B nieuws 01 2013 2014

B NIEUWS

#01

02 SEPTEMBER 2013

PERIODIEK VAN DE FACULTEIT BOUWKUNDE | TU DELFT

RETREAT IN NATURE Studio Bridge to Asia wins third place in sustainability competition PAGE 08

2 Nieuws

10/11 Research

14 Forum

SteeOwee 180 kersverse eerstejaars participeren

Sense of Place Landscape Architecture at Oerol

Pathology of a Profession

By Liviu Teodorescu

2 NIEUWS

B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

KORT NIEUWS

B Nieuws is looking for a new editor!

We're looking for an opinionated student with writing skills. As a B Nieuws editor, you will be taking interviews, writing and editing articles and creating layouts. The student assistantship is worth 0,3 FTE, which amounts to 12 hours a week. To apply for the job, send us (bnieuws-bk@tudelft.nl) your 500-word opinion piece (in English or Dutch) before the 15th

of september.

BKCity STAY Due to the BK City Stay project, some departments, services and teaching rooms are temporarily relocated. Get the flyer with the current floor plan at the Service Desk and pay attention to the special BK City STAY signing. If you have any questions regarding BK City Stay ask the service desk or take a look at

bk.tudelft.nl/bkcitystay.

Urbanismweek: Designing Lifestyles The aim of the Urbanismweek, organized by Polis, is to strengthen the connections to the field of Urbanism by understanding its routes, practices and contemporary issues, while trying to find its future possibilities. In a fourday program new ways of approaching different infrastructure aspects and new practices dealing with the globalized world are going to be designated. The aim is to form a platform for dialogue and discussion through a series of activities. For more information, visit:

http://urbanismweek.nl 8-11 October 2013

STEEOWEE

DIT JAAR HEBBEN 180 KERSVERSE EERSTEJAARS, BEGELEID DOOR 36 OUDEREJAARS, MEEGEDAAN AAN DE STEEOWEE, HET INTRODUCTIEWEEKEND VOOR BOUWKUNDESTUDENTEN. HET AFWISSELENDE PROGRAMMA BOOD LEZINGEN, WORKSHOPS EN SPEURTOCHTEN. Delft — Ondanks het thema, ‘de Revolutie’, is het weekend vreedzaam verlopen. Het thema sloeg dan ook vooral op de duurzaamheidsrevolutie, die zich in de bouwwereld zou moeten voltrekken. Er waren enkele lezingen over het thema, en ook in de workshops kwam het terug. Er was een recycleworkshop, waarin met pallets en gebruikte spullen een replica van een bekend gebouw werd gemaakt, zoals de Burj Khalifa op de foto. In de baksteenworkshop was het doel een zo groot mogelijke overspanning te bereiken met losse bakstenen. Verder waren er nog een vossenjacht en een Stylosmarkt om elkaar, studievereniging Stylos en de stad Delft te leren kennen.

NIEUWS 3 IDEEËNCOMPETITIE WACHTEND LAND DE GEMEENTE BLARICUM IS OP ZOEK NAAR GOEDE IDEEËN VOOR EEN TIJDELIJKE INVULLING VAN BOUWLOCATIE DE BLARICUMMERMEENT. DOE MEE MET DE IDEEËNCOMPETITIE WACHTEND LAND. BKCity — In het hele land worstelen gemeentes met de vraag hoe zij een tijdelijke invulling kunnen geven aan bouwrijpe locaties. Zo ook de gemeente Blaricum, waar de ruim 40 hectare metende bouwlocatie Blaricummermeent langdurig in afwachting is van de beoogde functie: het Wachtend Land.

Er is grote behoefte aan uitvoerbare ideeën en initiatieven én aan partijen die een tijdelijke invulling kunnen realiseren en exploiteren. Daarom organiseren

de gemeente Blaricum, de praktijkleerstoel Gebiedsontwikkeling TU Delft, Polis Platform for Urbanism en Urban Management een ideeëncompetitie voor tijdelijk gebruik van de bouwgrond. De resultaten uit de competitie kunnen inspiratie bieden aan gemeenten met een vergelijkbare problematiek.

doen. Ook is het mogelijk deel te nemen met een gecombineerd team van studenten en nietstudenten.

Schrijf je in vóór 24 oktober 2013 via

wachtendland.nl Multidisciplinaire teams bestaande uit studenten van verschillende universiteiten worden gestimuleerd om mee te

Voor inspiratie en achtergrondartikelen zie

gebiedsontwikkeling.nu

VOLLE MASTERSTUDIO'S DEZE ZOMER ONTSTOND ENIGE COMMOTIE OMDAT MASTERSTUDIO’S UIT DE MSC1 EN MSC2 SNEL VOL RAAKTEN. DAARDOOR KONDEN NIET ALLE STUDENTEN INGESCHREVEN WORDEN BIJ DE STUDIO VAN HUN EERSTE KEUZE. WAT WAS DE OORZAAK? BKCity — Het aantal inschrijvingen voor masterstudio’s van MSc1 en MSc2 is dit jaar niet hoger dan vorig jaar. Toen waren het er 633, nu 616. Het netto aantal studenten was dus niet de reden dat ze sneller volstroomden.

Wel waren er fors meer inschrijvingen dan geprognosticeerd op basis van het aantal studenten dat eind vorig jaar BSc6 deed. Ook het aantal internationale studenten dat instroomt, was hoger dan verwacht. Een aantal studio’s was gecanceld, waaronder NonResidential Building en Ssc2 Complex Projects. Daardoor stroomden de andere ontwerpstudio’s automatisch eerder vol.

Er zijn dus veel studenten in de master ingestroomd die vorig jaar niet Bsc6 deden. Waar kwamen deze studenten vandaan? Het blijkt dat veel studenten er een half jaar of een jaar tussenuit zijn geweest. Daardoor zijn ze niet direct na hun bachelor de master ingestroomd, maar met een vertraging. Erik Ootes van Onderwijs & Studentenzaken: “Mensen gaan er een tijdje tussenuit om bewuster voor een master te kiezen.” Komt het door de crisis dat ze bewuster kiezen?

Ootes denkt van wel: “Doordat er minder werk is, kiezen studenten bewuster en nemen meer tijd om uit te vinden waar echt goed in zijn en wat ze echt leuk vinden.

Ook gaan veel studenten een tijdje

stage lopen, waardoor ze ervaring opdoen en alvast een netwerk opbouwen. Zo kunnen ze hun kans op een baan vergroten.”

