13 B_NIEUWS
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3 weekly periodical | july 3, 2008
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FORWARD! BOUWKUNDE! with: VINCENT NADIN! MICK EEKHOUT! MIGUEL ROBLES-DURAN! DIRK JAN van den BERG! DICK van GAMEREN! CREATIVE FESTIVAL! FIELDS of BK! ARCHITECTURAL NOT-SPOTS!
Faculty of Architecture
B_Nieuws 06 | january 07, 2008 | report
Delft University of Technology 3
content 2-3
interview Vincent Nadin
4-5
the seven tempests
weather forecast for architecture Mick Eekhout
6-7
8-9
by Fransiska Surya (Explorelab, MSc 4)
petition for a city campus
Miguel Robles-Duran
Who is Vincent Nadin?
architectural hot & not spots to visit this summer
I am a town planner in the English sense – that is educated in the social sciences with some education in design, law and natural environment. In the UK town planning has a strong professional body that has lately been too separated from the design professions. I am an academic but see myself as bridging education and practice worlds because I have done much consultancy and applied research on planning practice. I am very English, but I have done a lot of cross-national comparative research and I like to think I can take a ‘European perspective’. I seem to have been made for town planning. I am unhappy about the misuse and waste of our environmental resources – especially space – and about the reproduction of poor environments. I
Ania Molenda Cristina Ampatzidou
9-11 open up the cans! creative festival at BK Ania Molenda 12
fields of BK
Ania Molenda Cristina Ampatzidou
13 architectural annual Floris van der Zee
introducing Vincent Nadin
‘I am very English’
‘I am very English’ Fransiska Surya
Marten Dashorst
am very conscious of the way that ‘development’ hands out costs and benefits to people unfairly. I know that spatial planning is sometimes part of the problem and not the solution.
Why were you chosen for this position? There is a renaissance underway in interest in spatial and urban planning around the world. I think the faculty wants to maintain and build up its capacity to teach, research and provide consultancy on spatial and planning. I know about planning and I have experience of finding funding to ‘fastforward’ our research ambitions. In my last job we built an entrepreneurial culture and were successful in winning third stream funding. This is perhaps
14 bouwkundebitter Sierksma 14
news
15
behind glass
Dirk Jan van den Berg Daan de Leeuw
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agenda
colofon B_Nieuws is a three weekly periodical of the Faculty of Architecture Faculty of Architecture Delft University of Technology Berlageweg ? , ???? ?? Delft Editorial B_Nieuws, cabinet ?.?? T (015) ?? ????? F (015) ?? ????? E b_nieuws@bk.tudelft.nl W bnieuws.wordpress.com Editorial Board Cristina Ampatzidou Marten Dashorst Floris van der Zee Daan de Leeuw Ania Molenda Joost Panhuysen Editorial advice Otakar Máčel Tessa Wijtman-Berkman Danielle Ten Veldhuis Beata Labuhn Violette Baudet Print Druk. Tan Heck, Delft Cover photo Dick van Gameren, proposal for a watchtower made of the former staircase of the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft, 26 mei 2008 Photography Hans Schouten, AVS Contributing editors Sierksma, Fransiska Surya, Jorrit Stelma Deadline Wednesday Juli 31, 12.00 PM B_Nieuws 01, August 20, 2008 Illustrations only in: *.tif- or *.eps format, min. 300 dpi Unsolicited articles can have a maximum of 1000 words; announcements 100 words. The editorial board has the right to shorten articles, or to refuse articles that have an insinuating, accusing or vindicatory character or contain unnecessary coarse language. The editorial board informs the author(s) concerning the reason for its decision, directly after it has been made.
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B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | interview
the direction now in the Netherlands. This is not to everyone’s liking of course. Competition keeps researchers sharp but we also need some stability in first stream funds. I know that some staff feel vulnerable at a time when resources are shrinking. I hope I can help to build a more self-reliant entrepreneurial culture providing more opportunities for staff, and without creating more uncertainty.
How will your experience help with the job here? I have learned a lot about teaching and research in planning – methodology, management and publication - from early experiences in the 1980s as a research assistant through to leading major projects, PhD supervision and journal editing since
editorial the early 1990s. I was lucky to get a sponsorship working for part of my time with the property company Chesterton. I learned about working in partnership (we set up a joint enterprise) and how to bid for projects in a market situation. We were successful – first a commission to prepare a plan for a local authority – East Cambridgeshire (the only complete local plan to have been prepared by a consultancy in England). We then won the project to prepare the EU Compendium of Spatial Planning Systems and Policies – completed between1994 to 1999 with 20 partners in 16 countries. The result was 20 volumes of work and a typology of planning systems in Europe that is still being used today. It was career defining. Before 1994 I was working mostly in England – afterwards equally on crossnational or European research. I don’t think I really understood planning in England until I learned about planning in other countries. We take a lot for granted.
Do you focus your research interest only in North-west Europe? My particular expertise and interest is in European spatial planning and mostly North-west Europe. But I was attracted to the faculty partly because of its wider international network. I don’t see myself being drawn too much into the wider international field, but I am keen to work in an international environment. I expect to continue to concentrate on the European dimension. The European institutions have a big role to play in tackling the appalling way that we treat our environment and stock of natural resources. The EU is keen to introduce the concept of ‘territorial cohesion’ as a central objective for the Union and this should help to make sure we tackle urgent territorial problems such as urban sprawl, the fragmentation of development patterns and environmental damage. This applies as much in North-west Europe as in any part of the world. But because of deep involvement of Europe in world history and the maturity of our institutions we have a special responsibility here to act as a demonstration for other countries. The Netherlands is a market leader in managing spatial development, but will it still be a model in the future?
Do you speak Dutch yet? No, but I am going to try and learn some Dutch. Everyone is very generous and considerate about this. I’ve had lots of help, but I would like to be able to read more emails without having to take the dictionary out. The biggest challenge for me
here is the language, and it is hard to make this a priority with so much else to do.
You are also a successor of two chairs…. I am. There are more than 20 people in this chair. Combining the chairs offer opportunities in critical mass and combining expertise, but also lots of challenges. I support the development of research programmes that focus efforts on priority research questions. We need to work across chairs and departments to harness existing research strengths and build teams to improve our offer to students and external research clients. Within this general approach there is always room for the independent researcher to concentrate on specific questions.
