PORTFOLIO Urbanism - Research - Architecture
Andria Charilaou
ANDRIA CHARILAOU .2021-2023
MSc in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences (With Distinction) TUDELFT Thesis: “Bodies of Antithesis” (Grade: 9/10)
.2017-2018
Diploma in Architect Engineering (With Distinction) University of Cyprus Thesis: “Changing Landscape” (Grade: 10/10)
.2013-2017
Bachelor of Architecture University of Cyprus
.2016
ERASMUS Exchange Program National Technical University of Athens
INFO: Nationality: Cypriot
EDUCATION
.May 2019 July 2021
Email: charilaouandria0@gmail.com Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/andria-charilaou .October 2018 - April 2019
.June 2018 August 2018
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Junior Architect EKKY STUDIO, Nicosia, Cyprus Contributed to architectural design in ‘Villa The Cliff – Hotel in Tunisia’ and interior design in finished projects such as ‘UKIYO - Listening bar’ and ‘MP Residence – Student residences.’
Intern Architect OASI architects, Milan, Italy Contributed to urban design and landscape competition projects, including ‘OC.017 – Berlin Wansee’ and ‘OC.016 – Kid’s Factory,’ and smaller urban scale projects such as ‘OA.014 – BRC housing’ Intern Architect CARVALHO ARAUJO atelier, Braga, Portugal Collaborated on diverse projects such as ‘Centro Cultural Cariri,’ an architectural and urban requalification project.
RECOGNITIONS .2024
Nomination for BK Archiprix 2024 preselection exhibition at BK Architecture Faculty, TUDELFT.
.2022
.2020
.2019 .2019
PUBLICATIONS
LANGUAGES
Exhibition “The State of the Art of Architecture Milano” with OASI architects at Triennale di Milano with the project ‘OA.014 – BRC housing’
SKILLS
‘Villa the Cliff,’ Winner of Hospitality Concept for Rethinking the Future awards 2022, with EKKY studio.
COMPETITIONS
Transformation of Roneby Promenade and Port of Wannsee, Berlin, with OASI Architects Kids Factory project for YAC in Laveno Mombello, with OASI Architects
WORKSHOPS .2022
Design Challenge: “Public Space as a Meeting Place,” in Tanthof, Delft, Netherlands
.2017
Woodley Design Aid, Child Medical Center in Nairobi
.2015
.2022
.2022
.2020
‘Synergetic Multi-Objective Design and Construction of Timber Pavilion Prototypes’
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
English (Fluent) Greek (Native Language) French (Delft A2)
SOFTWARE - Rhinoceros - SketchUp - AutoCAD - V-Ray - Photoshop - InDesign - Illustrator - Microsoft Office - QGIS SOFTSKILLS Multidisciplinary and Creative Methodologies: I am always excited in blending methodologies from different fields such as visual ethnography Interdisciplinary Understanding: broad understanding of various disciplines related to urbanism, allowing me to approach problems holistically Critical Thinking: analyze complex urban issues and tangible and intangible urban structures
Hosted Marnix de Nijs’ “Transnational Activation of Simultaneous Touch” exhibition for Rotterdam Art Week
Problem-Solving: identifying and proposing solutions for design and urban planning challenges.
International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR)
Presentation Skills: communicating and visualising complex issues and ideas effectively to diverse audiences.
QUALIFICATIONS
Community engagement and participatory design: ability to work closely with communities and incorporate their feedback
Official member as an Architect - Engineer in Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber organization since May 2020
.2012
Cambridge International AS and A Level Mathematics.
.2012
Cambridge International AS and A Level Art and Design. Design.
Contents ACADEMIC WORK 1. Bodies of Antithesis
6-23
2. Out of the core into the periphery
24-35
3. Transtopia
36-45
4. Metropolitan Hoffplein
46-53
PROFESSIONAL WORK 6.
Kid’s Factory
54-57
7.
Berlin Wansee
58-61
01 Project
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Image author: Andria Charilaou
Academic work
Bodies of Antithesis The thesis explores the pivotal role of urbanists as researchers and communicators of complex spatial societal issues, focusing on gender equality. It uncovers and challenges gender hierarchical relations between the military and women in conflict environments. Examining institutional perceptions and spatial practices reveals the military’s significant influence in shaping and maintaining gender power structures. Employing visual ethnography as the primary methodology, it exposes unnoticed women’s experiences, oppressive narratives, and gender power relations imposed on women by the military. The case study of Cyprus, a conflict environment where inhabitants have normalized the experiences of living with the constant presence of soldiers, provides a spatial lens to examine this framework. The aim is to unveil and challenge gender institutional relationships, ‘fixed’ gender roles, and spatialities that reinforce gender hierarchies in conflict environments.
