Preview ARGUS Architecture Annual 2015-2016 by ARGUS: TU Delft Architecture Master Student Association

210

ARCHITECTURE ANNUAL

#01 2015|2016

Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment

This book is published by ARGUS Architecture Master Student Association Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Delft University of Technology

ÂŠ 2016 ARGUS Architecture Master Student Association and Delft University of Technology All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Printed and bound in Belgium by Graphius Group First edition of 300 copies ISBN 978-94-6186-706-3 4

Adam Busko, Agnieszka Batkiewicz, Aidan Conway, Aleksandra Gordowy, Alessandro Arcangeli, Alon Sarig, Alvin Chew, Andrea Fitskie, Andrea Gentilini, Andrea Migotto, Andreas Root, Anneloes de Koff, Anneloes Kattemölle, Asmund Skeie, Audrey Loef, Bas de Pater, Benjamin Kemper, Cameron Walker, Carsten Smink, Clare Easterbrook-Lamb, Daan Zandbergen, Daniel Fischer, Daniele Tanzi, David van Weeghel, Diana Kuch, Dominique de Rond, Dominique Wolniewicz, Duowen Chen, Eke Wondaal, Eldin Fajkovic, Elif Gozde Ostoprak, Ellen Rouwendaal, Erik Stigter, Fabio Tossutti, Federica Fogazzi, Filippo Fiorani, Francesca Martellono, Francesco Bozzerla, Hana Mohar, Hedwig van der Linden, Hyungju Seo, Inez Tan, Isabella Del Grandi, Ioanna Christia, Janos Katona, Javide Jooshesh, Jesper Baltussen, Jochem Hols, Josef Odvarka, Jue Zhang, Kasia Piekarczyk, Kecui Ji, Kelly Best, Konstant Papasimakis, Laura Straehle, Lex te Loo, Licheng Wang, Lorenzo Cocchi, Lujia Xu, Maarten Diederix, Magdalena Nalepa, Maria Rohof, Marieke Giele, Marina Bonet Bueno, Marjolein Maatman, Marloes Pieper, Mart Bremer, Marta Kowalczyk, Matteo Andrenelli, Matthijs Vreke, Max van den Berg, Melisa Silva, Michele Bassi, Mike de Bruijn, Mindaugas Arlauskas, Monica Lelieveld, Monika Byra, Myrthe Houx, Nico Schouten, Niels Mulder, Nina van Hoogstraten, Olav van der Doorn, Panayiotis Hadjisergis, Ravenna Westerhout, Rebecca Konnertz, Riccardo De Vecchi, Rienk Klaassen, Rory Alasdair Downes, Shiyu Zhang, Signe Perkone, Silvio Pennesi, Sjoerd Boomars, Souad Bokzini, Steffan Hegeman, Tasmana Khorsed Alam, Therese Eberl, Tiwanee van der Horst, Tom van Lint, Valentina Benčić, Valentina Piras, Veronica Cristofoletti, Veronika Mayr, Victor Koot, Wyn Lloyd Jones, Xiao Sun, Yannick Macken, Yingzhu Mao, Yoana Yordanova, Yuzhe Huang 5

www.kaanarchitecten.com www.kaanarchitecten.com

www.kaanarchitecten.com

Think before you make. But if you get stuck in thinking, start making and keep on making until you have space to think again. - Kees Kaan

ARGUS Architecture Master Student Association

ARGUS is the student association serving the students of the Masters track. It organises events which are focused on the architectural discipline, education and also the professional field. ARGUS should act as an intermediary between the student body and the faculty, a point through which the students voice can be heard their concerns or proposals raised with the relevant authority. ARGUS aims to not only create a connection between students, but also to connect with academics, alumni, practitioners and firms. Connecting these different groups with one another, results in possibilities for new initiatives and the sharing of knowledge and ideas.