Inmiddels hebben alle architectuurstudio’s die te veel inschrijvingen hadden, extra studieplekken gecreëerd. Daarvoor zijn gastdocenten aangesteld. Er is gepoogd zo veel mogelijk studenten te plaatsen in de studio van hun eerste keuze. Hierbij is voorrang verleend aan studenten die hun bachelor al volledig hadden afgerond en aan internationale studenten.

Studenten die na de junitentamens en na de augustustentamens hun bachelor hebben behaald, zijn daarna geplaatst.

KARIN LAGLAS

Nieuw!

Nieuwe decaan, nieuw bachelorcurriculum. Het schijnt een wetmatigheid te zijn. Het bracht Gerrie Hobbelman bij zijn afscheid van de faculteit na veertig jaar ervaring tot de tip “wees zuinig op de decaan”. Van harte mee eens natuurlijk.

Dit studiejaar beginnen we er dan aan, onze vernieuwde Bachelor. Ruim twee en een half jaar uitdenken en voorbereiden gingen eraan vooraf. Er is spijkerhard aan gewerkt en het ziet er prachtig uit. Mooi overzichtelijk in modules opgebouwd. Goed voor- en achteruit op elkaar aansluitend. Veel meer een geheel.

Meer variatie in onderwijsvorm en toetsing. Grotere vakken en daarmee minder versnippering.

Beter studeerbaar. En natuurlijk is ook inhoudelijk een kwaliteitsslag gemaakt. Aansluiting bij de actualiteit. Duurzaamheid verankerd in alle vakken.

Hergebruik expliciet als ontwerpopgave aan de orde. De praktijk van het digitaal samenwerken – BIM - prominent in beeld. Nadrukkelijk aandacht voor hoe het in de praktijk gaat en evenzo nadrukkelijk aandacht voor academisch – onderzoekend – werken en denken. En bij dat alles is natuurlijk als kernonderdeel substantiële ruimte gebleven voor het ontwerpen. Dat leer je immers vooral door het te doen. Kortom: een pareltje! Compliment aan de vele collega’s die dit programma ontworpen en gebouwd hebben.

We gaan in één keer over van oud naar nieuw. “Not with a whisper but with a bang”. Alle bachelor studenten volgen komend jaar het nieuwe curriculum. En alle betrokken docenten geven het.

Voor de eerste keer. Zal best even wennen zijn. De voorbereiding is minutieus geweest maar ja, bij een eerste keer zal er vast ook een keer wat mis gaan. Gelukkig hebben we voldoende creativiteit in huis om adequaat te improviseren als het nodig is.

Het nieuwe studiejaar is weer begonnen. Met nieuwe energie na de vakantie. Met nieuwe studenten erbij, met een nieuwe FSR en bijna een nieuw Stylos bestuur. En met een (ver)nieuw(d)e Bachelor.

Hopelijk gaat ie lang mee!

4 REVIEW

B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

A BUMPY ROAD TO TURKEY LAST YEAR OCTOBER, B NIEUWS ANNOUNCED THE INITIATIVE OF THREE TU DELFT ALUMNI TO BRING THE DUTCH RAILWAY EXHIBITION STATION CENTRAAL TO TURKEY. NOT AS SMOOTHLY AS HOPED, STATION CENTRAAL ONLY ARRIVED IN ISTANBUL AND ANKARA IN MAY THIS YEAR, SIX MONTHS LATER THAN PLANNED. RODERICK TROMPERT, ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS, TALKED TO B NIEUWS ABOUT THE UNEXPECTED SETBACKS.

BY WING YINJUN WENG Uncertain is probably how Frans Bochanen, Roderick Trompert and Sine Celik had felt for months when trying to set up the exhibition in Turkey from the Netherlands. Although their initiative to showcase Dutch and Turkish railway designs received great support from Dutch architecture firms and organizations, the team’s Turkish contact TCDD, the Turkish State Railways, didn’t seem able to formally confirm the location and logistics. “Quite often, TCDD told us that they were still working on some paperwork, or they didn’t have the right person to sign the papers yet. Once, we got in contact with a staff member there, only to find out weeks later that he was no longer working there,” explained Trompert.

It took the team a few months of frustration to realize that they had better take matters into their own hands. They contacted the architecture faculty of the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) for setting up the location, the Turkish Architecture Association for participants, and even managed to receive sponsorship from the Dutch embassy in Ankara.

Things finally came together on the 4th of May, when a symposium marked the opening of the exhibition in Istanbul, featuring prominent Turkish architects and Dutch speakers from UN Studio, Mecanoo and Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). A three-day workshop followed, with participants from both TU Delft and ITU. The exhibition, showcasing eight railway stations from the Netherlands and ten Turkish stations

being developed at the moment, later continued in Ankara till the end of May. “What caught the public’s attention was not just the difference between Dutch and Turkish designs, but also the differentiating proposals from the Turkish government and local architecture firms, particularly in their design scales and approaches in respect to the local context. This also stirred up some criticism on the large-scale state buildings in Turkey during the discussion,” said Trompert.

As remarkable as it seems for three alumni to pull off a symposium, a workshop and an extensive exhibition 1,400 miles away from home, the organizers themselves find it more of a bittersweet success. “We came across many unexpected pro-

blems that required an immediate response,” recalled Trompert.

“We had to pin up the posters in the last minute because of delayed logistics for example, or to reschedule the program on the spot.” In their reflection, the success is the completion of their ambitious plan to move Station Centraal abroad, but also a valuable lesson that might make their next journey into a bigger success.

Interested to know more about the exhibition? Stay tuned for the upcoming publication, featuring both materials of the station projects and the topics discussed during the symposium.

For more info: stationcentraal.eu

UPCOMING 5

A TRANS-ATLANTIC COLLABORATION

On June 4th Parallel 52 and the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Vancouver organized one of its first official events, the seminar “Opportunities for International Partnerships in Sustainable Building”

THE IDEA WAS BORN ON THE COMMUTE BACK FROM CANADA TO THE NETHERLANDS IN LATE 2011. AFTER ATTENDING TWO EVENTS ON SUSTAINABLE CITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE BUILDING, ANKE VAN HAL, PROFESSOR OF SUSTAINABLE HOUSING TRANSFORMATION AT OUR FACULTY, AND ANNEMARIE VAN DOORN, PROGRAM MANAGER OF GREEN BUSINESS CLUB INTERNATIONAL, REALIZED THAT BOTH COUNTRIES WERE DEALING WITH THE SAME TOPICS CONCERNING SUSTAINABILITY, BUT BOTH POSSESSED DIFFERENT FIELDS OF KNOWLEDGE.

