An urban spaceship for Rotterdam South

• TU Delft Core studio I 2017
• Mentor: Dr. Frank van der Hoeven
• Sustainability advisor: Dr. Fransje Hooimeijer
• Advisor in visualisation and interpretation of SM Data: Leticia Serrano-Estrada
• Info: Conclusional maps and human flow analysis were largely based on social media [SM] data analysis through Excel, QGis, Carto and Grasshopper

During field research, it was difficult to perceive Hart van Zuid in South Rotterdam as a whole, mainly because the shopping mall functions as a grotesque, isolated spaceship where all commercial uses are concentrated, leaving limited space for economic activities to develop in the surrounding neighbourhoods (Carnisse). On top of that, Carnisse demonstrates an extremely mixed ethnic makeup of inhabitants which results in weak social cohesion and high mobility in the area.

The basic concept of the Death Star van Zuid is the redevelopment of the shopping mall as a unique, iconic attractor point of Rotterdam Zuid, well-connected to its surroundings. The physical boundaries of the proposal include the shopping mall area, the Zuidplein Metro station and the buildings on its western boundary whereas the programmatic sub-solutions comprise outplacing part of the economic activities of the mall and re-introducing them to the surrounding neighbourhoods, with emphasis on Carnisse. The plan in numbers presents an acceptable mix of uses, which is determined to be :
13% housing I 60% commercial uses-retail I 27% offices