ARGUS Annual and Expo 2015/2016 Leonie Boelens Aidan Conway InĂŠs Hemmings Floor Hoogenboezem Margot de Man Lina Peng www.argus.cc 10

ARCHITECTURE ANNUAL

A considerable number of inspiring designs, ideas and resources are developed within the context of all the different studios from the master of Architecture at the TU Delft. The fast paced nature of the studio system, sees much of the work produced go unseen and forgotten. We want to make the unseen images visible, and root the forgotten projects in our memories, by publishing the first ARGUS Architecture Annual. The ARGUS Architecture Annual will show the most remarkable, inspiring and ambitious master Architecture projects from the academic year of 2015-2016. Selected projects from MSc1, MSc2 and MSc3/4 are documented in this new yearbook. Exposing the diversity of these projects provides a great potential for inter-studio debate and the sharing of gained knowledge. With this book, students choosing their future studios can get a good impression of the different methods and approaches, graduates can keep a souvenir from their last academic years and future students exploring the possibilities of an architectural master get to see the crĂ¨me de la crĂ¨me of our master of Architecture at the TU Delft. State of the art projects are compiled in a state of the art yearbook, because our projects are something we can be proud of.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 13

SELECTED PROJECTS

Architectural Engineering 14 The Architecture of the Interior 24 Complex Projects 42 Design as Politics 64 Dwelling 70 Explore Lab 84 Form and Modelling Studies 94 Van Gezel tot Meester 104 Heritage and Architecture 110 History of Architecture and Urban Planning 128 Hyperbody 132 Methods and Analysis 142 Public Building 154 Veldacademie 170 The Why Factory 174 MONTHLY PAPERS 182

INDEX 206

INTRODUCTION

The Delft Faculty of Architecture distinguishes itself from many other schools of architecture by its large number of students and teachers. At a first glance this might seem a considerable disadvantage, but in the end the contrary is true. The size of the school allows for the kaleidoscopic presence of a large number of professional and theoretical positions within the educational programme. Not a grey overall average, but very distinct approaches and design methods have been characterising our school for decades, expressed in fierce debates and sometimes the inevitable academic clashes. As a student, you have to find your way in this maze of positions. You might feel lost in the beginning, but the result is that you are forced to explore these different paths, and finally to choose your own way ahead. As a school we have the obligation to keep these debates going, and to make the different profiles and positions of chairs and studios explicit and clear. The great initiative of Argus to make a design studio yearbook and an accompanying exhibition of student work will be a very important tool for students and teachers to understand these positions and bring new life to the debates. It has the promise to become an important guide for our future students in exploring our school. I hope this annual will be the first of many to come, and want to express a loud thank you to ARGUS! Dick van Gameren Chairman Department of Architecture 13

EXPLORE LAB Ir. Robert Nottrot

Explore Lab is an exceptional thesis laboratory for students with an unique fascination which cannot be explored in any of the regular thesis labs. The chair provides graduation spots for students with an interest in a specific question and an exceptional ability to lead themselves and others in theoretical and design research. Explore lab is open for students from all tracks. While engaged in their own fascinations, the explorers work together to design their own curriculum including workshops, lectures, excursions and visiting critics.

THE ISOLATED LANDSCAPE AND THE MANMADE Aidan Conway County Mayo, Ireland MSc3/4 | Explore Lab | Jorge Meija, Patrick Healy, Hubert Van der Meel

This study aimed to develop an approach to design within the isolated landscapes of the Mayo, in the West of Ireland, and to question how to resolve the man made object and isolated landscape. To investigate the problems of reconciliation a conflict must be created. Namely countering this extreme form of nature with the pinnacle of culture and the manmade, the city. A greater understanding of both elements was required, the research element focused on the landscape and the various methods of reading and interpreting it, a study of the city and its fundamental elements was carried out. This resulted in an extremely disparate scale of landscape and object. It reconciled both through

taking a central anchoring utilitarian function and via a perceptual trick. This urban scenario was not only constructed of the formal reductions and series elements analysed in the study of the city, but these forms too mimicked the landscape and in obscuring it to construct an urban scene it in turn became a formal reduction of the landscape itself. Along with this the initial utilitarian function was forced to perform formally as both a haphazard simple volume in the landscape and in the urban scenario which had been posed. Through treading this line it seeks to unify both.

EXAMPLE PROJECT

182

MONTHLY PAPERS

Each month ARGUS selects a topic or theme that addresses current issues in architecture that are relevant and interesting to students as well as a potentially broader audience. This topic is researched and discussed throughout the month and culminates with a monthly event and additional paper. This paper is an informational and/or critical piece on the monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chosen topic. Despite the paperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brevity, typically only 700 words, it is able to provide a thoughtful take on the monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme. The Paper, as it is known, is distributed monthly throughout the architecture faculty. In addition to the hard copies, you can find previous papers published on our website. Each month we collaborate with our guest lecturer to create original content drawn from our own research and sources provided by the lecturer.