BY DAPHNE BAKKER Innovation, sustainable buildings and sustainable cities are important topics in the Netherlands and Canada. Both countries have a high ambition on the reduction of CO2 emissions. van Hal and van Doorn desired a way to continue collaborating and exchanging information on sustainability with their Canadian counterparts. Parallel 52, a DutchCanadian network for sustainable planning and building named after the circle of longtitude which passes through both nations, was born.

Parallel 52 aims to explore, create and improve business and academic opportunities in the field of sustainability of the built environment. Now, with the help of three recent TU Delft graduates, the network is about to set up its first Dutch event during the Dutch Building Week.

Ermal Kapedani, Piet Hein Hoeksma and Hens Zoet are recent Architecture graduates and all three became involved with Parallel 52 in order to set up the infrastructure for the network. While Kapedani remained in the Netherlands, both Hoeksma and Zoet set out to Canada in order to find interesting partners for the network and to create a Canadian base.

One of the first collaborations within the network involved the TU Delft.

“When van Hal realized that the Faculty of Architecture within the University of British Columbia was working on the same subject of urban regeneration, a virtual exchange was set up between the studio in Vancouver and the studio of the Veldacademie in Delft” explains Zoet, who represents Parallel 52 in Vancouver. According to Hoeksema, who’s based in Toronto, students and professors in Toronto have also expressed a desire to collaborate with Delft. The aim is to create a pilot project in which the collaboration will start out virtual and if successful might someday involve the exchange of students. Hoeksema and the Toronto students now just have to convince the Canadian professors, who have proven to be more cautious compared to their Dutch counterparts.

But where the Canadians can learn from the Dutch boldness, the Dutch can learn from Canadian business-mindedness. While TU Delft has just begun setting up its Sustainability Village, the University of British

Columbia had a headstart with their Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), a state-of-the-art ‘living laboratory’ in which to conduct research and assessment activities for high-performance building systems and technologies. The building itself is both their subject and their lab and was sponsored by green businesses. “In Delft they can learn a lot from UBC’s collaboration with commercial companies” says Zoet.

With the increasing awareness of Dutch and Canadian strengths and the establishment of a base in both countries, Parallel 52 is now set to grow. On behalf of Parallel 52, former chief planner of Vancouver Brent Toderian will be a keynote speaker at the Green Buildings Holland conference in Amsterdam on September 19th 2013. The conference is part of the Dutch Green Building Week, a week of exhibitions, workshops, conferences and other activities around a sustainable built environment all over The Netherlands. Brent will also attend an event at the Architecture Faculty on September 18th where he will give a short presentation and meet with professors, practitioners and students.

For more info on future events and projects: parallel52.org

6 BK IN DEPTH

In mei van dit jaar zetten studenten van de TU Eindhoven de faculteit Bouwkunde te koop op Marktplaats, nadat bekend werd dat de Mastertrack BT werd opgeheven.

WAT IS ER MIS MET BOUWTECHNOLOGIE? VEEL VERBAASDE EN BOZE REACTIES VOLGDEN OP HET BERICHT DAT DE TU EINDHOVEN HEEFT BESLOTEN TE STOPPEN MET DE MASTERTRACK BOUWTECHNOLOGIE. WAT WAS ER MIS MEE? IS ONZE MASTERTRACK BT EEN ZELFDE LOT BESCHOREN? DOOR MANON SCHOTMAN Volgens het bericht op de website van TU Eindhoven houdt de mastertrack Bouwtechnologie op te bestaan omdat het aspirant-onderzoeksprogramma dat eraan gekoppeld was, is gestopt. De TU Eindhoven zegt zich meer te willen inzetten op onderzoek ‘met een academisch karakter’, wat betekent dat het zich wil richten op de ‘ontwikkeling van nieuwe kennis’. Het uitvoeringsgerichte onderzoeksprogramma past daar niet bij. Met het stoppen van het onderzoeksprogramma moest ook de mastertrack worden opgeheven, omdat ‘de koppeling tussen onderwijs en onderzoek onvoldoende geborgd was’.

Andy van den Dobbelsteen, sinds 1 juli voorzitter van AE+T, de afdeling die de mastertrack Bouwtechnologie in Delft verzorgt, vindt de officiële reden voor het stoppen van het masteronderwijs raar. “Ik kan me niet voorstellen dat we hier een opleiding zouden opheffen omdat het onderzoek even niet lekker loopt.” Hij vermoedt dat er andere redenen zijn die niet naar buiten zijn gebracht. Hij betreurt het besluit. “Het is slecht voor de bouw in Nederland. Bouwbedrijven reageerden verbijsterd, want er is veel behoefte aan afgestudeerden die gespecialiseerd zijn in het soort uitvoeringsgerichte kennis die in de mastertrack werd onderwezen.”

Studenten die van plan zijn bouwtechnologie aan de TU Delft te studeren, hoeven niet te vrezen dat deze ook zal worden opgeheven. De mastertrack in Delft heeft namelijk een heel ander karakter dan de nu opgeheven opleiding in Eindhoven. Dat is bewust zo gedaan. “Bouwtechnologie in Delft is minder uitvoeringsgericht en meer gericht op de integratie tussen techniek en ontwerpen. De mastertracks in Delft en Eindhoven waren geen concurrenten van elkaar, maar vulden elkaar juist aan. Met het wegvallen van de mastertrack in Eindhoven valt er nu een gat in het academische onderwijsaanbod. We bekijken hoe we dat toch weer kunnen aanbieden. Misschien is het aan Delft om dat gat te dichten”, aldus Van den Dobbelsteen.

‘Onze’ mastertrack Bouwtechnologie zet juist in op groei. Het curriculum is onlangs veranderd, waarbij duurzaamheid volledig in het programma is geïntegreerd. Wie het duurzaamheidsprogramma volgt, krijgt een TiDO-aantekening op zijn diploma. “Er is in de bouw, zelfs in crisistijd, een sterke behoefte aan technische ingenieurs”, zegt Van den Dobbelsteen. Wat bijzonder is aan de opleiding is dat deze niet zozeer specialisten opleidt, maar ingenieurs die de techniek gebruiken als integraal aspect van het ontwerpen. Dit sluit goed aan bij de wensen van de markt, waar technische ingenieurs vaak in ontwerpteams samenwerken met vormgevers en andere partijen. (Aanstaande) bouwtechnologen kunnen dus opgelucht ademhalen. Wat in Eindhoven is gebeurd, krijgt geen vervolg in Delft.

