to make their own bread or other food and share it with their neighbours in a warm space. The housing is based on the principle of sharing the responsibility of their warmth, which creates communities within the building block. So this project tries to give people an alternative future perspective in the winner-takes it all society by reconsidering the way we handle our primary needs. In order to hopefully improve the lives of ‘those others’, simply by giving back the control of their food, warmth and community.

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.

Many people with an addiction do not receive the care they need. Addiction carries a negative stigma, admitting to addiction is seen as a sign of weakness. Especially among adolescents, who would benefit the most from early treatment. If they are treated, they end up in outdated facilities isolated from society. Hence the following research question: How can building design support adolescents with addiction problems with recovery and re-socialisation in the Netherlands? This research question will be answered using literature research and architectural research with the aim of formulating architectural guide lines that can be applied to a design for addicted adolescents.

The number of elderly is growing rapidly. Different societal problems that already exist will continue to grow if nothing changes in policy, like a shortage of care staff, a shortage in housing, loneliness among elderly and other problems. Facilitating intergenerational reciprocity can contribute by adressing these problems and offering a healthy future of the elderly with enough care capacity. The main question 'How can architecture support reciprocity in intergenerational relationships that include elderly?' is answered from several perspectives and translated into architectural interventions. Three different perspectives are taken into consideration, directly and indirectly leading to reciprocity: Co-care, co-dividuality and comunity. For reciprocity within professional care context (Co-care), the workload needs to be reduced to create more room for reciprocity to happen. Several architectural interventions can be done that directly or indirectly impact the workload within professional care For reciprocal releationships to happen within the personal context (Co-dividuality), elderly need to have a sense of equal value. This can be facilitated by different architectural means, some of them being applicable for all elderly. Other architectural interventions leave room for the uniqueness of each elderly. Some co-dividual aspects also impact healthy living and have a indirect impact on reciprocity. Co-munity functions as the catalyst of the other two perspectives. For reciprocity to happen within community, there needs to be social involvement. Social involvement is distinguished on three differentlevels: Bonding, bridging, and linking. All levels need different kinds of architectural interventions to facilitate reciprocity. Taking all the researched perspectives into consideration, a positive feedback loop can be seen, resulting in less need for care and improving health. All topics discussed in this research are interconnected connected and when facilitated, they offer 'growth' of every other aspect.

This study and design explores the possibilities and opportunities of multi-generational co-living for elderly in need of care, within an ageing society like The Netherlands. Younger and older generations are proven to have mutual benefits with each other; mentally, socially and therefore physically as well. Co-living of elderly together with other age groups like families with children, students and adults could be a concept that can show the enrichment these different groups have on each other. This is achieved by creating a partly shared/collective and partly private built environment, where architectural design is used to stimulate social interaction, sharing, caring and doing activities together. In this way, the elderly will be included in society, a big desire they wish to become reality.

The 2022 Urban Architecture graduation studio explores the site and surroundings of a partially operating paper mill in the city of Maastricht. Working with a thematic approach the project is engaged through the lens and attitude of a so called Glaneur/Glaneuse. The ones who reap leftovers from harvested fields, or find beauty, value and opportunity in the more unlikely places.

From exploring the factory, the project engages the challenges of a medium scale urban intervention through a redefined urban proposal for the disused southern side of the grounds of the paper mill. A plan for a mixed use neighborhood integrates housing, industry and culture oriented public interiors.

The design for a cultural center on the location of a former paper mill explores the found themes of collage and assemblage as design tools and influences. Whilst evaluating what can be kept and how additions can be fitted into this rich existing environment, the project develops three existing structures and one newly built volume into a diverse new public interior. It results in a context aware collaged addition that opens up new opportunities for a formerly inaccessible part of the city.

Maastricht is located between two extremities. On the one hand, the center that seems to be frozen in a heritage policy that allows little flexibility. On the other hand, the suburbs where the change is so intense that time layers are constantly being wiped away and what remains seems generic. The site of this graduation project is located between these two worlds, on the site of the former fortifications.

On the site there is an old paper factory, for which a redevelopment is proposed in this thesis. The factory developed together with the dismantling of the fortifications and therefore inherited large parts of its morphology to these older military structures. A thorough inventory revealed a pattern of parallel walls beneath the maze-like factory. They had grown next to the fortification wall and came to form the main characters in the new design for the factory.

In my design, the elongated machine halls for paper production become passages that run through the heart of the factory. In the north of the site, the green belt that surrounded the city will be reconnected by the construction of a large park, which will be connected to the other bank of the Meuse by reusing an abandoned railway bridge. One of the buildings with a passageway will be arranged on the floors above the passageway as flexible housing for expats and migrants.

Facing a decline in industrial production and potential vacancy in the north of Maastricht, the ‘Readymades’ by French artist Marcel Duchamp were investigated as an approach to reuse of industrial architecture. With the artworks being mundane, ordinary objects that were only slightly modified, their placements in unusual contexts like art galleries manages to create new associations in an exciting contrast to what the objects originally were. At the core of this graduation project stands the question of how this approach to art can be transferred to an architectural scale, giving the opportunity to revive leftover structures without disguising their history.