#01 09.15

#02 10.15

the Grand Tour Pure exploratory traveling, outside of professional obligations, has often been described as the highlight of an architect’s career, a means of acquiring deep and critical knowledge by obtaining ‘authentic’, first-hand experience of the beaten and unbeaten tracks throughout the globe. -Jilly Traganou Travel, as an indispensable component of an architectural career, gained recognition in the 17th century through the popularity of the “Grand Tour.” The term, coined by Richard Lassels in 1670, was used in reference to the extensive travels undertaken by the young and elite members of European society. The trip served as a rite of passage and was meant to further knowledge of language, architecture, geography, and culture. Wealthy travelers would spend several years traveling along the predetermined route, one that primarily took them from one cultural center to the next. Starting in London a typical journey began in the Netherlands then on to Paris, Geneva, Turin, Florence, Rome, and Venice; with several months spent in each location. While enriching to people of all backgrounds, the journey was consequential for aspiring architects. Leaving England behind, they became quickly aware that their capital was little more than a chaotic compilation of medieval timber structures gathered around a crumbling Gothic cathedral, St Paul’s (Brainard). These young architects were able to gather exhaustive knowledge of the

grand monuments of the classical age as well as the more contemporary structures that were beginning to define continental Europe. Upon returning to England they were quickly able to put their newfound knowledge to practice, new clients scrambled to purchase their own version of the latest and grandest continental architecture, commissions were easily acquired by the traveled architect. In addition to architectural exposure the tour also proved invaluable in its ability to foster social connections. The fact that the tour was generally so specific in its route meant that tourists of a particularly time were continually reconnecting along the journey, a sort of transient community. The touring group was generally composed of two classes, artists and aristocrats. While collaborating with other artists was likely enjoyable, the true opportunity for architects was the ability to make contact with the aristocrats. Wealthy travel companions would become future clients, and every client met on route represented an entire family’s worth of potential commissions back home (Brainard). France’s central role in the tour’s itinerary meant that the French Revolution, beginning in 1789, would officially bring an end to the Grand Tour. After the forced wartime reprieve, travel would soon become forever changed with the advent of rail. The great effort required to travel the continent had been replaced.

Ciudad Abierta …Amereida is, after all, a vision. A vision that holds onto the highest and deepest virtues of humanity, inviting with creative peace the opportunity to reenvision the true essence of American identity. A vision that thrives to reach every field where craftsmanship can develop into art and rise up to its apex. -Amereida Cooperative The Open City, or Ciudad Abierta, rests in the open sand dunes and landscape on the shore of Chile, a few kilometers north of the city of Valparaiso. The site’s other name is “Amereida”, a combination of the words “America” and “Eneida” (an epic poem by Virgil on the wandering Aeneas and the founding of Rome). The Open City is a result of this relationship between architecture and poetry. In the early 1950’s the architect Alberto Cruz and the Argentinian poet Godofredo Iommi formed a collective group guided by principals of poetic search for identity and place, it was an expression of the search for “Latin American identity” or what Iommi called “the interior sea of the Latin American Continent.” This experience led to the creation of the Open City in 1970. This experiment in architecture was executed by teachers and students at the Catholic University of Valparaiso as a Co-operative, on 300 hectares of land purchased in 1971. The Open City sought to isolate itself, to be contained within itself and contrast its process to the modernist approach of the time in the discourse of architecture.

#04 12.15

Blue Economy An entrepreneur with a lot of money and experience will only make marginal improvements. People with no experience and little money are much more likely to be fundamentally innovative in their approach. - Gunter Pauli The economies of present day can be understood in three different categories. The first represents the economic system that built much of our present world, the red economy. The red economy relies on ever increasing amounts of exploitation, of human and natural resources, in order to facilitate growth. More recently the green economy has been developed as an alternative model, the green economy aims for sustainable development which doesn’t degrade the environment. This is partially achieved by acknowledging the value of natural capital, e.g., the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is valued with carbon credits. Unfortunately the valuation of natural resources in such a manner adds ‘artificial’ costs to the economy, disincentivizing participation and excluding the poor. The third economy, the blue economy, attempts to modulate our current economic system to function the way ecosystems work, where the ‘waste’ of one product becomes the input for the next, a continuous, cascading system of resource use. By capturing what currently exists as waste, the blue economy aims to add true value to our current economic system. Similar in some ways to the concept of the circular economy, one of