Location: Cyprus (as a case study) Masters Graduation TU Delft Thesis 2022-23 Planning Complex Cities studio Individual work Date carried out: June ‘23 Tutors: Dr. Verena Elisabeth Balz V.E.Balz@tudelft.nl and Ir. Leo van den Burg L.P.J.vandenBurg@ tudelft.nl Link for the project: https://repository. tudelft.nl/ islandora/object/ uuid:082470bc952e-4e2a-994a285858fa0881
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01 Project
military
military
military women
conflict environment
Military within a conflict environment Conflict environments, described as ‘Conflict in limbo’ refer to a spatial and temporal state where the distinction between war and peace is unclear, resulting in a complex and uncertain reality. Within these environments the military’s value is enhanced, promoting the belief that a strong military presence is needed, as a protector and a symbol of justice and efficiency in society. Having these symbolic values, the military utilizes practices to generate and maintain ideas of spatial and societal power structures that navigate the realities of individuals. By utilizing space, the military enacts new norms, creates new realities, and shapes historical narratives that become internalized within institutions, maps, spaces, and stories. Having this in mind, I emphasize the impact of the military on individuals, particularly women drawing attention to the often unnoticed and gradual processes of militarism, making its impact deeply rooted in society.
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women
conflict environment
Gender performativity I examine this impact through the lens of gender performativity theory, drawing from the work of Goffman, Foucault, and Butler. Goffman’s concept of the ‘dramaturgical metaphor’ views individual performance as a behaviour influenced by social expectations, akin to actors on a stage embodying prescribed roles. Foucault’s concept of the ‘sexual saturation of the female body’ highlights how these social expectations shape individual performance, especially concerning gender. He unveils the multiplicity of roles attributed to the female body to control its behaviour and limit its freedom. Building upon Foucault’s insights, Butler extends this idea by emphasizing the repetitive nature of gender performativity, formed through repeated acts and norms, in which the body serves as a central instrument. Importantly, Butler emphasizes the institutionalized nature of gender performances, cautioning against perceiving them as natural phenomena. This distinction highlights the influential role of institutions, such as the military within the context of this thesis, in shaping and perpetuating gender roles.
Relationship between women and military within a conflict environment To investigate the representation of these gender roles, I apply Williams’ ‘body genres.’ This enables a comparison between how the female body is portrayed in film genres and how institutions depict the female body. Williams argues that the film genres of horror, pornography, and melodrama have used the female body as ‘the primary embodiment of pleasure, fear, and pain’ aiming to evoke the exact same feelings in the audience. For instance, by showing the female body in pain the aim is to make the audience feel pain. Building upon these concepts, I argue that militarism uses the female body in a manner like its portrayal in these film genres, aiming to control and generate gender power relations. I asses this argument juxtaposing representations of the female body in the film genres of melodrama, horror, and pornography, as collected by Williams with images where these genres are attributed to the female body within the thesis context. This visual comparison underscores instances where the military strategically employs and normalizes gender roles associated with women to reinforce its dominance.
Academic work
military genres
Fig. 01 Still from the porn film ‘Babylon Pink’(porn) 1974 Image source: Williams, 1991 Fig. 02 Still from the film ‘Imitation of Life’(melodrama) Director: Douglas Sirk 1959 Image source: Williams, 1991 Fig. 03 Still from the horror film ‘Psycho’ Director: Alfred Hitchcock 1960 Image source: Williams, 1991
Fig.04 André Fougeron Atlantic Civilisation 1953 Image source: Tate, 2023 Fig.05 Unknown “Mothers and other relatives of the missing persons of Cyprus are the most tragic victims of all” 1974 Image source: kypros.org Fig.06 Unknown “Woman chased by men and youth armed with clubs, Medova Street in Lviv” 1941 Image source: Wehrmacht Archives
HORROR women’s embodyment of fear
MELODRAMA women’s embodyment of pain
PORNOGRAPHY women’s embodyment of pleasure
film genres
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01 Project
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Academic work