UPCOMING 7

MEET VAN RIJS OUR FIRST GUEST-PROF

BY IVAN THUNG

BOTH TIMES JACOB VAN RIJS JOINED TU DELFT, THE BUILDING INDUSTRY WAS IN CRISIS. FIRST AS A STUDENT, NOW AS A LEADING ARCHITECT AT MVRDV. FROM SEPTEMBER FIRST, VAN RIJS WILL BE TEACHING AT OUR FACULTY AS GUEST-PROFESSOR FOR A YEAR IN A MSC2 DWELLING DESIGN STUDIO. Van Rijs is the first “guest professor” the Architecture Faculty has employed, an entitlement that allows the faculty to attract top teachers without all the administrative hassle and appointment procedures that accompanies normal professorships. Van Rijs is no stranger here, and he comfortably greets some old acquaintances he has studied with as we sit down in the Espressobar. Since van Rijs started studying in the middle of a crisis in the eighties, the unemployment that looms over our recent graduates is not foreign to him. We talked with van Rijs about his ideas for the studio and practicing architecture in times of change.

The dwelling studio takes place in Amsterdam, aren’t you more a Rotterdam kind of guy?

People tend to associate me with Rotterdam because our office is located there, but I was born in Amsterdam and have studied there for two years.

And with MVRDV we have done a lot of projects in Amsterdam.

What was the leading idea for the project?

The idea for the project is that we collaborate very closely with the municipality, so that we almost create a real-life situation with a commissioner. The project is situated in Amsterdam-Noord, at one of the banks of the IJ, opposite the Central Station. The developments that took place in the last decades alongside these banks can be seen as a chain of beads, each one of them being a unique project, and this project area should have been another bead as well. Now, however, a lot of developments are put on hold because of a lack of developers and a difficult market, so the question is what to do with this plot of land. Since the normal procedure of simply hooking up a commissioner and an architect doesn’t work that easily anymore. The building machine has gotten stuck. The municipality is because of that situation very open to whatever inspiration university students can give them for new ideas.

Doesn’t such a "real" project curb the students’ freedom?

How many projects like this are you going to do during your studies, really? People have always been complaining that students have no clue of what happens in the real world. On the one hand, your study-time is indeed the moment to experiment, on the other hand, it is very important to get to know the reality of your profession. You should not just let it restrain you that something cannot be built, but you should also be aware of the processes with which something comes into being. That means for example being aware of how to present to other people, - an almost real client in this case, and I think it is going to be very interesting to present the work of the Studio to people of Amsterdam in Amsterdam.

Has the crisis when you started affected your studies?

I studied in the eighties, which hosted a crisis as least as terrible as this one. To be sure not be unemployed, I started studying biochemistry for two years. But I quickly noticed that chemistry was not for me, and I found that you should not be scared off too quickly by bad times. So I switched to architecture anyway. Delta, the official university magazine, would at the time publish the unemployment numbers of graduates and Architecture would always lead the list. But when I finished the crisis already passed; so hey, it doesn’t stay crisis all the time.

MVRDV's Parkrand (images by Rob 't Hart)

What are you taking with you from MVRDV? I would say, a certain attitude and way of approaching things, but this project is going to be totally different from what is happening at the Why Factory; although regarding methodology and ideas there might be some overlaps.

Do you have any advice for the aspiring architect?

So many things come together with architecture, nowadays, that as a student, you can or should choose what kind of architect you want to be. Do you want to be a technical architect, an organisational one, or a really artistic one? What I mean to say is that instead of generalisation, I would always advise to specialize yourself, to carve out your own domain that differentiates you from other architects.

An office will find you more useful if you Jacob van Rijs have a particular skill: we already have so Jacob van Rijs graduated many generalists. These guys from 2012 from the Faculty of (or Superuse) for example [points at Architecture and The Espressobar] have been very clever in Built Environment in “claiming” recycling.

Delft in 1990. In 1993, I am curious to find out how students have changed from when I was studying. We used to be very busy with Shape, how things looked and less so with society as such. Sustainability was not an issue yet, technology not so much too. Computers just appeared on the scene. We were generation 1.0 in that respect. We just went through the seventies with all the dreams of participations and we found the buildings all looked horrible. Buildings should look better, we thought. Maybe that was then the hotbed of the so-called iconic architecture. Now, however, it seems that participation has come back with full force.

together with Winy Maas and Nathalie de Vries, he started the architectural firm MVRDV. With a range of updated concepts for urban construction and architecture, MVRDV tries to find solutions for current urban and architectonic questions.

Together with the Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment, MVRDV runs The Why Factory, where Jacob van Rijs's colleague Winy Maas is professor of Architecture and Urban Design.

10 RESEARCH

BY WING YINJUN WENG

B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

SENSE OF PLACE

It was the morning of June 15th 2013, on the island of Terschelling. He woke up with a light headache, some remote beat of music still humming in his ear. The early sunlight lit up the beach and evoked an unusual serenity of the landscape behind it. He rose to his feet, shook of the sand on his hood, and strolled towards the woods.

about. He went closer. It was the Cabinet of Sound, hung effortlessly on the trunk of a tree. How silent, he kept thinking, as he stood there, showered in the light piercing through the woods. He picked up the twigs under his shoes, shoved a few in the tube, and wrote: the sound of silence.

He still had the test tube with him. It was a clear glass tube, with a rough wooden cork and a piece of paper tag tied to it. It was from a young man he met two days ago on the island - a young man in a white lab coat with the most eager look in his eyes.

If you were at the Oerol Festival this year, you might not be unfamiliar with the scene of glass tubes and white cabinets. It belonged to a temporary project carried out by the chair of Landscape Architecture at TU Delft, in the aim of expressing the landscape of Terschelling.

He was still not sure what to make of it. The landscape, he realized, as he stepped into the woods and enjoyed the sound of twigs cracking under his feet, was something he never thought about before.

Tutored by Denise Piccinini and Michiel Pouderoijen, twelve students from the Faculty of Architecture took on the project as an elective course in the last semester. As they attempted to investigate the landscape of Terschelling and discover the ‘sense of place’, their interactive project also raised the awareness of the island among the

As he walked on, he saw the white cabinet the young man had told him

11 visitors at the festival. Denise Piccinini sat down with B Nieuws and explained the process of this project.

You used test tubes to collect data in the project. Why did you choose this method and how did it work exactly?

We didn’t really know how we’d carry out this project in the beginning. We wanted the students to learn by doing, but we were uncertain what we should build on the island. We asked ourselves if there’s a need to build anything at all.