the defining differences is the removal of the truly closed loop. Where circular economies expect materials to be returned to their origin, the blue economy simply demands that resources are reused, cyclically or not. In practical terms, the circular economy generally exists in larger economical systems and the blue economy exists in more localized opportunistic economies. As architects we enter into the blue economy in many ways, but one of our primary roles is our ability to recognize flows. In order to succeed, the blue economy requires the recognition of flows, within our natural and built environment. INSIDEflows has thus far identified fourteen flows that are present in our environment that should be given attention in our design process, three of the most approachable are food, money, and materials. Food, in general, has been completely disconnected from the idea of flows in our present day systems. The vast majority of the food entering our buildings leaves in the form of solid waste, both through sewers and trash containers. Blue economic thinking recognizes that this ‘waste’ should actually be recognized as a converted resource, our role as architects would then be to incorporate means of collecting this resource for continued use, e.g., on-site composting that creates soil for further food production. Not necessarily groundbreaking, but far more frequently ignored than acknowledged.

With his clear and simple suggestion, he reveals a great gap between academia and working reality. Students in architecture are initiated through a long process into communicating their projects to an architectural milieu, where lies the need for rational explanations even when trying to grasp intangible aspects of architecture. Yet, they will soon need to master communication with not only clients, but also fellow professionals, state officials, and contractors. Each and everyone of these parties requires a different approach. And to complicate the situation further, the nature of the project will work as a joker card.

As we advance though in this new era of social media, communication rituals are shifting into new formats and therefore new techniques. With a simple equation of one plus one equals two, Bjarke Ingels manages to attract attention even outside of the architectural circles by oversimplifying architectural design to something palpable for a non-architectural audience.3 This approach, successful as it may be, creates a growing concern for the ways by which it interacts with and subsequently influences the architectural design. Are we gradually progressing to an architecture reduced to its capacity to be communicated?

Nevertheless, with time comes not only experience but also signatures and patterns to be found in most architects. Strengths and weaknesses become noticeable by the architects who try to use them accordingly in their presentations. As architecture becomes intertwined with the market economy, architectural practices invest more and more on the promotion of their architectural

Besides the transformations that we may witness today, communication has always held a key role in architecture. Even Raphael had to struggle in a modest posture to convince a very serious (as depicted three centuries later) Pope Julius II of his plan of a latin cross for the new Saint Peter’s Basilica.4,5 If there is an analogy to be found between the pope, who was requiring an iconic

What we essentially learn in architecture school is to meticulously measure our existing environments. This analytical process quickly turns into a repetitive routine where we tend to distance ourselves from an understanding of our discipline as daily practice. At the same time, our daily use of social media platforms rarely surpasses the level of simple (self-)promotion. Yet, when engaged differently, it can offer to us the chance to share our personal microcosms and transform them into common mental stimulations. Thomas Aquilina’s #buildingaday project is a one-year project that questions the possibility of an architecture as a day-to-day event. ARGUS’ conversation with the author has been chosen for this month’s paper.

What is the relationship of poetry with architecture? What do they share and what reality does architecture guided by poetry and nature create? What are the effects of this approach on habitability, materials, place-making?

When did you start the project #buildingaday? On the 1st of January 2014. It was a resolution to photograph a different building every day. But like most resolutions I never expected to maintain it or get to the end. I wanted the project to record my location at the same time as observing the built environment around me a little more closely.

The image of the architect as an ego-powered creator of pre-designed spaces alienated from the common man is eroded into sand as tools, materials, plants and the day-to-day life of the residents are mingled in a mix of time and construction. Perhaps the spirit of the Open City can best be illustrated by the first place created there, the “Agora de Tronquoy” (now only some remains are left) – a public space similar to the Greek ‘Agora’

Waste Less, Print More You might call it “the 3rd industrial revolution”, or the “democratization of production”, but any way you define it 3D printing technologies are revolutionizing the way humans make things. The ability to print anything anywhere is important to the future of manufacturing as was the internet to communication. TU Delft has quite a lot of access to these technological resources, and at our BK city there are several printers ready to make your models out of gypsum, PLA plastic or ABS in a matter of hours. In the spirit of this month’s competition for a “useful object”, we wanted to explore the reality of which useful objects have actually been printed out there in the real world, and what it might mean to architecture and the construction industry. First let’s look at the small scale, our scale. Several popular online 3D printing shops are available, that function as shops where you can design/buy/ sell objects up to a certain size. On the website shapeways.com, some of the most popular objects of all time are dice for board games, complex-geometry pendants, bottle openers, key chains and phone-holders. These categories of objects are definitely useful, and not only can you use them, but when you customize them and have personal designs these day-to-day objects become more valuable to you. People who are interested in printing more practical mechanisms can design and print their own camera-covers, drone parts, and mounting parts for engines.