What are your experiences until now with the new administration? I’ve spent most of my time so far talking to people. I’ve been trying to get to know the staff that I’m responsible for, who they are, and their concerns and ambitions. It’s my role to help them achieve their ambitions whilst at the same time guiding our combined efforts in directions that support the Faculty and TUDelft objectives. There is a variety of aspirations within the chair. That’s good because you need people with different qualities and ambitions in building teams. My early experiences are very positive. Everyone seems keen to work together in a collaborative and constructive way.
What about implementing the work of the previous professors? Paul Drewe was very well known for his important contribution on the networked city, explaining the network concept for our understanding of cities and regions. We will be continuing with this work. My own emphasis is on the implications for planning practice. I’m also very keen to continue our work on urban regeneration which was part of Jurgen Rosemann’s portfolio and to link this closely to spatial planning. We are fortunate to have Professor Rosemann still working with us on international relationships especially in Asia.. I’m looking for ways to maintain and strengthen our research on metropolitan regions in other parts of the world, in which Marisa Carmona also played an important role. I don’t want to lose this international connection. The Dean has invited me to lead the new crossfaculty research programme: Randstad. Though
Vincent Nadin is Professor of Spatial Planning and Strategy at TU Delft. He started in January 2008 and succeeds Prof. Jurgen Rosemann and Prof. Paul Drewe. Nadin was born in Nottinghamshire in the English Midlands. After leaving school he spent six years in local government town planning and other jobs before studying planning for five years at the University of Coventry. He worked at Oxford Brookes, Leeds Met and Birmingham City Universities, and at Birmingham held a position sponsored by the property consultancy Chesterton. Before coming to Delft, Nadin was Professor of Town and Country Planning at the University of the West England in Bristol where he had worked for 10 years. He is also a visiting professor at the In-
B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | interview
many staff are quick to tell me there is no such thing, the Randstad is icon around the world for well ordered, democratic and more sustainable spatial planning – rightly or wrongly. The Dutch government is seeking a new vision for the Randstad through the 2040 project. There is a big opportunity for us to contribute to new ideas for the Randstad building on the rich traditions on this subject in TUDelft, and to use this as a platform for cross-national research on spatial planning.
The judgment of Paris What is a painting dating from 1907 doing between the first and second tents of BK City? Who placed it there and what is the message that it is trying to communicate? And even more, a painting showing the mythical moment of the judgment of Paris? Proposing the new dress code of the faculty for the summer period? Is there a moral behind the placement of this specific painting?
How does the fire at the faculty affect your work and your chair so far? So far, much less than anyone could have imagined on the 13th May. The work of the university goes on, teaching has been completed and arrangements are well in hand for next year. This says much about the dedication and motivation of the staff and students. But the great loss of individual teaching and research portfolios will inevitably slow down projects and outputs We all have those moments now when we realize that yet another thing we are looking for was lost in the fire. But the determination is there to get back on track and it is really heartening to see the Urbanism staff working so well in our new headquarters in Tent 4.
Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priamous was famous for his fair judgment and wisdom, despite his youth. During a mythical wedding, he was appointed to make a choice that none of the gods wanted to make; he had to select the most gifted among three goddesses: Athena, the goddess of wisdom and fair fight, Aphrodite, goddess of love and sensuality and Hera, goddess of marital order and home life. He had to give to one of the three women a golden apple; apples always seem to put men in problems! Each goddess offered to Paris the skills that she represented, Athena war skills and wisdom, Hera the domination over Europe and Asia and Aphrodite the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen.
How do you plan to raise the visibility and status of Spatial Planning after this incident? I want to lead a pre-eminent centre for research and education on spatial planning. I don’t think the fire will hinder this ambition. There is a resolve and sense of purpose among my colleagues and a willingness to review what we do and how we do it. My objective is that those who have research questions on spatial and urban planning – especially those who fund this research - will see us as a natural partner. Government ministries, the European institutions, NGOs and others should see us as a first point of call. We want more students to choose to study planning and to take up research opportunities. This means getting more visibility in the faculty and beyond. We need to raise our game on publications and research projects and we will have to seek effective partnerships inside and outside TUDelft. We must modernise our curriculum and continue with the exciting opportunities that we already provide. I’d also like to see us bringing in new people into the chair. I don’t underestimate the task, but we have a strong foundation on which to build. <b
It is not hard to imagine that Paris did whatever any other man would do, left aside wisdom and fighting, ignored all Europe and Asia and went for the girl! Unfortunately, Helen was married to another guy, which as Paris’ bad luck would have it was the Greek king Menelaus, who was not very happy to have his wife kidnapped by some Trojan prince. He soon gathered his friends and all together they sailed to Troy, to get Helen back. Paris, who on the painting is lacking the strength and maturity of an classical man, made the most predictable and wrong decision, which led to a 10 year long war. With the discussion over the future of Bouwkunde becoming more intense and continually coming closer to a point of decisions, I hope that the painting in the hall is not intended to put students in dilemmas over their choices in and about the faculty. Most of all I hope that it does not wish to imply that the Management Team is torn between a new building based on good old balanced geometries, one that will attract world’s attention and dominate the media or one that is all about the looks and the sensations. Whatever and wherever the new building will be, let’s hope that the decision for the future of the faculty will not lead to 10 year long fights.
stitute for Environmental Planning, Leibniz University, Hannover. During 2006-07 he was a visiting researcher at OTB.
In the UK he is well known for his joint textbook with the late Barry Cullingworth, ‘Town and Country Planning in the UK’. He is editor of the international peer reviewed journal Planning Practice and Research. Over the last 10 years he has been invited to present more than 50 papers to international conferences in 26 countries and has received sponsorship from many international bodies including the EU, OECD, UNESCO UNECE, and others. He is a retained advisor to the European Union of Developers and House Builders.
Cristina Ampatzidou
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the seven tempests weather forecast for architecture Stormy weather ahead, predicts professor Mick Eekhout (Architecture). The ‘Juliana years’ will be interesting, but difficult, with occasional rough seas. And we need a new statue in front of the Hoofdgebouw. door Prof.dr.ir. Mick Eekhout
What’s past is prologue. Shakespeare, The Tempest, 2. 1
The following are seven of the fiercest tempests that the Faculty of Architecture is weathering.