We realized that it’s a question we needed to ask the public - the users and visitors on the island. So during the Oerol Festival, we went there, handed out test tubes to the participants of the festival, and requested them to put the ‘essence of Terschelling’ in the test tube and return that to us. Attached to the tube was a tag, where people could write down their age, gender, place of residence, what the weather was like, the time of the day, and a note of their experience, in words or drawings.

The visitors were then asked to go into the forest and put their test tube in one of the nine white cabinets in the ‘open air laboratory’. The cabinets have rather poetic themes such as ‘overwhelming nature’ or ‘immeasurable colours’. We then collected all the test tubes, stored them digitally, and began to analyze and categorize the data.

The whole setting of this project seems very artistic. Do you think this is more of an art project or science project?

It’s a difficult question. In fact, what we tried to do is to combine science with art. The traditional landscape architecture project is more about the site itself and about the archive. This is, in a way, what the nine cabinets are for. We designed the cabinets in such a way that they formed a group of ‘objet trouvé’, because they were installed in accordance with the shape of the old dunes, the topography, the raster of tress and the patterns on the forest floor. So when people walk from one cabinet to another, they would experience the landscape, the height difference and various materials.

The Cabinet of Natural Unity

about. For example, we received a tube with a very specific plant in it.

It is the type of plant that only grows on the island, due it its unique conditions involving the water, the layers of sand, the temperature and so on. This is information about time, nature and landscape, and it’s of great value.

'WE SIMPLY WANTED TO SHOW THE LANDSCAPE AND MAKE PEOPLE AWARE OF IT.'

This is perhaps not a conventional landscape design, but we didn’t want to change anything.

We simply wanted to show the landscape and make people aware of it. In that sense, we achieved that by giving them the assignment with the test tube. Some of the participants even told me, weeks later, that they were still thinking about the assignment. What we also achieved is the collection of data.

The statistics and patterns resulting from these data are of course scientific.

However, the act, the white lab coats and white cabinets were not necessary for a science project. These were, in a way, the artistic elements we packaged our project with.

Sometimes people put down personal feelings and emotions in the test tube. How do you deal with this type of information? Is it also of scientific value?

We have to categorize them. One of them could be about material. For example, some people returned sand and they talked about its color and texture. Others related places to memory, or to certain stories. In those cases, they could get rather personal and we can’t really use them.

Of course what I’m mostly interested in is the landscape they talk

How do you plan to use the result of this project?

We are still discussing how to continue with the data, but I think there are different options. We could, for instance, make a design project on the island, using the research result from this project. But we could also apply this method somewhere else.

We are now invited to carry out a similar project around Hofbogen in Rotterdam. It doesn’t have to be test tubes, but the method of involving the people who live around and encouraging them to experience the place can be applied there too.

For more info: iopm.nl

EXHIBITION The result of this project will be showcased in an exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture.

Location: Orange Hall Time: 9th - 20th September

BK IN FOCUS 13

IN MEMORIAM IR. KARIN THEUNISSEN ONS BEREIKTE HET SCHOKKENDE BERICHT VAN DE PLOTSELINGE DOOD VAN ONZE DIERBARE COLLEGA KARIN THEUNISSEN, DIE ONS ZOVELE JAREN HEEFT VERGEZELD. ALS STUDENT, ALS COLLEGA-DOCENT, ALS VAKGENOOT. DOOR MICHIEL RIEDIJK, LEEN VAN DUIN EN HENK ENGEL Karin Theunissen (17 december 1954 – 10 juli 2013)

onderzoek. Karin is daaraan altijd trouw gebleven.

Zij was steeds nauw betrokken bij de ontwikkeling van onderwijs en onderzoek van de faculteit Bouwkunde; eerst als studentassistent en later als universitair docent. De faculteit was, denken we, een belangrijk deel van haar leven. Jammer genoeg kreeg Karin, al dan niet terecht, in de afgelopen jaren steeds sterker het gevoel dat zij haar inbedding in de afdeling Architectuur kwijt raakte. Ze werd onzeker over haar werk, terwijl ze zonder meer een uitstekend docent was en een gedreven onderzoeker. Om te begrijpen wat haar dreef en wat haar inzet was, willen we haar bijdrage aan onderzoek en onderwijs kort schetsen.

Vanuit het ‘Studenten Overleg Architectuur’ heeft Karin begin jaren tachtig, samen met Susanne Komossa, enthousiast meegewerkt aan de opzet van een nieuwe collegereeks. Daarin werd, onder leiding van Leen van Duin en Michiel Polak, werk van toonaangevende Nederlandse architecten gedocumenteerd en besproken onder de titel ‘Architectonische Studies’. Als student-assistent ontwikkelde ze toen een academische houding die in latere studies van haar hand naar voren komt. Wij noemen er twee. ‘Normering in de woningbouw in relatie tot veranderende woon- en leefvormen’ (1987) deed ze samen met Anna Vos en Jenneke Terhorst in opdracht van VROM en de Emancipatieraad. ‘Bouwen in de stad’ (1989) deed ze met Arjan Hebly vanuit architectenbureau ‘Hebly Theunissen’. Dat richtte ze op in 1986, direct na haar afstuderen.

Zoals voor veel van haar collega’s werd de basis voor haar latere docentschap gelegd in haar studententijd, eind jaren zeventig.

Uit het onderwijs en de excursies in die tijd is een grote vriendenkring voortgekomen.

Karin was actief betrokken in het ‘Studenten Overleg Architectuur’, in de werkcolleges ‘Vrouwenstudies’ en in het tot stand komen van het studentenblad ‘O’, het huidige ‘OASE’. Deze kringen hebben zich allemaal ingezet voor de koppeling van onderwijs en

In 1997 kreeg ze opnieuw een aanstelling bij de faculteit Bouwkunde. Nu als universitair docent. In het werkverband ‘Woningbouw’ ging ze met Max Risselada en Henk Engel meewerken aan het onderzoeksproject ‘Revisie van de

Modernen’. Haar bijdrage spitste zich vervolgens toe op de studie van het werk van de architecten ‘Venturi Scott Brown’. Ze zou die later gaan uitwerken in een dissertatie: ‘Interior streets in the work of Venturi Scott Brown’. Van dit onderzoek heeft ze bij verschillende gelegenheden verslag gedaan. De presentaties bij het bezoek van Robert Venturi en Denise Scott Brown aan de Faculteit Bouwkunde (februari 2005) en in het peer review colloquium (2009) waren indrukwekkend. Een jaar later kreeg ze op het Venturi Symposium te Yale veel waardering voor de aanpak van haar onderzoek. Rond die tijd heeft Karin zich ook bijzonder ingespannen om het European Architectural History Network (EAHN) van de grond te krijgen.