After one year of taking photographs, mostly in London, are there any preferred hotspots? I was living and working in London, which proved to be a very generous city to photograph. Despite the thousands of times I’ve travelled through Euston Station (#7), I was unaware of its architect Richard Seifert, who was also architect of the conspicuous building, Centre Point (#166), which I’ve probably looked up at thousands of times too.

The next scale is the architectural one. There are several very interesting cases to mention in order to get our heads around the future of this technology and its relevance to our profession. One is the “BigDelta” printer by WASP (12m tall) that aims to provide affordable housing units made of cheap materials (cement, lime based mixtures, sawdust and polystyrene, clay), printed in short periods of time, to answer the UN’s current estimates of 100,000 new houses needed per day. We might exclaim that these houses will be “ugly” or will lack certain qualities, but aesthetics could be designed into the printing process itself and it might be a great direction to provide for the billions of people in lack of resources to afford “western” solutions. Given that this printer can be used with locally sourced materials, and requires only 1Kw of power to operate, this might be quite a low-carbon solution to manufacture shelters for problematic areas. Not only has WASP done this, but it is also leading advanced research on printing concrete beams, with programmed infill patterns and space for steel bar reinforcement, greatly reducing the high CO2 cost of concrete casting. Another novel example is the chinese company WinSun. Apart from having printed 10 houses in 24 hours (though the process remains secret), they recently printed a 5-storey apartment building, and a 1,100 m2 villa. These were printed in a process that saves at least 30% of the

When Remment Lucas Koolhaas first saw the light of day (1944), his parents’ house was situated “at the edge of a crater”.1 A perfect storm of wartime bombs had become the necessary and sufficient condition for Modernism’s transplant surgery: Rotterdam’s centre was replaced by an “artificial heart, whose soul was the void”.2 For Koolhaas, the network of extended pedestrian planes was to be seen as a fundamental urban quality of the now reconstructed port city, while the frivolous postmodern revision of the 80s (which focused on its erasure) had to be severely criticised: “Nowadays every empty space is prey to the frenzy to fill, to stop up.”3 To the eyes of the Dutch architect, Rotterdam became the reflected -and innocent- duplication of Berlin which had undergone a parallel densification process. A few years earlier, certain instances of postwar public realm (Lijnbaan in particular4) were similarly praised by Lewis Mumford, the historian who had rejected a holistic adoption of Modernism by ingeniously separating technology and congestion.5 But beyond the more morphological qualities of those spaces, for the American it was essential that in Rotterdam, no retreat from programmatic mixity was made; “shopping,

dwelling and work continued to be integrated”.6 The site which was chosen to host Timmerhuis is situated at a neuralgic point for the city’s reconstruction history. Just a few steps away from Lijnbaan and adjacent to the building which physically orchestrated the postwar transformation (Stadstimmerhuis-1953), the project itself seems to inevitably charge the architect with the responsibility to clearly position himself within the continuation of the debate mentioned above. At first glance, the landing of the twin pyramidal volume in a clearing of the urban fabric (the 70s extension along Rodezand Street was also demolished for that purpose) seems to be antinomic to Koolhaasian past doctrines, since it surrenders another fragment of the city center to the larger contemporary agenda of the “urban lounge”. However, yet built, Timmerhuis is made by void. The adopted strategy should be understood in view of an ambitious initial brief, which opted to create a sort of 21th century Agora. OMA’s response of the massive steel structure (cantilevered off the vertical circulation cores) -the element that would allow to “liberate the ground almost in its entirety” as Koolhaas proposed7-, rather than an example ideological sensibility, was a result of a laborious research on the possible modularity of programmatic instability. The office’s competition entry for the City Hall of The Hague is probably the most iconic project which performed by

