Danny Kok

Een plek om te delen

A place to be shared

A healthy living environment where encounters happen

For people with physical disabilities, a building specially designed around them can mean a lot. When a person has a physical disability, their ability to move is, in most cases, impaired, which often makes the person less flexible in terms of mobility and dependent on the accessibility of an area or building.     

You turn to a rehabilitation clinic for treatment and learning to cope with one of these disabilities. For example, you go there after losing a leg in an accident, which usually happens unexpectedly. It is a place where you are temporarily taken out of society; the aim is to rejoin as soon as possible.     

Society around us is slowly changing. The importance of sharing and being vulnerable is becoming more and more important. People are starting to understand that they are not alone; it helps to talk about it - and confront it.    

My project studies the encounters between the rehabilitated and society to get rest and support during rehabilitation when needed, to remain part of and be visible to society at desired times.    

A mixed program is present on the campus for the daytime activities of the rehabilitators when not busy with the rehabilitation program but also to make the area attractive for the people from the surrounding area and give them a destination in one of the buildings.     

These buildings hark back to the collective memory of Rotterdam. It provides space, and it reminds you of the history of the monuments that are still there. Partly because of the spatial layout of the area and the functions of the buildings, they have become part of the cultural axis at Museumpark.    

A meeting place where not only people from the rehabilitation centre are welcome, but also people from the surrounding area. To share experiences, rehabilitate, recreate, and look at the possibilities instead of the limitations. 

Graduation date: 8 December 2022
Graduation committee: Jolijn Valk (mentor), Micha de Haas, Wouter Kroeze
Additional members for the exam: Floris Hund, Abdessamed Azarfane