Karin onderzocht gebouwen en stedelijke ensembles om hun interne logica te achterhalen.

Maar het ging niet alleen om de logica; Karin wilde de intrinsieke waarde van het architectonisch ontwerp zichtbaar maken. Ze mikte op ‘reconstructie’ in plaats van ‘deconstructie’. In een ‘deconstructie’ raakt de betekenis van het ontwerp verstrooid en vervluchtigt in de vele referenties waarnaar een architectuur verwijst. Een ‘reconstructie’ richt zich juist op wat met deze

referenties in het ontwerp is gedaan. Dat is voor architectuurstudenten ontzettend belangrijk. Veel van het onderzoek met behulp van tekeningen en vooral maquettes deed ze samen met haar studenten.

Voor deze vorm van wetenschappelijk onderwijs en onderzoek zocht Karin academische erkenning. Zij had het gevoel dat de waardering voor deze manier van werken die in Delft sinds de jaren zeventig is ontwikkeld, geleidelijk was weggeëbd. Wat ons betreft, is haar werk een stimulans om juist op die weg voort te gaan. Het werk van Karin Theunissen is een prachtig voorbeeld van de manier waarop onderwijs en onderzoek in de architectuur kunnen samengaan. Het zal deel blijven uitmaken van de typisch Delftse benaderingswijze van architectuuronderwijs en – onderzoek. En het zal, daarvan zijn wij overtuigd, daarbinnen ook navolging vinden.

12 BK IN FOCUS

B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

PATTERNS AND ANALOGIES WHEN DESIGNING, DO YOU FIND YOURSELF WAITING IN VAIN FOR THAT BRILLIANT INSIGHT? PERHAPS USING SOME ‘DESIGN TOOLS’ COULD HELP TO ENHANCE YOUR CREATIVE ABILITIES. IN AN EXPERIMENT LED BY PROF. ARJAN VAN TIMMEREN AND DR. HERNAN CASAKIN, TWO DESIGN TOOLS WERE TESTED: PATTERNS AND ANALOGIES.

BY MANON SCHOTMAN Patterns and analogies In the experiment, 66 master and PhD students were asked to perform a design exercise aided by two design tools: patterns and analogies. The term ‘pattern’ was first coined by Cristopher Alexander in the sixties. It is an archetypal and reusable description of a design idea, which can be used to solve complex design problems. An analogy is the cognitive process of transferring information or knowledge from a specific domain to another domain. The students were given a certain pattern (for example: the small public square) or analogy (for example: a volcano), and were asked to use these as a tool to solve a design exercise.

The effects of the two different design tools were examined in two different situations: When a student dealt with a design exercise individually and when the tools were used in a group of three students. Different stages in a creative design task were tested: problem definition, idea generation, analysis of the design solutions, clarifications of idea solutions, and evaluation of idea solutions.

Findings What is remarkable is that for all stages, except problem definition and idea generation, it was more useful for students to work in a group than individually. Another important conclusion from the

experiment is that the two different design tools provide help in different phases of the design: Design patterns were mainly useful for understanding the design problem from a technical and functional perspective, and for providing functional solutions.

Analogies, on the other hand, are more useful in generating a large number of creative and unconventional ideas.

years of their education, students tend to be very much influenced by the advice given by their tutors. Rather than following their teacher’s ideas, students should be focussing more on developing their own ideas.” Teachers could use these design tools to help students become more independent in the design studio, and enhance their own ideas and solutions.

Use for education What can we learn from this design experiment for our design education? According to dr.

Hernan Casakin, the experiment provides interesting possibilities for both students and design studio teachers. “In the first few

Case #1 - BK City Design solution for BK City using the analogy of a roller coaster

Case #2 - Schiphol Plaza Design solution for Schiphol Plaza using the pattern 'small public square'

14 FORUM

B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

@

Deep-rooted sentiments? Interesting views? Use forum as your discussion platform! Send your articles and letters to bnieuws-bk@tudelft.nl.

React on bnieuws.wordpress.com!

THE PRESENT PATHOLOGY OF A PROFESSION Restart Some people might have you believe that graduating is just another step in what is often regarded as the linear progression of life. And it might even be that way. But it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Some people might have you believe that graduating is just another step in what is often regarded as the linear progression of life. And it might even be that way. But it sure doesn’t feel like it.

For someone who spent the last eighteen years of his life in schools of all kinds, I have come to a point where everything I knew and took for granted is basically gone. Not only does it mean that once I find a job (let’s be optimistic here), I can no longer rely on two months of blissful inactivity during the summer, nor the bliss ignorance of not having to take care of all my administration. Neither can I return to the general biorhythm of school life. In a subtle way, I’m now somehow grown up, and might be required to act that way. And not ironically, a non-prescription pair of thick-rimmed glasses and a black turtleneck will no longer do the trick alone.

So while I only just started sending out my CV and portfolio to everywhere I can think of, I already did a sweep of my Facebook page.

From there I removed any potentially strange and inappropriate profile images, or at least ones that a tired Human Resources Manager without any sense of humor on a Friday afternoon (or Monday morning) might decide do not make me an ideal employee/intern at Architectural Firm XY. And so I’ve been reduced to this. After years of sometimes hard work, books upon books about architecture, the soaking in endless theories by some of the greatest architectural thinkers, in lectures about how sustainability will save the world and make it a better place, I’m stuck at home worrying about spelling mistakes on my portfolio and stupid things I might or might not have said in social media a few years ago.

Maybe this whole graduation and looking for a job thing is a kind of restart. To take the good with you and leave the bad behind (or at least hide it from the world). To finally come down to the “real world” from the intoxicating world of studenthood and be fully immersed in the banalities of everyday life and homemaking before work consumes you for the next forty or more years. So as confusing as this time is, I think I should try to enjoy it...

FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS THE GLOBAL ECONOMY HAS BEEN IN THE SLUMPS. ITS' SINGULAR MISSION STATEMENT FOR THOSE DARK YEARS FELL UNDER DAMAGE CONTROL AND THE MINIMIZING OF LOSSES. THIS PHENOMENON HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY DISSECTED AND ANALYSED BY THE SOCIETAL ACTORS. WHILE ALMOST ALL PROFESSIONS WERE SEVERELY AFFECTED DURING ECONOMIC STAGNATION, THE FIELD OF DESIGN HAD A SPECIAL CONDITION. AND THIS GOES NOT UNADDRESSED. IN THIS ARTICLE I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN THE "WHYS" AND TENTATIVELY TOUCH UPON THE "HOWS".