Can you identify recurrent themes in your work? Looking back at the photographs, I notice the presence of cyclists, clocks, flags, surveillance (CCTV), London route-master buses and The Shard building (eternally in the background). I also never intended to showcase the dominance of architect Norman Foster but he tops my list by featuring ten times. David Adjaye comes second with eight entries, and Richard Rogers, who I’ve come to greatly admire, in third place with seven. I’ve learnt to recognise a Richard Rogers building even when his external crafted construction details are not overtly expressed. How does your framing technique relate to your interests? I am interested in the everyday practices of the street. Hopefully the photographs, whilst focusing mainly on frontal elevations, show a relationship between façade and streetlife. I was also constrained by my device using the most accessible camera, my smartphone. Did you deliberately go out of your way to photograph certain buildings or did they appear to you unexpectedly? It often felt like a mini-victory when I photographed a previously undetected building on a welltravelled route. The process of repetition and forced production was useful. I tried to challenge

Faster, Higher, Stronger As the year 2016 does hold another pharaonic fiesta for the eyes of the developed World, looking back to Beijing and China holds a particular architectural interest. Throughout the last century, the Olympic Games functioned as an undeniable manifestation of a successful westernization; the most effective marketing weapon in the government’s hands to legitimize their decade-long policies. The Chinese capital, rather than an exception to that rule, became its absolute paradigm. This time, the olympic motto “Citius, Altius, Fortius” (meaning “Faster, Higher, Stronger”) looked not only to correspond to the regime’s beliefs but also to perfectly incorporate the principles which have shaped today’s Chinese urban environment.1 However, while the years of economic euphoria -forever associated to the imagery of violent hutong demolitions and the new cityscapes of countless high rises- seem to spectacularly come to an end with the recent stock market crash, the same will not happen with China’s ongoing intense urbanization plans. According to those, an army of 250 million people will be relocated towards the country’s urban centers in the next ten years. It is now clear that the mere existence of the prematurely urbanized Chinese landscapes is underpinned by the country’s will to transform itself into a consumer-based economy.2 Besides, China has already become the “fastest growing consumer market on earth.”3 Hopefully, the understanding of this new reality will give us the

chance to profoundly evolve the dominant -and superficial- discussion of the last decade which witnessed architecture students being bombarded by a plethora of articles which monotonously criticized the chinese “construction bubble” (as if we were discussing about the Spanish shores), a certain lack of aesthetics and the wellknown private “bastardization” of an ostensibly communistic country. We believe that a much more fertile discussion is possible to be achieved by focusing on much more concrete terms: Which are the ways that the modernization of a developing country should be architecturally manifested? And then, what is the impact of the newly erected constructions on their users’ lives in comparison to their previous living conditions? A ceiling leak in a three yearsold apartment block, for example, clearly shows that the systematic use of poor materials (natural consequence of the rapid construction techniques) not only negatively affects the residents’ -usually former peasants- health but also reduces the lifespan of the existing housing projects. This practically suggests that the time frame between construction and the moment of preservation is annihilated. In 2003, Rem Koolhaas’ Beijing Preservation Plan has successfully addressed the question of an appropriate model of urban renewal within a rapidly changing economic context, a situation previously experienced in Europe (The project

#10 06.16

Made by Void Timmerhuis is the latest addition to the artefact collection of Rotterdam’s skyline and the third major homecoming of OMA’s practice. A few weeks before the end of the academic calendar, Argus focuses on the mechanisms which have shaped this year’s most debated project.

Although two thirds of the way through the year, I moved to Cambridge. At this point, my images were mainly populated with ancient college courts and chapels.

#07 03.16

#09 05.16

Act like an Architect products by systematizing their methods. Rogers Stirk Harbour+P underlines the significance of a visible structure as part of the practice’s positioning at many of their presentations, while Zaha Hadid was insistent on her intention to mark this era through the proposed project.2 These recurrent patterns are the result of a systematic effort to capitalise what is there, for a successful communication. There, even a joke could be a calculated move.

#buildingaday

Contrary to the prevalent contemporary notion of the ‘Starchitect’, ego and individual agenda do not lead the experience of the Open City. The “Hospederías” (Lodges) constructed for residents are an expression of a community, of poetic concepts and lack any overall master planning or grid. The effects of time erode, replace, change and transform the built elements in the environment and reflect on the relationship of the built environment through time. More than anything, the essence of Ciudad Abierta is that it speaks of the present, not the future. It is not a utopian model, since utopia is by nature placeless, a model to follow, but the Open City is grounded in a very real place, and does not presume to give answers, only questions.