For many of us, the Big Fire on 13 May 2008 represented an unexpected and dramatic loss, a farewell to the place where we had built up academic and working careers spanning as many as 38 years. It was an emotional shock and an abrupt breach in our collective consciousness. This melancholy remembrance will only begin to fade when, in time, a new building rises to take the place of the old. Many of us are still mourning the loss of our carefully-collected data, books, projects and slides. The Board’s decisiveness in immediately arranging for tents, laptops and mobile phones is a testament to their commitment to ensuring the continuity of our faculty. The tents may be hot and noisy inside, but they are a tangible symbol of our perseverance. The loss of so much knowledge and documentation has been somewhat compensated by the distribution of laptops, though computers are mere tools and cannot replace content. The mobility they provide will hopefully allow students and teachers to make a leap forward into the dig-
#1 and #2: Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes Education-related plans remain unaffected by the fire. A new wave of Bachelor’s programmes is currently in progress, and the Master’s programmes are being redesigned. These Master’s programmes will then be introduced as was planned before the fire. An average programme of study at the Faculty of Architecture is ‘used’ for a fairly short period: generally four to five years. We are designers at heart, with little patience for the realisation and development phases of a project; innovators rather than improvers. The Faculty of Architecture’s new education systems will have to be adjusted to accommodate the limitations of the temporary premises on the Julianalaan. It is likely that a number of lectures and faculty activities will have to take place at other locations. This can be an enlightening experience for Architecture staff and students, who will experience that there are other worlds outside of our faculty, with different ways of doing things. These migrations across the TU Delft campus will give rise to cooperation and integration with staff and students from other faculties. The Faculty of Architecture should encourage students to pursue minors at other faculties.
“As far as research is concerned, the fire was catastrophic” ital age. But we should never forget that sketches and models will always remain the heart and soul of design. Symposiums and conferences have been continuing as normal. The show must go on. The faculty recently held three different conferences in a single week, with three more the following week. With the loss of our faculty building, we have lost the symbol of our identity. We may have found temporary shelter by our friends in the other faculties, but this alone will not bring back the faculty’s unique identity. We must make the most of symposiums, conferences and other external manifestations of our inner drive and determination, of our knowledge, skill and insight.
Taking stock Now, a number of weeks on, it is important to take stock of the situation and reflect on what is in store for the faculty.
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#3: Research As far as research is concerned, the fire was catastrophic. Researchers are now spread across the TU Delft campus, and many are working from home. Dialogue among the PhD students has faltered somewhat. Communication has become more difficult, and management is invisible. Many PhD students have lost valuable data and will have to redo their research. It’s no wonder that some of them are feeling dispirited. Fortunately, much of what was lost was desk research as opposed to laboratory research, which would have been an even greater catastrophe. But many students ran out of room on the server for their data and purchased external hard drives to store their files. They faithfully made backups of the data on these drives, which they kept in a ‘safe’ place— their desks in the Architecture building. These data has been irretrievably lost. Research within the Faculty has been dealt a substantial blow, a fact that is doubly cruel because the Faculty had been experiencing a steady increase in the quality of its research. Architecture had finally begun to earn its place within the academic climate of TU Delft. We still aim to achieve the highest possible scores (marks 4 and 5) during official
B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | forum
visitations, but it will be at least another six months before a new coherence will make it possible for everyone to get back into the swing of things. After the results of the Mid Term Review of 2007, which were in part disappointing, the entire research program is being re-evaluated. Recently, a new research secretary has been appointed to stimulate those programs.
#4: Research Funding Financial difficulties are on the horizon for TU
Delft: science budgets are shrinking, Minister Plasterk has announced that 100 million euros will be shifted to the fundamental sciences, and TU Delft’s Executive Board has decided to cut the Faculty’s 2009 budget by another four million euros. Together, these issues contribute to a gloomy forecast for the future of the Faculty. We will have to rely on external funding to ensure our survival. The faculty culture has to change: the design and construction industries must feel that they are ‘getting their money’s worth’. We must consider the ways in which we can apply our scientific and academic research to make valuable contributions to these industries, which include clients, designers, construction companies and government agencies. If we fail to deliver quality, we will also fail to receive funding. We are currently developing a new strategy, provisionally entitled ‘Spearhead Building Research’. I wrote about the accompanying 3TU project in B-News 12. The Spearhead strategy includes a list of 18 social problems. From these problems, we can derive the problems facing the design and construction industries, then the challenges facing 3TU and the new research programmes and research projects. In this way, we can develop new methods that are more relevant to both society and the design and construction industries than ever before. Such efforts also increase the chance of entering
into valuable financial partnerships, putting an end to a period of stagnation and decline and allowing research to flourish once more. In five years’ time, I presume, half of our research will have to be paid using external funding sources. Before such a system is in place, however, we will have to design and implement an adequate policy for acquiring external funding. We should ensure that within ten years all research is completely externally funded. Applied research (along with revenue from indirect funding) will then be required to generate funding for fundamental research. Internal funding is already beginning to dry up. The dean feels that we should first economise on research. It may not be long before internal funding is just as risky as external funding. Professors and heads of research projects will need to reorient themselves to the external market in order to procure funding from sponsors and partners.
#5: The Juliana building Over the next five years, the temporary headquarters at Julianalaan 134 will be the new face of our faculty. TU Delft’s former main building will be used for both education and research. The faculty is determining the best way to exploit the available space. In all likelihood, temporary glass halls will have to be added to the building in order to cre-
ate enough usable space, though these temporary building permits are valid for no longer than five years. We all miss the lobby on the ground floor and must find a way to create a similar public meeting place at the new location. The Juliana building is rather gloomy, and the floor plan forces people to walk long distances to get from one point to another. Nevertheless, with a few well-considered but modest modifications, we can make it into a suitable temporary home. Large neon letters on the façade will spell out ‘Architecture’. In this way, the building will provide us with a new ‘corporate identity’, similar to that of MIT. The Juliana building is a serious interim solution. Starting on 1 September 2008, the building must provide an inspiring environment for the faculty that conveys our identity, despite an
was an accident… The statue up front should refer to that dreadful Fire and to the new inhabitants of the building.