Designers operate effectively during economic growth when opportunities for investment and profit are abundant, be it public or private investment. Therefore, "design" can be seen as one of the principal professions to coast on the effects of growth and optimism. However, it is also one of the most vulnerable to economic collapse and most importantly it is one of the slowest to recover during another growth cycle.

For example, the IT market operates in milliseconds, almost to the point of real-time, while the design market (considering the construction sector) operates in aeons. I will not go into the details why this takes place, however I do believe it is somewhat intuitive, as it has to do with the flexibility of capital, demand and management.

Taking this into account, I argue that the inherent condition of design coupled with the context of the new market has created the precipice of a three-pronged phenomena that is slowly but surely killing the design profession: employer ethics, human capital (the designers themselves) and overall national policy.

Firstly, while the deep freeze in the design and construction sectors compounded with the cuts in investments shrunk the whole design market, it also skewed the relationships between employer and employee. Essentially when the supply and demand chain of jobs is unbalanced (here meaning high job

demand but low supply) the employer can underbid. What this means is that the employer can exploit the condition of the market for personal gain. Examples are quite numerous: hyperinflation of open competitions (essentially another form of employee exploitation), design firms solely offering internship positions (because it is more cost-effective), mismatch between education level and jobposition, etcetera.

Secondly, the condition is made worse by the designers themselves. Simply for the fact that they accept the newfound employer ideology (based in neo-liberalism?) and most importantly because they disseminate their ideas into the ether through "open-competitions". I would argue that "open-competitions" are one of the most damaging trends in the design market. For this I side with David Harvey's argument. What he says in his The Right to the City is this: "Surplus commodities can lose value or be destroyed, while productive capacity and assets can be written down and left unused; money itself can be devalued through inflation, and labour through massive unemployment."

In other words, the over-production of designs compounded with how the designs are generated (for free) render the design, and to a certain extent, the designer, worthless.

Moreover this phenomena has the potential of changing the societal perception of the designer as nowadays he or she engages in what essentially is "pro-bono" work (i.e. for little or no pay).

Thirdly, national policy does little to

ANNA WOJCIK

PETER SMISEK

address these issues. For example, The Netherlands, one of the biggest exporters of designers in the world is struggling with a 50% national unemployment rate among young design graduates.

At the same time, the Dutch schools seem to ignore these facts.

This only adds fuel to the already burgeoning fire. However, this issue is one of most facile things to adjust at a national level through carefully constructed control policies that would balance the supply and demand market.

It all seems very bleak and it is certainly quite a complex and sensitive issue that does not seem to generate definite answers. One cannot help but trust that with improved technologies and faster growth cycles the profession and its market could have the ability of reaching a state of equilibrium.

But all in all, possibly all the above could create an interesting result for the profession. Conflicts and contradictions do have the benefit of spawning evolution by destroying the status-quo. Can survival of the fittest prove to be, time and time again, our last resort?

Liviu Teodorescu

AGENDA B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

WEEK 36

WEEK 38

Lecture

Opening academic year 2013-2014 02.09.2013 The workspace of an engineer has become a global one. Today’s companies ask for global leadership, and to become a global leader you need a global mind. The speakers will share their views and experiences on the subject of the global mind and global leadership. Is there a secret to success we can tap into?

Aula / 15:30 bk.tudelft.nl

Lecture

Dirk van den Heuvel in The New Institute 05.09.2013 On 5 September next, Dirk van den Heuvel will deliver a lecture in The New Institute as part of the summer programme 'The Ruin' (De Ruïne'. The lecture ‘Total Recall: The ruins of our memory’ examines the complicated relationship between modern architecture and history.

Rotterdam, The New Institute / 19:00 nai.nl

Symposium

Beyond Borders 06.09.2013 On 6 September, Bucky lab has a mini-symposium 'Beyond Borders'. This symposium brings together knowledge, expertise and innovation in the field of solar shading. Marcel Bilow will introduce the project Bucky lab students will be working on this semester. In addition, experts will examine various sub-areas, such as internal solar shading, external solar shading and managing solar energy. Various solar shading products will also be on display.

BKCity, Berlagezaal / 09:30 buckylab.blogspot.nl

SPOT !

T LIGH

Music

ClublePOP does Japan

WEEK 37 Film

Jour de Fête 09.09.2013 A1949 French comedy film directed by Jacques Tati. Jour de Fête tells the story of an inept and easily distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community.

Delft, Filmhuis Lumen / students € 7 filmhuis-lumen.nl

Lecture

Anti-Media 13.09.2013 Official launch event for the book "Anti-Media" by Florian Cramer, research professor at Hogeschool Rotterdam and dean of WORM's 01_Kop Kleur The book is a Parallel University.

02_Kop Zwart collection of essays on high and 03_DATUM low culture, avant-garde and trash: 17th century experimental 04_Plat poetry, 05_Infomusic machines, Neonazi communication guerilla, Alvin 06_Web Lucier, Internet porn, anticopyright, creative industries, 01_Kop KleurMail Art, post-digitality, 02_Kop Zwart Rosicrucianism and hacker 03_DATUM cultures, to name only a few.

04_Plat Rotterdam, WORM / 12:00 -05_Info 20:00 / free entrance 06_Web worm.org

Congres Omgevingswet De Praktijkleerstoel Gebiedsontwikkeling van de TU Delft organiseert in samenwerking met ROSTRA Congrescommunicatie de tweede editie van het congres Omgevingswet.

In gesprek met prominente vertegenwoordigers van de verschillende overheden, Natuur & Milieu en experts uit de praktijk

19.09.2013 For many years now, this snobby Rotterdam vinyl collective has been mixing exotic songs with soulful indiepop in a matchless way. This time in particular Japan is the target of these record players. During this Cluble- POP edition you may expect tasteful California Roll with Japanese club pop and sixties soul pop, as well as magnificent grooves from the surrounding countries, such as Thai and Chinese beat, and sounds that you can dance to from South-Korea’s own Gainsbourg.