#06 02.16

#08 04.16

‘‘Never talk to a client about architecture. Talk to him about his children. This is simply good politics. He will not understand what you have to say about architecture most of the time.”1 For anything else than an aphorism would not work for Mies van der Rohe. In between these extremes lies the challenge of the architect discussing the weather, while avoiding explaining the integral components of his project or the key decisions that formed it.

#03 11.15

Place(less) This year’s Night of Philosophy is concerned with the topic of place(less). Its general connotation has expanded beyond the discipline of human geography to merge with architecture’s praxis. “Place” is now, and has ever been, part of our practice: the site of a building, dwelling, historical memory. Indetermination permeates all disciplines and social relations, it is the category of our time: continuity, universality, and predictability of phenomena have been swept away by modernity. We have seen the rising of new categories such as ambiguity, uncertainty, possibility, and probability. Auge’s concept of supermodernity is the manifestation of a profoundly changed society that abandoned the old beliefs in order to embrace a new vision. The acceleration of history is due to the overabundance of events and informations which brought old certainties to a sudden dissolution. According to Auge’s vision, the three characteristics of this new social structure are also the anthropological premises of non-places. First, is the speeding up of communications and the constant bombardment of images of places, different from the one we are located in, a process to which we are forcedly subjected. Second, a shrinking of the planet due to timespace compression. Lastly, an increased sense of individualism in people that compromises their social relations. Non-places are not necessarily bad per se, but rather deficient in several aspects that commonly belong to what we call place, such

as the relation with identity. Non-place is a neutral definition, a scientific term used to describe a condition that is the outcome of supermodernity and is the opposite of place, it “derives from the opposition between place and space.”1 A place is concerned with identity, it is relational, historical and where our memories reside, it is familiar to us. Place defines our own being, while simultaneously being a manifestation of a certain culture or milieu: space is socially constructed. The concept of place, or τόπος (topos), was already addressed in early Greek philosophy by Aristotle and related to the existence of the subject in a place, “what is not is nowhere - where for instance is the goat-stag or the sphinx?”2, therefore what is, is always somewhere. The powerful conception of existing in a place as an inviolable law of existence itself was then replaced by the rational understanding of the place as a site, a mere location positivistically intended as a set of coordinates. The meaning was voided and abstracted, a scientific reduction that didn’t allow place and identity to relate as two parts of the same whole. Only Heidegger with his spatial ontology of beingin-the-world gave back a metaphysical value to the place.3 Any action we make is always in relation to a “where”. The sense of place that we constantly experience is inborn in any human being as part of a physical world that we live in, it is the primordial ground of being.

#01 09.15

While travel may no longer necessitate great effort or lengthy dedication, we can still look to the original tourists for inspiration as we seek to maintain the intellectual tradition that links traveling epistemologically to the production of knowledge. The same lessons in architecture and culture that were available then remain entirely relevant, it is simply up to us to take the time travel with purpose, carefully observing our immersive physical surroundings. In addition to the educational element, the social element remains particularly powerful in today’s world. Our globalized society provides the opportunity for collaboration around the world, collaboration facilitated by close friends in far

Argus is the architecture student association for the masterstrack Architecture at the TU Delft. Our aim is to provide students with extra-curricular activities expanding their horizons in architecture and other fields of study closely related to architecture, by means of excursions, lectures, workshops, debates and symposiums.

About Us Apply online now! Applications accepted through 29 September. Trip dates | 25-29 November Max. costs | €300

London Excursion

Launch 2015 Room R, BK City 22.09.2015 @ 18h

The convenience and accessibility of rail has long since been surpassed in today’s modern world. Literally every location on earth is reachable in one way or another. The necessity to visit select ‘gems’ has been replaced by an overload of choices; a trip to any destination can be secured with a few swipes of the finger. Not only are most locations easily accessed physically, visitation via the digital realm is even more readily achieved. Has the potential for a meaningful Grand Tour been entirely eliminated?