#6: Professors The Faculty is also suffering from an important structural problem: there are too few professors to maintain the health and vitality of the faculty. Prof. Kees Kaan spoke of a ‘professor shortage of at least 8.3 FTE at the Faculty of Architecture’. This can lead to a serious lag in development within the faculty. We need a university that’s full of lively debate, and inspiring professors can lead the way. So it’s a pity we now find ourselves lacking architects with the necessary vision and charisma to rally the faculty together. The fac-
“There will be blood” extremely high occupancy rate. We probably should not bring back the statue of Prometheus that once stood on a pedestal outside the Hoofdgebouw on the Julianalaan. While Prometheus had the audacity to steal fire from the gods and was punished severely, the Big Fire really
ulty should establish a group of guest professors who gather each Friday to publicly debate architecture and important issues currently faced by the faculty. We could also put out a call for architects from around the country to come to Delft, their alma mater, one day per month to promote the study of architecture.
#7: Designing a new building And that brings us to the question of a new building. We must think carefully about what we need and want. No hasty decisions. We need to foster open debate, and develop a plan that looks to the future and doesn’t simply preserve the status quo. We must plan for continuing educational innovation: a new education system every five years. How best to design a building that will last the next 50 years, seeing us through 10 different education systems? TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture is now at the centre of attention within the architectural world. We must do everything we can to keep it that way. While all eyes are still on us, we should sponsor an international design competition for the new building. Just as in 1969, we can hold public debates in which heavyweights in the field of architecture come together to promote and defend their designs. The debates should be heated, controversial, and exciting— “there will be blood”, as Michiel Riedijk so aptly put it.
Conclusion The fire came at an extremely inopportune moment, when the Dean was already juggling a multitude of issues relating to change and renewal within the faculty. We must now pull together and work to find solutions to all the problems facing us, both self-created and otherwise. We must abandon our old bad habits and take care not to create new problems, wasting time we do not have. People come and go, buildings fall into ruin, but TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture will remain internationally renowned. <b
B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | forum
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a petition for a city campus A campus setting and a singular building do not and cannot represent Bouwkunde today, says Miguel Robles-Durán (DSD) in his manifesto. ‘Today is the perfect moment to claim the city as our campus.’ 1. The spectacle of a new building is presented by the faculty as something enormously positive, indisputable and unquestionable. Since today’s society continues to be ruled by the immediacy of images, of dramatic representations and by the pursuit of the ‘new’, the thought of a replacement building has been passively accepted as obvious. This domination of the obvious has brought the tranquility of a false hope, it has successfully avoided the rise of critical questions to our past and most significantly to our future.
and so, the conciliated ambition of most will be sufficed. Evidently, any critical stance towards this immediate architectural fulfilment has been averted by the spectacle of a ‘new’ building.
reconstructing our immaterial presence.
6. Before the material rebuild, it should be our duty to debate the motionless superficiality that has taken over the progressiveness that used 4. The impossibility of to define Bouwkunde thinking beyond a new to the outside world. building has defined the We must ask what hapmindset of the weeks pened to the social and after the tragedy. Hispolitical responsibility tory has demonstrated –beyond academia– that that reconstruction is the the faculty once built. evident way forward, we We should question rebuild to claim that the what positions do we important was not dehave that dig deeper stroyed, to make believe than the surface of that just the material teaching or studying world had been touched, pleasing aesthetics and when in reality the imtechnological obses2. The representation material was the one sions. In all, we should of what we were and that was shattered the ultimately ask what do will be as faculty, staff most. we want to reflect in our and student body has future. Without critical apparently been re5. Not long ago we all answers to this essential duced to competitions critically questioned questions, any material of possible “super” arthe academic essence rebuild will be inevitachitectures. All left to of Bouwkunde, what it bly rendered void, will singular representations represented and what it be just another of the and labels, to individual claimed for the future; many empty facades design obsessions, to the shock of destruction that adorn our postmodthe reproduction of the has pacified our critical ern world, which is what obvious sameness in the posture. We have aban- Bouwkunde will soon architectural carcass of doned our stance on become if we don’t act apparent academic per- content and organisacollectively against the fection. tional matters precisely imminent promptness to at the time it has been rebuild. 3. We are being promost needed. The imposed to accept an mediate consequent 7. In 2008 and for the architectural represenactions of all of us to the next decades, the last tation of Bouwkunde, fire, should have gone thing that Bouwkunde without anyone quesway beyond the fake ur- needs is a new singular tioning its contemporary gency of material recon- building in the old site, presence. A new facade struction but on the real Executing this action will to the static content that urgency of reconsidering undoubtedly reinforce presently defines us will what Bouwkunde is, in not only the physical be “super” designed, essence and in time, of detachment from the 6
B_Nieuws 13 | july 3, 2008 | forum
NO MORE CANTEENS! NO MORE BOREDOM! NO MORE ISOLATION! city but also its image as an academic jewel box, isolated and distanced from the realities that surround it. What Bouwkunde urgently needs is to recover the connection it used to have with the city, its citizens and their daily life and a new building can’t achieve that. A much more radical approach must be taken if what we want is to reconstruct ourselves from the inside out.
still the campus setting is being promoted. For the first time we have the chance to reconstruct ourselves from the roots of our discipline as sharers and makers of city, of its environments of its life, and still a singular building seems like the only viable option. A campus setting and a singular building do not and cannot represent Bouwkunde today! 10. Today is the perfect moment to claim the city as our campus. The city of Delft is waiting for us to insert our activities in its streets, in its old and new buildings in its open sites and its public spaces. Today is the precise time to insert our social convictions and political desires where the people live, where others cohabit in the use of space, in the share of architectures and infrastructures and in the process of the every day.