Gendered roles attributed to the female body Expanding on this visual analysis, I comprehensively examine the institutional relationship between the military and women, analyzing various documentary art forms from two periods: ‘conflict in limbo’ and wartime, spanning different geographical locations. Through this analysis, I unveil the multifaceted manifestations of the focal relationship, uncovering the diverse performative roles attributed to the female body for each manifestation, echoing the insights of Foucault. I further expose that these roles assigned to the female body simultaneously define the soldier’s role and determine their in-between relationship. Within the archive, I categorize these relationships based on the degree of limitation imposed on the female body leading to the identification of 14 relationships from the women’s perspective. (Experiencing severe violence, Experiencing personal sexual harassment, Experiencing environmental sexual harassment, Being surveilled and controlled, Facing sexual discrimination within the military, Needing to be saved, Being economically or socially dependent, Loving, Mourning, Supporting, Nursing and providing care, Offering leisure-driven relationships, Taking charge of the social space in the absence of soldiers,and fighting together. -11-
01 Project
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Academic work
Relationship of ‘offering leisuredriven interactions’ Shifting the focus to specific manifestations, I begin by exploring the relationship of ‘offering leisuredriven interactions’ to soldiers. This relationship serves as a foundation for investigating the spatial dimension of the research due to its clear spatial dimension. Notably, military presence often leads to the emergence of sex work. During wartime, such activities occur in spaces with high visibility and frequency, exemplified by the work of George Grosz. In contrast, Hulusi’s photographs of ‘nightclubs in nature’ reveal the hidden nature of this relationship during periods of ‘conflict in limbo’ (Normalization Diagram). This relationship’s representation renders the association of the female body with pleasure (Genre Diagram). Despite its documentation through various art forms, its institutional representation is limited and tends to be ‘hidden with a double veil’ (Institutional Representation Diagram). This relationship exhibits an exchange dynamic, establishing a more horizontally oriented relationship in which the soldier and the woman are equal participants (Visual on the left page), with women taking on the role of comfort providers (Role of Women and Hierarchy Diagrams). Key: Female body: less movement more movement Soldier’s body: less movement more movement
Type of relationship: independent exchange supporting attraction dependent restricting
D.01 Role of the female body
D.02 Degree of hierarchy
D.03 Body Genre
D.04 Degree of normalization
D.05 Institutional representation
D.06 Body configuration of the two groups
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01 Project
Cyprus as a case study Expanding on this performance analysis and guided by the theoretical framework, I delve into the case study of Cyprus, which offers a compelling context to explore the focal relationship. Notably, after the Turkish invasion in 1974, Cyprus witnessed the establishment of a buffer zone that divided both space and society, embracing a binary way of thinking. This historical event made the soldier’s body highly visible, and the inhabitants have since normalized living with different forms of militarization. In this context, I examine the spatial relationship between the military and women during the period of ‘conflict in limbo,’ unraveling the oftenoverlooked experiences of women in the face of conflict and offering a deeper understanding of the effects of militarization in everyday life. Legend: Urbanized Areas Militarized Areas Barracks Military Base Bunker Checkpoint Danger Area Guard Tower Naval Base Observation Post Range -14-
Juxtaposition between militarized
Academic work
Nicosia
Pyla village
and urbanized areas in Cyprus
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01 Project
Space in relation to gender roles To explore of the spatial dimension of the focal relationship, I identify key symbolic spaces where these relationships prominently occur. This involves an extensive analysis of the archive and contextual research specific to Cyprus, employing qualitative methodologies. This approach serves two primary purposes: firstly, as a guide for pinpointing these relationships within the case study, and secondly, as a validation method to corroborate the findings from the performance analysis. Consequently, I aim to demonstrate the spatial dimension of the institutional relationship between the military and women and how space promotes gender roles. To do so, I investigate how gender roles, societal expectations, and institutional performances transform across distinct symbolic stages. For instance, within the ‘monument stage,’ the female body often assumes the role of ‘supporter’ or ‘moirologist,’ while the soldier’s body takes on the ‘hero’s’ role. Conversely, in the ‘outpost stage’, the woman tends to embody the ‘disobedient’ role, while the soldier becomes the ‘enemy.