The studio “Designing for Care – towards an inclusive living environment” which focuses on the future perspective for elders in need of care. Aging society, political changes within the healthcare system and the perception towards aging have led to my graduation topic: Bridging the gap – connected by meeting. The cur-rent way of building for elderly is focusing more on individuality and practicality which is leading towards segregation between elders and the society and therefore do not meet the needs and wishes of elders who want to live in a more included and selfreliant environment. Therefore, elders feel neglected by authorities, family and distanced from society. This is partly resulting in social isolation for some elders while they still have the will to participate in society. The feeling of isolation must be counteracted. For this reason, it is my goal to develop a new housing concept where elders feel more engaged with the social network in the neighborhood. The design must ensure that elders feel encouraged to go outside, or at least have a view on activities around the building to meet others from within their private zone. Because during the interviews I often heard that elders (mainly 80+) who are less mobile and more home bound have a great value the space around their house. The design of a new housing concept does not solve all the problems, the urban network around the building must be considered in the design as well. By creating an environment where people meet each other, look after each other and elders are seen as equals and can participate in this social network. A community where elders can live happily in old age.

This thesis focusses on the influence of the built environment on the stigma of elderly. Stigma and assumptions over past care concepts influence care giving and age-exclusion, which create a misconception of the current state of care facilities. This misconception limits the possibility of an inclusive built environment for the elderly. The perception of age differs for each individual, culture, country, and gender, which is why this research focused on how stigma of growing old in the Netherlands can be decreased. This research uses quantitative data to examine how the built environment contributes to decrease stigma about aging in society? Stigma is a social problem which causes problems in health, social connections, and self-esteem. Social awareness, education, contact, a supportive environment, appropriate care systems, decreasing and acting against stigmatic behavior, encouraging empowerment, promoting greater understanding, and increasing experiences can lower stigma. Architecture defines the context in which social events take place and how care and social systems are organized. It can provide expectations as well as limiting or give access to information and functions towards specific stigmatic groups. Using thematic analysis 5 key design elements were discovered to decrease stigma using the built environment, namely by creating a positive or similar value as the surrounding, through empowering the stigmatized group, by providing the necessary needs and desires for the individual, by creating communities and by facilitating awareness.

The studio topic Glaneur/Glaneuse refers to the old ‘profession’ of the gleaners, those people picking up the leftovers of the agricultural harvest and making out of these food for their families. Architects are called to be some kind of gleaners, too.

In these past graduation months, the site (field) has been read and absorbed. The reading process has been guided by the french architecture theories of Clement, Lefebvre and Latour. Gilles Clement, in his ‘Third Landscape Manifesto’, describes how urbanisation creates residues within the city structure, such as vacant industrial areas. ‘THE (NOT) ORDINARY ACADEMY’ project challenges current urbanisation, questioning its environmental, economical and, mostly, social sustainability, attempting to give a new meaning (function) to these residues. For example, the demolition of the existing factory fabric indeed provides more space for specific urban and architectural developments. However, this specificity requires more time, money and energy than the adaptive reuse of these 'third landscapes’, with the risk that city requirements change during their construction. To then mention Bruno Latour’s theories, “...critical attention is shifted from architecture as a matter of fact to architecture as a matter of concern. As matter of fact, buildings can be subjected to rules and methods, and they can be treated as objects on their terms. As matters of concern, they enter into socially embedded networks, in which the consequences of architecture are of much more significance than the objects of architecture.”

In a general and local context where architecture doesn’t engage enough with ‘local’ political and social contexts, the need to re-consider the potential for architects to be influential and transformative agents of (existing) space grows pressing.3 Challenging ‘mainstream’ architecture means fighting norms that shut down other ways of thinking and operating. In fact, in this conflictual environment, many architects find themselves reduced to simple decorative participants improving the marketability of developers’ projects. This critique aims to re-evaluate the potential and influence of the architects in the definition of the urban and social space.

A similar theoretical approach has already been defined by some offices, projects and publications, which suggest other ways of doing architecture to move away from architecture's traditional focus on the look and making of buildings. They aim for a much more expansive field of opportunities in which architects and non- architects can operate and collaborate. These case studies have been presented along with this master thesis to show a transformative intent to make the status quo better: the means are varied, from activism to pedagogy, publications to networking, making stuff to making policy.4
Spatial production belongs to a much wider group of actors. In this ecosystem of actors and events, the intention of the research is to narrate the conditions in which an on-site architecture office can ACT as a device to challenge and/or inspire the ongoing developments, investigating in which way this alternative could provide more sustainable solutions with a different urban strategy. The purpose is to assemble a gradual re-appropriation and re-configuration of the leftover buildings whose functions won’t be overdetermined, allowing a continuous transition of activities that will increase the value and awareness of these spaces and their potential. More practical, the project is an attempt at how a fast deliverable architecture could be given back to the city with the least and mostly needed intervention possible, all done in the name of presenting a new way of looking at how buildings and space can be produced. How?

The non-overdetermination of the building’s function is based on a simple change of connotation of the existing artefacts (being there spaces, structures or objects) allowing different conditions to happen while this transition is happening, also after the architect leaves the site.
As written in the studio description, “architecture grows out of existing conditions and resources.” In fact, the design assignment – as will be presented in the common urban plan – aims to discover and develop the scenario between a vacant industrial site – in its built and unbuilt matter – and the possible opportunities that its vacant spaces can offer, as evidence of the possible cohabitation of public and private domains. In this way, the project detaches from the ordinary academic architectural ‘utopia’ and looks forward to a more realistic approach with given realistic social, political and architectural conditions, defining the architect’s role not anymore as consequential, but rather influential.
Evoking “mixed feelings” (thanks Paul) is a way to express the complexity of this process. As Enrique Walker writes in the foreword chapter of ‘Without Content’ by Kersten Geers, (referring to architects) “...they stage a conversation, and situate their work within it. They forge alliances. They establish sources. They delineate sensibilities. They define positions. They declare programmes.” And, as shown this afternoon, they curate.