Let us imagine a city campus, a non-building built by spatial appropriation, multiple constructions and the desire of all, let us weave into urban life and finally let life weave into Bouwkunde. Architects and urbanists belong inside the core, this is where we can contribute the most, this is where we can learn more from our environment and where we can socially act. No more canteens, no more bore8. Since its transfer to dom, no more isolation! the campus, BouwIts your call! We all have kunde lost its physical the power to change presence in the city, its the obvious, our colleccanvas was displaced tive desires must be exinto a sterile ground, full pressed! We don’t need of green open spaces a new building, what we but devoid of life. Each need is to recompose architecture/urban deourselves in the city! partment elevated, isoThis is where our future lated in 13 stories with is better represented, minimal touch to the this must be the stateground, working, studyment of Bouwkunde ing and teaching in this towards the future. conditions, gradually transformed the buildIf you believe in the ing in our mind, into the possibility of the nonapotheosis of an archiobvious, please log in tectonic and urban belief 11. Bouwkunde cannot to www.BKcity.org and that we no longer share afford to continue with a sign the petition for a nor desire. Why must a deliberate alienation and city campus and against new building be erected reclusiveness from urban the reconstruction of a in this failed setting? life. Nor it can afford singular building. Toto compress itself into gether we can change 9. For the first time we the compulsion of an Bouwkunde from the have the opportunity to individual ‘superdesign’. inside out. reclaim the city as our Bouwkunde is made of canvas, as part of our many, let this many exdaily life as staff, stupress themselves demo- Miguel Robles-Durán, dents and faculty, and cratically within the city. June 20th 2008 B_Nieuws 13 | july 3, 2008 | forum
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A r c h i t e ctura l n ot-spots to visit this summer + +
Habitat 67 Montreal, Canada
jardines del pedregal Mexico City, Mexico
glendalough Waterford, Irleand
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strandbeest
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cite fruges Pessac Pessac, France
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Ypenburg, The Netherlands
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Neringa
Peninsula between Kallini
Bauhaus museum
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Berlin, Germany
tugendhat villa
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Brno, Czech Republic
gellert baths
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Budapest, Hungary
corviale Rome, Italy
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meteora
Thessalia, Gree
Cappuccini catacom Palermo, Sicilly
Meteora kalambaka Meteora in greek, means “suspended in the air”. The rocks of Meteora have been eroded in impressive peaks, on which the medieval monks have chosen to build their monasteries, som Habitat 67 Designed for the Montreal Expo of 1967, Habitat 67, became the permanent residence for many families and singles. It is still in use and after 40 years and has not lost its vitality. Remains a must-see Gellert Baths Budapest was built on 118 natural thermal springs. Gellert Baths were created in 1918 and they are probably one of the most impressive Art Nouveau decorated baths, like the ones you can only strandbeest You might have met his alive plastic tube beach animals, but in order to find his studio, you have to look for a cabin among the willow trees and the sea container at Ypenburg, close to Den Haag. Bauhaus Museum Gropius was asked to design a building for the Bauhaus archive, originally intended for Darmstad and finally built in Berlin. Although Max Bill talked about a “screwed-up old man’s design”, th Neringa A 97 km long spit of land dividing the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon, is on the list of UNESCO world heritage. The peninsula is a world of sand dunes, some of the tallest in the world. cite fruges pessac The first large scale project of Le Corbusier, is a 70 housing units project in a suburb of Bourdeaux. It has been praised in its time, it was condemned as the definition of modernistic failure Park of Fallen Heroes A sculpture garden, officially called “Museum Sculpture Park” has concentrated all forbidden sculptures from the soviet era, later on to be completed with soviet statues. The place on Medeu Ice Rink 1700 m above sea level is the world’s largest speed ice skating rink, which was once the training center for the Soviet Union Olympic skaters. More than 120 world records have been achieved Jardines del Pedregal The largest urban development of Mexico City in the mid 40’s, was undertaken by Louis Barragan in the lava fields of El Pedregal. Tugendhat Villa One of the early and not so well known Mies van der Rohe works, recently restored and opened for the public. Apart from its architectural qualities it is great to get an impression of the wedd Glendalough Glendalough in irish means “glen of the two lakes” and it is a glacial valley, with a ruined village and a 6th century monastery. It is the most visited attraction in Ireland and great for nature lovers Cappuccini Catacombs In Palermo from late 16th century till 1957 a lot of people wanted to be buried in the catacombs of the Cappuccini Monks, who claimed to have a mysterious preservative that mumm Sanzhi If you find yourselves in Taiwan and you are not superstitious, you should pay a visit to the Sanzhi housing complex. Initiated in the 60’s, the project was abandoned because of rumors for numerous accid Angkor Wat Cambodia The 8th – 13th centrury Temple City, said to be build by Gods or by Giants, was discovered in 1860 confirming the legends of a lost city of a Cambodian empire. Half a million people a y Corviale Corviale is a 1km long social housing building in the periphery of Rome. It was completed in 1983 and it is now home to 9.500 tenants. Completely outdated is now a ghetto with high criminality and un
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B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 |architectural not-spots
The Park of Fallen Heroes
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Moskow, Russia
ingrad - Lithuania
medeu ice rink
Almaty, Kazachstan
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a kalambaka
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hotel in sanzhi
ece
mbs
Sanzhi, Taiwan
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Angkor wat Angkor, Cambodia
me of them are still in use. e for every architect [or not] interested in adaptable housing typologies. y find in films. No wonder Cremaster 5 was filmed there!
he building is considered a Bauhaus style example, and the bauhaus museum that it houses is much more interesting than the famous school in Weimar.
only to start being renovated again. A project that is so bad, yet so good that you have to check out and decide for yourselves. ne can find the statue of Stalin with a broken nose, next to the stone heads meant to symbolize his victims. here. Best choice for winter sports enthusiasts.
ding gifts that fathers used to give to their daughters. s and wild life adventurers. mified the dead. A lot of the dead are still remarkably alive, and visitors can have a chat with Men, Women, Virgins, Professors, including the famous painter Velasquez. dents and deaths during construction. Demolishing homes of the spirits is a taboo in Asian culture so there will be plenty of time to visit, if you cannot make it this summer. year are visiting the site, which evoked a series of riots in 2003, when a Thai soap opera actress claimed that Angkor Wat belonged to Thailand. nemployment, yet attracting a lot of architecture and art projects, aiming to fill in the gap between the architectural mistakes and the ordinary lives of people.
B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | architectural not-spots
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open up the ca “This incredible emphasis on social interaction, this must be something
by Ania Molenda (MSc 4)
Normally architects keep on commenting on everything that is built in a wrong way, on everything that should be rebuild and everything that should be demolished. They just seek for an occasion to make things better and make them their way. Few months ago the entire Bouwkunde was boiling with criticism and discussions about what was wrong, but now when we do have the chance to change something, we shut up and play football in the nice open field we got as a substitution for the building, which we criticized for being cold and closed up in compartments. Why are we hesitating to ask those questions again when we finally have the chance to give answers?