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Monument stage
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter
Academic work Street stage
Temple of Aphrodite stage
Church stage
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter
Nature stage
Military outpost stage
Militirised residential areas stage
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Role of the female body:
Role of the soldier:
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter
Enemy Hunting trophy Sexual object Disobedient Dependent Victim The other Trophy Supporter Moirologist Nurse Stand-in Comfort woman Co-fighter
Enemy Enemy Enemy Enemy Savior- Enemy Savior Masculine figure Hero Hero Hero Hero Hero Client Co-fighter -17-
01 Project
Pyla village Utilizing the tools gained, I examine a highly militarized environment: Pyla village. This village, located within the buffer zone, it is the only place where Greek and Turkish Cypriot women live together. Although military entry is prohibited, except for the UN, it is surrounded by various military outposts. This setting offers an intriguing stage for exploring the focal relationship, as it exists under the constant observation by the UN, British, Turkish, and GreekCypriot military. In this context, Pyla offers a spatial lens to examine these theories and unveils how the military perpetuates gender roles in space. It showcases occasions when the military utilizes space, the (spatial and societal) practices it employs to enact and maintain gender roles, and how these roles navigate and shape the realities of women. Militarism’s subtle yet profound impact on society underscores the need to illuminate these hidden aspects, particularly how it affects women. To uncover
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these often unnoticed and gradual processes of militarism, I employ semi-structured interviews with women as the primary research method. These interviews bridge the empirical research and the theoretical framework, highlighting women’s experiences in militarized environments and providing concrete evidence of the theories of militarism and ‘conflict in limbo.’ Utilizing the storyboard method, I delve into an interview that portrays a transition between two institutional relationships: from ‘being surveilled and controlled’ to ‘experiencing environmental sexual harassment.’ This transition transforms the gendered role of the woman, from being an ‘object for observation’ into a ‘sexual object’. This story underlines the intricate gender power relations between the groups, highlighting that while the institutional relationship between the military and women may not be immediately visible, its effects penetrate the personal lives of women in profound ways.
Academic work
Storyboard from an unveiled story in Pyla
Scene 1 > Shot 1 Bird’s eye view of the village, showing the urban militarized environment
Scene 1 > Shot 2 Shot of the neighborhood, showing the soldier within the military observation tower and children playing in the streets
Scene 1 > Shot 3 Close-up shot of the soldier looking through binoculars at them
Scene 1 > Shot 4 Close-up shot to the girl, realizing that they are observed by the soldiers
Scene 2 > Shot 1 Subsequently, the girl and the soldiers have an accidental encounter within the village.
Scene 2 > Shot 2 The girls enter the scene.
Scene 2 > Shot 3 The soldiers recognize them from their earlier observations.
Scene 2 > Shot 4 The soldiers shout the girls’ names, exerting their power over them.
Scene 2 > Shot 5 The woman stares back at them.
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01 Project
Performance art as a methodological instrument To challenge these stories, I intervene in symbolic spaces employing performance art, such as the monument of liberty in Nicosia which symbolizes deeply institutionalized relationships portraying soldiers as saviors liberating war victims, including women. Here, I altered the body configuration of the female statues, disrupting the prescribed institutional narrative and roles. By changing the parameters that construct institutional narratives and showing women in dynamic positions, the performance challenges the fixed role of women as static, waiting for salvation. Conclusion - Role of the Urbanist The case study analysis highlights the complexity of the relationship between the military and women and uncovers additional parameters that influence these relationships. Additionally, it serves as a form of triangulation with the archive and the theoretical basis and illustrates the interplay of this relationship in space, which influences the navigation and performance of different bodies based on gender. Recognizing the importance of this knowledge, it is crucial to challenge gender power relations established by institutional structures. By employing visual methods, this research challenges fixed -20-
gender roles and aims to empower individuals, particularly women. While acknowledging limitations, it contributes to efforts to disrupt oppressive structures, calls for further investigation, and challenges the role of the urbanist in unraveling and addressing hierarchical structures within the built environment and communicating their findings to a broader audience.
Sir John Everett Millais The Knight Errant 1870 Image source: Tate,2023
Academic work
Andria Charilaou My own performance at the monument of Liberty in Nicosia May 2023
Andria Charilaou My own performance with a soldier at the Temple of Aphrodite, performing the relationship “Needing protection nd to be saved by the soldiers” May 2023
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02 Project
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Image authors for the project ‘Out of the core:’ Andria Charilaou, Anna Kalligeri Skentzou, Julia Daher, Shiru Liu, Victoria Imasaki
Academic work
Image author for the visual on the left page: Andria Charilaou
Out of the core The Greater Bay Area followed an economically driven development to adapt to global market demands that generated disparity between highly integrated city cores and functionally undefined peripheries and depleted social and environmental systems. The project’s vision for the Greater Bay Area focuses on the periphery areas, reimagining their role as a united network. ‘Out of the core’ proposes their reorganization through an endogenous, multifunctional network, operating on a local level, and placing value on socioenvironmental synergies. These synergies could potentially work across scales, redefining the existing imbalances and ultimately facilitating the emergence of a more socially inclusive and environmentally resilient mega region.
