City nomads: A new concept for dwelling in Spangen

City nomads: A new concept for dwelling in Spangen

Van den Broek, Z.

Jurgenhake, B. (mentor)
Cuperus, Y.J. (mentor)

Architecture

2008-06-27

My graduation project is focused on the urbanite as a nomad in the networksociety and the relation to his residence. The main researchquestion was: How does the lifestyle in relation to the networksociety influence the relation of the urbanite with his residence and the direct environment in the city? After reading and studying literature by among other De Cauter, Heidegger, Gehl, Sloterdrijk, Heynen, Hajer and Reijndorp and analyzing some case studies in Rotterdam I came to a hypothesis that was the base for my graduation design. The design features a dwelling complex for the urbanite with an extensive network and is situated in Spangen, Rotterdam. The stated hypothesis for this target group describes a separation between different groups of activities that normally take place within a single house. In the new concept this single house is separated in different spaces for body and mind activities. The nomad has a capsule to retreat to and to give room for the basic needs, the body-unit and a very flexible space that is linked to the public space, can be shaped according to the wishes of the user and can be shared with other residents, the mind space. The design attaches the city nomad to their living environment and fellow residents: a community originates which is able to raise the quality of the environment and public space in Spangen. By opening up the building block and letting in the public space the design becomes an integral part of its environment: Spangen. Its residents are at home in their neighborhood and the urbanite plays an active role in the public realm. The design is an alternative to the gated communities: shutting off from the living environment only results in a deterioration of this environment. In the postmodern society housing communities are not based on believes or ideologies but only on practical use: by developing a new way of dwelling in which the residents are attached to each other and their environment by their lifestyle a healthy way of living and of dealing with the public realm can be achieved.

nomad
body
mind
dwelling
network

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:68c438b7-8607-41a6-9c6e-828f5d06c78a

TU Delft, Architecture

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2008 Z. van den Broek