Just few days after the fire, while the entire community of Bouwkunde was still in deep shock, they started asking themselves questions. What about the new opportunities? What about the new building? The competition? Will we as students be able to take part in the shaping process of the new environment for teaching architecture at TU Delft? How can we mobilize ourselves, but also students, and employees from other faculties, to take part in a discussion about the forthcoming? Joost van Uden (just graduated from the Industrial Design), Vlad Vergu (student of IT) and Danny Sutjahjo (graduate student at Industrial Design in creative facilitation) all from the so called outside of architecture, on the opening day of the BK Campus (on Monday the 19th of May) were already there with the t-shirts and the idea to get everybody together at a large melting pot of ideas about what next? It started with the t-shirt, than were the phone calls, meetings with the Dean Witze Patijn and the Rector Magnificus Jacob Fokkema, and so it grew from a one-night brainstorm to a weekend workshop opened to everybody who wanted to fantasize constructively about the new building for Bouwkunde. They didn’t wait a moment to give their ideas a spin. – We called the Rector on Sunday and he actually liked it – said Joost and Vrad - he was happy for such an initiative to take place, for the energy to be there without asking questions for the time of the day. Wytze Patijn helped us to get the jury together in such a short time, but the rest emerged from the grassroots initiative and was purely dependent on us. Driven by one crucial thing - to get together a large amount of people from different fields to share ideas, the ‘Creative Festival’ took place in the BK Campus on the 7th and 8th of June. So instead of silently thinking things through and occasionally
discussing them with friends there was a chance to bring our thoughts out to he daylight and to the broader audience.
The fruits of spreading around Maybe you need to be from the outside of BK to ask those questions straight away, but there is surely a necessity to ask them and apparently there is no time to hesitate and wait for the discussion to start by itself. Perhaps that is why the initiative of ‘Building for Bouwkunde’ came from the fresh point of view of the ones that were able to take a look from the distance and react fast. It appeared not only just in time but also became one of the elements that built this, what struck us in the liveliness of the BK Campus. Namely, this energy, which emerged in our new temporary location and gave everyone a lot to think about - why wasn’t it like this before? Suddenly we started to like something about this whole tragic situation, which however being extremely difficult became a carrier of something fruitful. Paradoxically helping us to consolidate and find a way to communicate among ourselves and with the others. Creating somewhat larger openness, which was one of the main objectives of the ‘Creative Festival’. And it was somehow ingeniously matching this bustling atmosphere of crowded grass fields and noisy roofs flopping in the wind. It was about building stronger relations and stronger ideas by cooperating together. Opening our heads not only for the new future but also to the new ways of thinking.
Vlad afterwards. – We didn’t want them to follow the standard design process where you come up with a form very fast. Maybe it sounds ignorant because we are not architects, but we have the feeling, that if you start your volumetric studies with cubes your building will be in the end a composition of cubes. Our aim was rather to go from idea to idea to idea to a concept – where form is not involved at all, and where in every step you take, you make your statement stronger and more coherent. The process and the postponement of form were the two driving forces for managing the workshop. That is why we got ‘Creative Facilitation’ involved, which is a method for managing a creative collaboration based on negotiation, filtering of ideas, merging them and making your concept strong by combining many different points of view. For some it was not easy and somewhat surprising to work like that, but in the end a lot of people found it very inspiring – explained the organizers. While receiving the prize from the hands of Ole Bouman, the leader of the winning team said: “We would like to thank our facilitator for helping us to open our minds. Normally we don’t work like this, we make an analysis…you know the ‘Delft way’…“
Inspiring ourselves and the others
Perhaps it was one of the most striking and honest expressions of the festival – questioning if this ‘Delft way’ isn’t in fact too much constraining for the students to go beyond certain schemes. Taking a look at the winning proposal and relating it to the words of the winners it could be, that we do need a stronger exchange with other ‘pools of knowledge’1 at the TU and we do need this entrepreneurial and social approach to learning that the winners proposed.
We asked the groups to work on a vision, not on a design and we must admit that they succeeded in getting out of their daily routine – said Joost and
The key words The workshop gave a diverse outcome – say the organizers, but they also admit that there were many overlaps among the final statements of 12 groups composed of about 60 people. I felt somewhat disappointed that there were so many identical key words in the presentations, you could almost predict what the next group was going to say. And whenever those words recurred all over again my mind tended to generate a sequence of ignorant: “blah, blah, blah” and switch off. But as Ole Bouman noted in his final speech - there must be something in the air about this social participation that appeared in every single presentation and he had a feeling that it was going deeper beyond the mere inspiration by the provisional and integrating character of the tents. Perhaps it is a form of a common statement, which concerns us all as professionals. “Why is the faculty that is the most interested in society the furthest away from it?” - asked members of the group Wij-Zij. “The faculty has to be open for everybody as a space and as a building” – argued No Lobster “Instead of the ivory tower we had, it is a public
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B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | report
ans! that is in the air today…” Ole Bouman
horizontal activity with all this connections to the city” - proposed Minellium Looking beyond the cliché’s, the fact that this mixture of people in the end shared so many conclusions must be a sign that there is a strong urge for: more networked and open community, interaction within the faculty and with the outside of it, flexibility and blurred borders which will prevent us from closing up in the ‘cans fighting over budget’2 again. However the presentations shared a lot, inbetween the common key words there were still some strong and intriguing statements among which the most striking were: - Turning Mekelweg into a street of BK by locating the faculty closer to the heart of the campus (in the current cemetery) and giving it more opportunities to establish a connection between us and them – the rest of the campus and the inhabitants of the city of delft (Wij-Zij). - Location of the new faculty on the rugby field where around one core modest building students would have space and possibility to build up their own learning environments (Test TU). - Proposing knowledge constellations instead of standard forms of teaching in order to give an exchange between students and employees more networked and free structure (no lobster). - Introducing an entrepreneurial character to the
faculty by merging it with multiple interdisciplinary institutions (Minellium). All in all, there had to be winners. The organizers decided to give three prizes: the professional jury Grand Master Award (Dirk Jan van den Berg, Ole Bouman, Jan Jongert, Wytze Patijn, Michiel Riedijk, Jacob van Rijs, Fons Verheijen), the Stylos Students’ Choice Award and the People’s Choice Award, received respectively by the teams Minellium, Borderless and Wij-Zij. During the very long final speech the chairman of the professional jury,
Ole Bouman, explained that, one of the reasons why the winner became the winner, was that not only alike all other teams they denied to submit to the requirements set by the jury, but also have presented a strong criticism towards the status quo. The jury has set three rules, which were supposed to help them choose the winner, but as a matter of a fact they were unable to judge the projects by their criteria of: sustainability, learning environment and architectural articulation. Instead they decided to replace them with three new rule focused on: social interaction, creating an atmosphere and designing the process over designing the form. Our main objective for the new BK should be opening up the cans we used to be! – argued the winning team, while theatrically opening the jar of red cabbage standing for Winy Maas’ Why Factory. We should engage in a larger system of connections between people, students, teachers and institutions to share knowledge and give opportunities. Why aren’t we cooperating? Why for instance can’t NAi commission building exhibition models to the students of BK, who apart from being cheap labor are also willing to learn?