Become a member for member discounts on excursions and special events as well as other perks. Signup at argus.cc. We are still in search of committee members. Would you like to organize things related to architecture and other expertises? Send us an e-mail. BG Oost 500, Faculty of Architecture, Delft facebook: ARGUS Architectural Student Association www.argus.cc | info@argus.cc

off places. The international and travel oriented character of our university readily facilitates these international connections; studying here, if for only a brief while, gives us the freedom to make friends from around the world. While architectural travel has changed dramatically over the past centuries, its conceptual relevance remains pertinent today, it is up to us to create our own Grand Tours. Through excursions, workshops, lectures, and exhibitions we hope to provide you with a portion of the educational and social stimulation that takes you beyond the everyday. ARGUS, your architectural student association. Sources and recommended further reading: Adam, Robert. Peristyle of Diocletian’s Palace. 1764. Brainard, Gabrielle, Rustam Mehta, and Thomas Moran. Grand Tour. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press, 2008. Print. Reiter, Eric. “Can’t Google That: The Necessity Of Travel Study in Design Education in the Digital Age.” Issuu. Web. 21 Sep. 2015. Rosenberg, Matt. “The History Of the Grand Tour of Europe.” Web. 21 Sep. 2015. Traganou, Jilly, and Mitrašinović Miodrag. Travel, Space, Architecture. Farnham, England: Ashgate, 2009. Print.

EXAMPLE MONTHLY PAPER

206

INDEX

A Adam Buśko 96 Agnieszka Batkiewicz 150 Aidan Conway 88 Aleksandra Gordowy 156 Alessandro Arcangeli 46, 178

Hedwig van der Linden 66 Hyungju Seo 98

O Olav van der Doorn 134, 136

Inez Tan 36 Ioanna Christia 16

Name PAGE

Alon Sarig 46

Isabella Del Grandi 178

Alvin Chew 162

Panayiotis Hadjisergis 16

Andrea Fitskie 172 Andrea Gentilini 178 Andrea Migotto 80 Andreas Root 54 Anneloes de Koff 22 Anneloes Kattemölle 136

János Katona 158 Javid Jooshesh 140 Jesper Baltussen 78 Jochem Hols 100 Josef Odvarka 178

Åsmund Skeie 48

Jue Zhang 30

Audrey Loef 112

B Bas de Pater 130 Benjamin Kemper 134, 136

C Cameron Walker 32 Carsten Smink 58

Kecui Ji 168 Konstant Papasimakis 166

Laura Katharina Straehle 90

Clare Easterbrook-Lamb 178

Lex te Loo 180

Lorenzo Cocchi 148

Licheng Wang 156

Daniel Fischer 134, 136 David van Weeghel 100 Diana Kuch 34 Dominique de Rond 28 Dominique Wolniewicz 28

Maarten Diederix 60 Magdalena Nalepa 178 Maria Rohof 56 Marieke Giele 166

Marloes Pieper 38

Elif Gozde Ostoprak 178 Ellen Rouwendal 90

Marjolein Maatman 166 Marta Kowalczyk 52 Mart Bremer 100 Matteo Andrenelli 146 Matthijs Vreke 106

Erik Stigter 28

Max van den Berg 108

Michele Bassi 148

Fabio Tossutti 72 Federica Fogazzi 82 Filippo Fiorani 42 Francesca Martellono 144, 176

S Shiyu Zhang 178 Silvio Pennesi 160 Sjoerd Boomars 54 Steffan Hegeman 20

T Tasmana Khorshed Alam 18 Therese Eberl 52 Tom van Lint 54

Marina Bonet 146

Eldin Fajkovic 138

Rienk Klaassen 124

Tiwánee van der Horst 92

Duowen Chen 148

Eke Wondaal 88

Riccardo De Vecchi 178

Souad Bokzini 18

Daniele Tanzi 178

Rebecca Konnertz 76

Signe Perkone 178

Kelly Best 178

Lujia Xu 164

Ravenna Westerhout 146

Rory Alasdair Downes 102

Kasia Piekarczyk 48

Daan Zandbergen 100

Melisa Silva 156 Mike de Bruijn 46 Mindaugas Arlauskas 134 Monica Lelieveld 122 Monika Byra 114

Francesco Bozzerla 144

Myrthe Houx 18

V Valentina Bencic 152 Valentina Piras 126 Veronica Cristofoletti 146 Veronika Mayr 150 Victor Koot 50

W Wyn Lloyd Jones 68

X Xiao Sun 118

Y Yannick Macken 74 Yingzhu Mao 26 Yoana Yordanova 152 Yuzhe Huang 40

Name PAGE

Nico Schouten 116

Nina van Hoogstraten 120

Niels Mulder 62

Hana Marisa Mohar 50 207

Name PAGE

Thanks to

mecanoo Architecten KAAN Architecten Universiteitsfonds TU Delft

ISBN 978-94-6186-706-3

209