Location: Greater Bay Area, China AR0172 Globalisation Research on the Urban Impact Group work Quarter 4 Date carried out: July ‘22 Studio Tutors: Diego Sepúlveda Carmona Luisa Maria Calabrese Lei Qu Gregory Bracken Birgit Hausleitner Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin Daniele Cannatella Studio Tutors from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU): Henry Endemann Gerhard Bruyns Peter Hasdell Link for the project: https:// deltamegaregions.net/ exhibitons/out-ofthe-core
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Abstraction Map of Economic Exposure
02 Project
Legend Tertiary city Second tier city First tier city Main core city Connections inbetween tertiary cities Connection within the GBA axis Main connection between cores Cooperations between twin cities
Current investment focus of the polycentric model
Abstraction Map of Social Exposure
Unilateral exchange and explotation of periphery cities
Area of investment Magnitude of the core Highly vulnerability to flooding Extremely high vulnerability to flooding Gradient of sea level
Problematization The GBA, a rapidly growing metropolitan region within the Pearl River Delta, has undergone significant urbanization in the past 40 years, shifting from an agriculture-based to an industrial economy. The polycentric model in the GBA resulted in a coreperiphery phenomenon, described by Soja (1974), where highly developed city cores focus on capital, while peripheries (secondary and tertiary city cores) primarily house the industrial labor force. This phenomenon has resulted in a unilateral movement from the peripheries to the cores, leading to an uneven distribution of opportunities between them. The 2020 regional planning for the GBA, however, lacks consideration for local conditions and the socio-environmental exposure of the peripheries. This has further exaggerated the social and economic -24-
imbalances and environmental depletion of secondary and tertiary cities, reinforcing the antithesis between the highly integrated city cores and the functionally undefined peripheries. The project utilizes the concept of “double exposure” as a theoretical framework, acknowledging that the region faces challenges from climate change and globalization, putting economic growth and society at risk. This concept helps identify the most vulnerable areas in the GBA, focusing on the “double losers” from a social, economic, and environmental perspective. Through a comprehensive analysis of social, economic, and environmental factors in the region, mapping has highlighted the peripheral inhabitants as the “double losers” exposed to socio-environmental issues in the context of globalization and economic development.
Abstraction Map of Environmental Exposure
Abstraction Map of Economic-SocialEnvironmental Exposure Exposure
Map Analysis of the Economic Exposure Income: 27.000 to 50.000 50.000 to 55.000 55.000 to 60.000 60.000 to 290.000 290.000 and over Universities Research centers Clusters Innovation corridor Innovation node for manufacturing Innovation node for research Innovation node for services Agricultural as economic role manudacturing as economic role Petrochemical as economic role Technology as economic role Toursim as economic role Reveland GDP Less relevant GDP
Map Analysis of the Social Exposure Migration analysis 2010-2015 500.000 to 999.000 1 millin to 1.9 million 2million to 3 million Land uses Built area Residential areas Urban areas Industrial areas Vegetation
Map Analysis of the Environmental Exposure Flood risk Highly vulnerability to flooding Extremely high vulnerability to flooding Gradient of the sea level rise
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02 Project
Pointilism game as a method for analysis The pointillism game identified the potential and vulnerabilities of each area. It introduced three strategies, each with distinct features, and focused on various patterns of potentials and vulnerabilities across different scales. The blue strategy operates on a regional scale and acts -26-
as a coherent green and blue network emphasizing water management. The green strategy creates green corridors at a territorial scale to enhance livability. The red strategy, on a local scale, aims to improve livability in urban villages. The final map indicates critical periphery territories with overlapping vulnerabilities.
Legend Strategies: Green buffer corridor Improving the life quality Flooding protectrion network Existing patterns Industries next to incompatible areas Urban villages Areas with high risk of flooding
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Vision for the GBA The Vision map proposes the creation of an operational network for periphery areas that has aligned values with society and environment, resulting in a resilient mega region structure. It seeks to criticize the proposed outline, exploring a new model which better fits the local conditions and mitigates existing vulnerabilities. The strategy takes a socioenvironmental approach, proposing a city network of functional clusters and an environmental backbone. It
follows environmental guidelines, Vision Map for the GBA placing nature-based solutions to Legend structure collaboration between Tertiary city periphery areas. It embraces tertiary Second tier city cities as active members of the region First tier city enhancing their self-sufficiency. By Main core city highlighting a network of synergetic exchange among periphery areas, Tertiary connections Main activations the region will achieve more even Activation of the main cores development, ensuring a bilateral exchange-relationship between Agricultural land cores and periphery areas improving River waterways accessibility and bridging the gap High vulnerability to flooding between cores and peripheries.