After Asked about their hopes concerning the influence of the ‘Creative Festival’ on the future - Joost and Vlad responded: We hoped to have inspired not only the participants but also the problem owners, so that the outcome of the workshop would help to form the base for the competition and will become a part of the entry materials for its participants. We think we managed to convince them to take into account the voice of the entire community, but we can only hope that our work will be used and that instead making another spectacular, beautiful building designed by some ‘starchitect’ TU Delft will have a good and innovative faculty. The creative festival as an event has finished but the initiative will still go on. The organizers as well as the winning team will go to Venice Biennale to present their point of view on the theme which seems to have been tailored for them – “Out
B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | report
There – Architecture Beyond Building”. There is a big chance that what concerns us will attract a larger audience and this chance should be used to make this discussion more powerful and give a way to the emergent ideas to grow better and stronger. ‘Building for Bouwkunde’ does not have a plan yet what they are going to present in Venice but they know they want it to be a continuation of what they already did and want to use the material they already have from the workshop to develop something more. Even though I might have expected more of strong statements, more fresh provocation and surprising ideas from the participants as well as some more demanding and sharp questions from the jury, who instead of triggering a discussion focused on executing their three objectives that came out to be irrelevant, I still think this event was a great initiative. It dropped an important seed of taking an active and conscious approach towards shaping our future environment. I hope that apart from being a successful event, Building for Bouwkunde will remain an impulse for every each of us to speak up and act - together. <b
1. expression used by the team ‘No Lobster’ in their presentation during the Creative Festival 2. expression used in relation to the old Bouwkunde building by the team Minellium in their presentation during the Creative Festival
for the results check: buildingforbouwkunde.nl
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Jorrit Stelma
Jorrit Stelma
Hol van binnen De pre-tentamenweek. De universiteitsbibliotheek zit propvol. Mijn laptop met draadloze modem biedt uitkomst. Ik ben niet langer gebonden aan een gebouw om mijn werk te doen, maar aan een ruimte, of eigenlijk eerder een domein, gedefinieerd door het bereik van onzichtbaar opgestelde internetsignaalversterkers. Ik besluit dat ik bovenop de bieb ook wel beschermd ben tegen afleiding. Uiteraard blijkt dit een vergissing. Studenten met koffie hebben luide discussies. Verkeer raast voorbij. Een drietal kinderen holt, zo snel als dat gaat in die richting, langs mij de heuvel op. Afleiding alom.
Fields of BK What do you think of the Hoofdgebouw as the temporary house of Bouwkunde?
Wouter Oosterdorp Msc 4 Great! Good! I am for it! I guess I feel sorry that I won’t be there!
Maar dan realiseer ik me iets. Ik zit helemaal niet op een heuvel. Toch heeft het er alle schijn van. Voor beklimmen, op de helling zitten, of van af de top uit te kijken hoef ik me niet anders te gedragen dan bij een echte heuvel. Is dat element van de bieb niet architectuur in haar puurste vorm? Is dat niet wat de essentie van architectuur is? De natuur kopiëren? Miguel Robles-Duran (Urban Asymetries, DSD) It brings us closer to the city center, this should be our objective! I don’t know how we can fit in there, but it looks big enough! We should get some decent coffee in the new building.
Een elementaire menselijke behoefte, denk ik. Ik vermoed dan ook dat de eerste architect een holbewoner geweest is, omdat deze in principe al in staat was om aan deze behoefte gehoor te geven. Stel, een paar grotten worden bewoond door holbewoners en een van hen komt later aan. Alle grotten zijn al bezet. Aan de rand van de nederzetting houden ze nieuwkomers al tegen. Of jagen ze weg met wapens of misschien zelfs al honden. ‘Dan bouw ik toch potverdorie m’n eigen grot.’ Reageert de eerste architect.
Machiel van Dorst (coordinator Explorelab, etc) I have mixed feelings. I like the building and the architecture, but the problem is that I came to the Hoofdgebouw in 1984 to study computer science and I thought it was a horrible course! Now it is a second beginning. It is nice that we move to a building with history, you don’t find so much history in this university. However, the building is not fireproof! Rob Reintjes Msc4 I think it is a nice temporary solution. Here it is too noisy and in the winter it will be freezing! That building is already there and we are not here to party, we are here to study so we need a building. I also think it is better than moving to Rotterdam for example, this building is even closer to the central station!
Hij zal natuurlijk niet heel erg succesvol geweest zijn. Omdat hij niet tot meer in staat was dan takken als een afdakje of afbakening te rangschikken, zal het resultaat bescheiden geweest zijn. Wij zouden, als we het nu konden zien, classificeren als een hutje of een tent. En in de ogen van de andere holbewoners zal het beschouwd worden als een slechte kopie van een grot. En omdat ik in genetisch en antropologich opzicht nauwelijks verschil van een holbewoner denk ik dat ik deze mening maar ga delen: Een tent is een inferieure grot. En zodoende krijgt u les in inferieure grotten. Hele grote geavanceerde grotten, maar toch. Zou dat zijn waarom ze zo weinig gebruikt worden?