Rotterdam, Rotterdamse Schouwburg/ 20:00 / free entrance rotterdamseschouwburg.nl

Debat

De snelweg als stedelijk theater 22.09.2013 De snelweg kan al sinds zijn ontstaan rekenen op de aandacht van ontwerpers met visionaire plannen. De wegen bieden hen telkens nieuwe vergezichten op de toekomst van het stedelijk landschap. Wat gebeurt er met de snelwegen als we niet de vergezichten maar het stedelijk leven zelf centraal stellen? Hoe kunnen ze aangename plekken van verblijf worden die een logisch onderdeel vormen van het leven in de stad? Kunstenaars en ontwerpers gaan hierover met elkaar in gesprek. Ze tonen in woord en beeld hun visie op de snelweg als onderdeel van het stedelijk theater. AIR programmeert dit gesprek speciaal voor het programma van Festival De Keuze.

Rotterdam, Rotterdamse Schouwburg, foyer / 19:00 dekeuze.nl

wordt onderzocht of en hoe de nieuwe Omgevingswet de dynamiek in gebiedsontwikkeling gaat vergroten. Welke ruimte gaat de Omgevingswet aan initiatieven van overheden, marktpartijen en burgers bieden?

Wat moet er beter? Hoe kunnen het beste de vele open kwesties worden ingevuld?

Woensdag 25 September 2013 stadion Galgenwaard, Utrecht Annmelden via rostra.nl

WEEK 39 Film

Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot 23.09.2013 Pipe-smoking Monsieur Hulot, Jacques Tati’s endearing clown, takes a holiday at a seaside resort where his presence provokes one catastrophe after another. Tati’s wildly funny satire of vacationers determined to enjoy themselves includes a series of precisely choreographed sight gags involving dogs, boats, and firecrackers. The first entry in the Hulot series is a masterpiece of gentle slapstick.

Delft, Filmhuis Lumen / students € 7 filmhuis-lumen.nl

Lezing

Route Rotterdam 25.09.2013 Mobiliteit en Rotterdam zijn onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden. De stad van ‘transit’, van stromen goederen, mensen en energie. Op tal van plekken wordt ook nu aan de Rotterdamse infrastructuur gebouwd. De totale investering bedraagt ongeveer 2 miljard euro. Een investering in mobiliteit die niet alleen de economie, maar ook de leefkwaliteit van de stad en zijn regio als geheel ten goede moet komen. AIR is voortdurend op zoek naar publieke waarden en de potentie van ontwerp om hieraan bij te dragen. Hoe passen deze ontwikkelingen in het verhaal van Rotterdam? Wat is de publieke betekenis ervan? Hoe getuigt het van de bekende Rotterdamse durf, van experiment? En, hoe kan goed ontwerp bijdragen aan de ruimtelijke kwaliteit van ‘route Rotterdam’?

Rotterdam, Museumpark, Arminius 'Bovenkamer' / 20:00 / RSVP airfoundation.nl

TENTOONSTELLINGEN Fellini – The Exhibition Eye Filmmuseum till 22.09.2013

Cristina de Middel The Afronauts

FOAM / 13.09.2013 - 11.12.2013

Lawrence Weiner

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 21.09.2013 - 05.01.2014

Paulina Olowska

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 21.09.2013 - 27.01.2014

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B NIEUWS 01 2 SEPTEMBER 2013

RETREAT IN NATURE LAST SEMESTER, STUDENTS IN THE STUDIO BRIDGE TO ASIA PARTICIPATED IN THE COMPETITION ‘RETREAT IN NATURE’. THE TEAMS PARTICIPATING IN THE COMPETITION, REPRESENTING A NUMBER OF UNIVERSITIES, WERE ASKED TO DESIGN A ‘NEXTGENERATION SUSTAINABLE HOUSE’ IN TAIKI-CHO, A VILLAGE LOCATED ON THE ISLAND OF HOKKAIDO, JAPAN. THE WINNING TEAM WAS INVITED TO BUILD THE HOUSE.

Sento Bath & House Dapeng Sun, Loed Stolte, Tanya Starchenko, Chiara Cirrone Aims to create a community bath house, which houses space for individual contemplation on top.

Potato Living Nico Leferink, Milo Janssen, Natsuki Takeshita Imagines a lifestyle centered around potatoes, to create a building clad with starch extracted from potatoes which is grown in the region.

BY IVAN THUNG Since Hokkaido, a northern island in Japan, is exposed to warm summers and harsh winters, the theme ‘Retreat in Nature’ allowed the teams to interpret the notion of sustainability not only in terms of the checks and balances of energy consumption, but as a part as a comprehensive way of life.

However, the idea of sustainability is these days often used rhetorically. Stefano Milani, studio coordinator: ‘However sustainability might present itself as a new kind of legitimizing rationale, it is often not yet clear how to translate this notion into concrete architectural objects’.

According to the coordinators, doing competitions can be a way of doing research, too. There is not necessarily a split between the competitions that are common in practice, and academic research. Therefore, the projects that have been made may be seen as a collection of propositions concerning what sustainability might entail.

One project, for example, sought to recover a forgotten knowledge of vegetables, which was held by the indigenous people of Hokkaido. Another project claimed that the whole theme of ‘retreat in nature’ was irrelevant, since the site the building was to be build upon was noticeably cultivated.

But the project that was elected to be submitted excelled through its simplicity: a tri-angular roof the walls of which were cladded with bales of hay, with in the middle a moveable platform that could be driven outside in summer. In the end, Delft’s team ended third, behind Harvard University, who won the competition, and Singapore University.

This was the first half of the studio Bridge to Asia. The second half entailed the design of a museum for visual culture in Hong Kong. The competition was organized by Lixil, a concrete manufacturer, and was hosted by Tokyo University who provided the jury, which was presided over by Kengo Kuma.

facebook.com/lixil.iuac

Fabric House Guendalina Rocchi, Pola Czynczyk, Marta Pabel, Gianna Bottema Translates the adaptive action of 'dressing up' to architecture and creates a bamboo house cladded with different fabrics which allows the house to adapt to the seasons.

Retreat in Nature?

Rudo Koot, Yann Mu Claims that at there is no real nature at the site, and proposes to make a dome of wooden blocks, in which images of nature are projected on its interior walls.

Library for Forgotten Vegetables Ivan Thung, Roxane van Hoof, Jonathan Lazar Creates a storage and harvesting shed for vegetables that used to be consumed by indigenous people the knowledge of which was being lost after Japanese oppression.

3rd

Simply Adjustable Judith ten Kate & Nassim Razavian The project won the third price at the competition. The jury appreciated the simplicity of the concept. They claim that to design something sustainable should be to design a sustainable way of living too. Therefore a tri-angular house forms the base protection against natural forces, from which a wooden box can ride out according to the season. The house aims to contribute to the well-being of its inhabitants, which are city dwellers taking a break from urban life, by communal activities such as harvesting straw. This straw is used to insulate the building further during winter.

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