Extremely high vulnerability to flooding Gradient of sea level -27-
02 Project
Map of the regional Vision for Zhongshan Legend Tertiary city Port city Primary core city Secondary core city Proposed clusters Agritourism Innovation cluster Food production cluste Energy hub and productiondistribution cluster Medical cluster Intervention B
Connection and collaborations between clusters Ponds Agricultural land
Intervention A
Flooding risk River waterway
Cities as anchors and connection links
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Zhongashan as a ‘Double Loser’ Zhongshan is strategically selected as an example of a “double loser” (an area excluded from the polycentric model and highly exposed to environmental issues) and simultaneously a target for the GBA’s outline since it is located in the main axis of development. The strategy follows a socio environmental approach, proposing a city network of functional clusters and a complementary, protective environmental backbone.
Strategies Socio-economic To activate Zhongshan’s role on the regional scale, the project establishes bilateral connections between the new clusters and the existing main cores. The process begins with the activation of its own territory through synergies established at the meso and micro scales. The micro-scale activation entails a dynamic connection between the tertiary cities and their adjacent villages and agricultural lands,
Academic work
and simultaneously the mesoscale activation by linking together the tertiary cities creating bigger functional clusters. Consequently, each cluster’s function relies on the local character of the tertiary cities and villages it encompasses, forming an endogenous, multifunctional, and inclusive network.
territorial scale, it introduces green buffer zones separating industrial and urban areas, regulating urban and industrial growth. Meanwhile, on the local scale it promotes connectivity between urban, natural areas and agricultural land.
Environmental The regional environmental strategy forms an extensive green and blue network to mitigate the exposure to water hazards and pollution. At the -29-
02 Project
Zhungshang The second intervention focuses on the island of Nansha, near the GBA port, including the tertiary city of Wanqingsha and numerous agricultural villages. The current regional plans prioritize highdensity urban development and manufacturing, neglecting residents and environmental risks. Vision This intervention explores how a tertiary city and adjacent villages can participate to regional economic development while involving local communities and addressing environmental risks. On a territorial scale, the area will serve a dual functionality: eco-tourism and flood-resistant, energy-based agriculture, creating cohesive natural systems. A linear corridor promotes collaboration between villages and the city, enabling the exchange of energy products and composing diverse landscapes for eco-tourism.
Strategies Strategy A addresses flood risk by allowing designated land to flood, providing filtration and enhancing biodiversity. Strategy B converts farmland into energy and water-based crops, maintaining local character and increasing economic value. Strategy C fosters local integration, proposing a manufacturing network for energy products across villages.
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Strategy D connects natural areas, agriculture, cities, and villages to promote eco-tourism. These strategies highlight how development in high-risk flooding areas and management of urbanization in ecologically sensitive areas could happen.
Academic work
Legend Tourism Network Tourism Attraction Railway Station City Manufacturing Network Energy-Related Factory Training Center Agricultural Lab Energy-Related Agriculture (Water) Energy-Related Agriculture (Land) Aquaculture Rice Natural Area Wetland Park
This drawing illustrates strategies for developing tourism and agriculture while managing floods and preserving local character. It shows village settlements, agricultural lands, waterways, and infrastructure. Agricultural lands transition into buffer zones managing floods, such as wetlands, and farmlands transform into water-based agriculture for energy crops. Raw materials are transported via the highway, manufactured, and tested in different villages. A secondary road connecting the tertiary city and surrounding villages provides tourism access, offering diverse landscapes.
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03 Project
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Image authors for the project ‘Transtopia:’ Andria Charilaou, Chalarambos Spanos, Larissa Muller, Sanika Charatkar
Academic work
Image author for the visual on the left page: Andria Charilaou
Transtopia The Port of Rotterdam has historically played a central role in the energy sector, primarily in oil-based energy generation and raw material exports. Yet, with the Netherlands committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, a shift away from fossil fuels is imperative. The implications of this shift extend across local and global scales, given the entrenched nature of fossil-based energy within Zuid Holland’s physical, social, economic, and geopolitical networks. Transtopia aims to accelerate this transition by proposing renewable energy synergies between the Port and the region. It advocates decentralized, diversified renewable energy production, and harnessing the latent energy potential of regional landscapes. This project fosters endogenous co-creation of energy landscapes, establishing a resilient, adaptable energy system with contributions from all societal sectors. The spatial integration of energy consumption and production can activate urban development in Zuid Holland. By structuring new infrastructure collaboratively among active sectors, it not only strengthen the region’s economic resilience during the energy transition but also ensures social integration.
