Writingplace Journal for Architecture and Literature is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed journal focusing on architecture and literature.

This journal is a vehicle for the Writingplace platform to continue its exploration of the relationship between architecture and literature, which has already resulted in the publication of Writingplace: Investigations in Architecture and Literature in 2016.

Each issue of the journal will focus on themes central to the fruitful relationship betw...

Architectural training seems to be more difficult to organize than ever before. After May 1968, education was radically democratized, or at least that was the intention. However, the 1999 Bologna Declaration radically changed the structure of architecture schools as well. Is there any tradition left to hand down to students? What skills do they need before they can enter the job market? And how about the kind of knowledge that may not be practical, but is nevertheless necessary to fully under...

This study enlarges on the notion of composition in landscape architecture, building on the ‘Delft Method’, which elaborates composition as a methodological framework for landscape design. At the same time it takes a critical stance in respect to this method in response to recent developments in landscape architecture such as the site-specicity and process discourses.

The notion of composition is examined from a historical, theoretical and lexical perspective, before turning to an examina...

Over the years, the consumption of materials for construction exceeded more than half of the total materials consumed in the Netherlands, and construction waste exceeded the volume of solid waste produced by households. Since the introduction of the "Ladder van Lansink" (in the 1970’s) and the further development of the European Waste Framework Directives followed by the Circular Economy concept, waste prevention has been considered a priority measure. Whereas the goals to improve waste man...

This research aimed at understanding how occupants use energy in their homes to make themselves feel more comfortable. This was done to propose customized environmental characteristics that could improve the occupants’ comfort while reducing energy consumption. To conceptualize such bespoke environmental features, occupant archetypes were produced based on the occupants’ intentions and motivations behind comfort behaviours.

A mixed-methods human-centered design approach was developed for ...

This research introduces the concept of visibility as a useful tool to assess the democratic features of public spaces. It understands democratic public spaces as open spaces, which are accessible to all and allow different cultural expressions for individuals and groups. The concept of visibility refers to the visual perception of the observable features of distinctive urban groups in public space, which give evidence of how these groups engage with, shape, and construct public space. The re...

Reinout Rutte: Antoon van den Wijngaerdes tekeningen van steden in de Nederlanden. Inventief geconstrueerde stadsgezichten voor Filips II. Minke Walda: Bouwen in de krimpende stad. Renovatie, functieverandering en vergroening in Haarlem en Leiden rond 1800. Hannes De Zutter: Een nieuw platteland bouwen. Het Moderne Dorp op de Wereldtentoonstelling van 1913 in Gent en de Belgische modelschool

This thesis proposes a framework to address the design process in design education. Building upon the assumption that teachers, being professional designers, do not discuss the design process in the architectural design studio and do not have a vocabulary to do so, five generic elements or anchor points are defined which represent the basic design skills. The validity of the framework and the assumption is tested respectively in interviews with a variety of designers and in observations of di...

The housing stock in Vietnam has boomed in the last few decades, especially in urbanised areas. However, the increasing number of housing units did not go along with housing quality, a healthy living environment or a sustainable building stock. Recent legislation only applies to public buildings but not the private housing sector, which accounts for the majority of the building stock. Therefore, this research aimed to contribute to a more sustainable building stock in Vietnam by improving the...