Location: Rotterdam Port, Netherlands Spatial Strategies for the Global Metropolis AR2U086 & AR2U088 Group work Quarter 3 Date carried out: April ‘22 Tutors: Diego Andres Sepulveda Carmona Robbert Jan Van der Veen Van den Berghe, K.B.J. Link for the project: https://repository. tudelft.nl/ islandora/object/ uuid%3A3984ecd6c77b-40c6-aa07e4b67bfd9f86
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03 Project
Strengthen Transtopia aims to strengthen the role of the Port of Rotterdam as a critical activator in the global, regional, and local energy transition by redefining it and expanding its influence to boost its role as a renewable energy generator and distributor. Hence, transforming it into the backbone of the energy transition for the region of Zuid Holland. Decentralize This strategy proposes the creation of numerous endogenous loops of energy connected through a network. This network will be the fulcrum for future development sustaining the entire region. By creating synergies between diverse energy systems, responsibility and participation in the energy transition are distributed among diverse stakeholders.
Diversify This strategy suggests aligning various energy production systems. It utilizes the existing land use for raw materials and energy production landscapes and creates synergies between these energy systems. This leads to a novel form of spatial, functional, and socioeconomic symbiosis within these areas.
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Academic work
Phase 01 (2022-2025) focuses on finalizing strategies with stakeholders and creating policies to expedite the transition.
Phase 03 (2030-2040): creates synergies among different local energy production landscapes in the Zuid Holland region
Phase 02 (2025-2030): centers on the establishment of the energy network, which includes improving the electricity grid, maintaining pipelines, and enhancing sustainable transportation networks.
Phase 04 (2040-2050): emphasises on shifting from fossil fuels to biomass and hydrogen plants, and expanding the energy production area beyond the port
Vision Map Legend: agricultural land greenhouses cities/settlements clusters of industries wind farms global connections/ shipping routes main energy network secondary energy network -35-
03 Project
Local scale
Regional scale
Global scale
Energy Network Trans-topia envisions an energy network along the region of Zuid Holland and its port. This network facilitates synergies across local, regional, and global scales to distribute and generate renewable energy. The primary objective is to maximize energy production within each area while minimizing energy transportation to reduce losses. To -36-
achieve this, the project establishes endogenous clusters of production landscapes that cascade energy, exchanging raw materials, energy, and heat. The network transforms in each cluster based on the energy demand, stakeholder involvement, raw material availability, and energy production potential. This network strategically passes through existing highways, underground energy
distribution pipelines, land use, flood risk considerations, and critical infrastructure locations. Specifically, the netwrork is a negotiator between diverse energy production clusters on the local scale, an economic booster linking the clusters with the port on the regional scale, and an international energy hub for hydrogen on the global scale.
Academic work
Process diagram
Urban Activator The “urban activator” concept involves diverse energy production landscapes directly connected with the energy network. First, the network negotiates between these landscapes, fostering mutual benefits. The proposed infrastructure in-between the different landscapes creates hybrid zones, where various energy production methods overlap. These hybrid zones expand, evolving into fulcrums for energy-driven development and urban growth, benefiting the regional and local economy
Hybrid zone A hybrid zone is a space where different energy production landscapes, like greenhouses, agriculture, and biomass, overlap establishing synergies between them. For instance, biowaste from agriculture and greenhouses is processed in a nearby biomass plant, contributing electricity to the local grid. Additionally, heat from the biomass plant benefits vertical farms on top, and solar panels on greenhouses generate energy for the production facility. This system will support the agro-based economy enhancing revenue generation, through energy and raw material supply, promoting efficiency and circularity in energy and material flow. -37-
03 Project
Innovation for energy
Distribution (Global - European National)
The port Redefining the identity of the port This design proposes the integration of various energy systems, which has the potential to redefine not only the identity of the Port of Rotterdam but also that of the Zuid Holland region. It showcases the functional synergies initiated by the energy network and their subsequent spatial implications for both the port and the urban activators in the region. In this context, the port functions as an Energy Hub, -38-
Energy Production Landscape
comprising a diverse cluster of functions related to the energy transition. While the infrastructure is located within the Port of Rotterdam, its influence extends beyond local boundaries, encompassing scales from local to global.
Industrial Park
New Port Functions: Innovation (for Energy): The innovation center, aligned with RDM and other educational, technological, and research institutes, will have the opportunity to conduct experiments with new infrastructure and energy manufacturing processes.
Academic work
Distribution: The distribution center will offer easy access to large ships for distributing stored hydrogen and raw materials from this region to the rest of Europe.
Industrial Park: Exciting functions and spatial synergies will emerge between energy production, existing infrastructure, and land use, including energy-neutral industrial parks, business districts, and makers’ districts.
Energy Production Landscape: A significant area is earmarked for hydrogen manufacturing, recognizing its promising potential as a clean energy source. This area holds critical importance in energy production, as the energy corridor passes through it, making it a pivotal functional and infrastructural energy production hub for the entire region.
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04 Project
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Image author for the project ‘Metropolitan Hofplein:’ Andria Charilaou
Academic work
Metropolitan Hofplein CHALLENGE. How to renew existing urban areas through densification while simultaneously improving public spaces to mitigate the impacts of climate change, promote biodiversity, and improve citizen’s quality of life?
Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands AR1U100 R and D Studio Designing Urban Environments Individual work Quarter 2 Date carried out: February ‘22
This individual project builds upon a comprehensive group analysis of the Tutors: Hoffplein area in Rotterdam, aiming to tackle the city’s overpopulation and Alexander Mooi A.F.Mooi@tudelft.nl housing crisis. Through an exhaustive site analysis, densification emerges as a multifaceted solution. Not only to address overpopulation, but also to serves as an instrument to rectify the city’s fragmented structure. The central goal is the metamorphosis of Hofplein into a central neighborhood to attract residents and stakeholders, thereby revitalizing the entire city. To achieve this, the project introduces diverse urban typologies and functions that enhance connectivity, and community engagement. Additionally, it proposes a set of sustainable development strategies to address the urban heat island effect and mitigate flood risks, thereby enhancing the urban environment’s resilience.
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04 Project
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Academic work
Green roofs
Open the ground level of the existing shell building
Soften the edges of the existing underground passage
Square in the scale of the neighborhood with fountains on the surface.
Sports facilities on top of the Hofbogen park
Water storage canal
Extending the new program outside
Bridge that connects the hofbogen with the archive museum
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04 Project
1. Link the ‘unfinished’ gestures by Creating a centrality: This strategy connects various ‘unfinished’ elements in the site, including Sint-Jacobs Park, Binnenrotte market, the new design of the square with the iconic fountain, and the Hofbogen park. The aim is to create an attraction point that not only physically but also functionally connects these surrounding sites. Specifically, it activates the site on two different levels; for instance, Hofbogen park serves as a circulation hub for the entire area, featuring leisure activities on the upper level and public amenities on the ground level. -44-
2. Soften the edges by redesigning Mobility Networks: The large-scale infra-structure and intense car dominance create harsh edges leading to the fragmentation of the area. To address this, the project proposes reducing car mobility and parking on the streets to create more space for the public. Moreover, it suggests the redesign of the mobility networks for cyclists and pedestrians to facilitate connectivity with nearby destinations.
Academic work
3. Activate the site by introducing heterogeneity of functions Designed for offices and car-related activities, this area faces functionality and safety issues. Addressing this, the project introduces mixed-use functions to transform the site from monofunctional to multifunctional. This approach activates the area throughout the day, fostering a secure environment. Moreover, this strategy encompasses various residential typologies to promote heterogeneous communities, enhancing diversity and inclusivity. Simultaneously, the introduction of public services on the ground and upper levels activates the street and mitigates the site’s fragmentation.
4. Improve sustainability by enhancing greenery and permeability: To address challenges such as high atmospheric temperatures, noise pollution, and flood risk, the fourth strategy involves several methods. This includes replacing impermeable materials with permeable ones, designing green roofs and public parks, planting trees for cooling and shading, and enhancing biodiversity. Additionally, it suggests provisions for rainwater storage during extreme weather conditions, which decrease atmospheric temperatures.
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05 Project
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Image author: Pietro Ferrario
Professional work
Kid’s Factory The aim of the proposal was to create a public space, as a local and trans-local destination, which will be flexible and able to adapt to different programmes. We focused on establishing the site as a regional attraction— which would not only include commercial retail—but would become a place of sharing meaningful experiences as a community. To that end, we did not build new structures, but we concentrated on revitalising instead the empty space left by the demolition of the once central factory building. The aim was to create a new open contemporary public space for both the neighbourhood and the city.
Location: Laveno Mombello, Italy Open competition ‘Kid’s Factory’ YAC Erasmus Placement at Oasi architects Group work Date carried out: January‘19 Link for the project: https://www. oasiarchitects.com/ works/oc-016-kidsfactory/
In this competition questions of urban sustainability were brought to the fore. I had the opportunity to sharpen my analytical skills, as I participated into a series of discussions, where different views were debated in relation to design strategies. Moreover, I had to encapsulate the team’s ideas through visual means. These procedure pushed me to become more critical and formulate my own philosophy toward architecture.
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05 Project
Image author: Andria Charilaou
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Professional work
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