Robert Nottrot (Housing & Formstudies) No feelings actually. I was always living like a nomad. I think that an old building allows us to be very creative with it. We can do all kinds of things without restrictions, I hope. Glann Resadihardjo Msc2 It’s perfect!
En dat zou ook die ‘holbewoners’ met honden aan de noodfaculteit ingangen verklaren. Misschien omdat ik postbode geweest ben, maar elke keer als ik er langs loop ben ik bang dat die honden op me los gelaten worden. Waarom hebben beveiligingsprofessionals die op het vlak van sporenonderzoek niets doen, honden nodig? Ze controleren trouwens maar twee van de drie ingangen; over nutteloosheid gesproken. Misschien omdat ze niet de studenten en hun spullen beschermen, maar een idee. Namelijk dat onze noodfaculteit een heuse stad is: BK-City. Laat me niet lachen. Een tent is helemaal geen grot. En een camping is geen stad. Laat u niet voor de gek houden; mensen zijn van zichzelf al gek genoeg. Toch geloof ik wel dat er een stad op onze campus te vinden is. Het is een wonderlijke plaats waar de uitwisseling van ideeën en kennis een hoge snelheid en niveau bereiken. Architecten moeten denk ik beseffen dat deze stad extreme invloed zal hebben op hoe we tegen architectuur aan kijken en dat we er in de toekomst anders mee om zullen moeten gaan. Hoe kom ik daar, vraagt u zich misschien af? Met een laptop.
Saman Mahammadi Msc2 It’s better than the old building! It is bigger and it is a nice building.
Anna Dzokic (Stealth) I don’t know anything about that building.
Marc Neelen (Stealth) I would favor to stay in the tents to preserve the feeling of temporality, which a building with such a dominant structure doesn’t have.
Akkelies van Nes (Urban Renewal) I really like the architecture because it is very typical of its time. I had a course there and I really liked it. It has this feeling of monumentalism and it is closer to the city center.
Pascal Hentshel Msc2 It’s from DUWO, no?
Tanya Martinez Msc2 Better than the tents. In the winter here, it will be very cold!
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B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | fields of BK
Carlo Morsiany Msc2 Although I won’t be here next year, I trust the Dutch efficiency, to do a good job!
“The Architecture Annual” with the symposium “Architectural footprints” This year, the theme of the festivities around the publication of the Architecture Annual (edition 2006-2007) was sustainability in our built environment. Under the header Architectural Footprints there was a focus on the influence of buildings on their surroundings, and the responsibility designers have in this process. It was the first time the publication of the Annual had a theme, and the first time there was a symposium to accompany it, focusing on three research projects published in the book.
Host of the afternoon was Professor dr.ir. Anke van Hal, working since November 2007 as professor of practice in Sustainable Housing Transformation, in the department of Real Estate and Housing. Together with colleagues from the other departments she is responsible for the coordination of sustainability research in the faculty. For the symposium three researchers, ir. Rob Geraerdts, dr.ir. Machiel van Dorst and dr.ir. Andy van den Dobbelsteen each presented their ideas on the possibilities we as architects and builders have on dealing with contemporary problems.
By Floris van der Zee & Marten Dashorst
New life for old buildings Real Estate and Housing researchers Rob Geraerdts and Theo van der Voordt presented their research, titled “New life for old buildings”. According to the authors, there are a number of aspects and signs confirming the importance of the reuse of buildings. Firstly, there is a shortage of houses in the Netherlands. On the other side, there is a large number of offices, churches and industrial buildings that are unoccupied at the moment. Thirdly, there is not enough space inside
the cities to develop new projects. Fourthly and finally, there is the question of sustainability. By not demolishing a building, but rather giving it a second life, large amounts of energy and materials are saved, this being both durable and sustainable. With the development of a ‘Transformation Potential Meter’, research can be done on the potentials of the reuse of a building. Using a ‘quick scan’ a preliminary estimation can be made, saving a lot of initial research. This phase can be seen as a go/
no-go process. If the ‘quick scan’ shows potential, the next phase can be initiated, which is the use of a ‘feasibility scan’. If this shows a building can be reused, the next step is to find an actual occupant. For the housing of potential occupants, five target groups have been established during the research. All these groups are plausible users when it comes to the transformation of buildings in inner city areas. The shortage in housing could be reduced by realizing housing units in these empty buildings. ir. Rob Geraerdts
CO2 Neutral City Machiel van Dorst and Elsbeth Ronner (Urbanism) researched the ‘CO2 Neutral City’. Just like any other institution or corporation, cities want to do their part for the climate as well. Policies with the goal of reduction in CO2 emissions and energy neutrality are being implemented everywhere, for example in the Hague. The city by the sea wants to be CO2 free in 2050, where Rotterdam on the other hand wants to halve their emissions by 2025. These plans not only aid the climate, they can also prove to be a boost for the ‘green’ image of a city. It is striking to see that not all cities take their traf-
fic into account, making it a lot easier to accomplish set goals. The problem in the Netherlands is that lawmakers decide on the policy for a climate neutral city, often rendering decisions invisible. Research shows however there are a lot of possibilities for designers to play a role here, especially where it comes to spatial qualities considering mobility, green and density in relation to the climate of a possibly sustainable city. All they have to do is make use of their experience in participatory design processes. Next to that, urban designers know how to deal with goals over an extremely long pe-
riod of time, without having to worry about the reduction of for example CO2 emissions. A fine example of how it could be done is the Brazilian city of Curitiba. This city was even dubbed a how-to for city planning and urban reconstruction in Afghanistan by UNESCO. In Curitiba a highly efficient public transport system was realized, reducing carbon emissions, even though this was not an initial goal. The former mayor or the city, Jaime Lerner, architect and urbanist, was largely responsible for these transformations.
dr.ir. Machiel van Dorst
Energy Potential Mapping The third presentation was on ‘Climate Design’ as part of the department of Building Technology. Andy van den Dobbelsteen showed maps on ‘Energy Potential Mapping’, explaining how a sustainable spatial planning of any area can be based on the efficient use of the local energy potential. Through mapping exercises the sustainable ambitions for the future and their effects on
spatial planning were explained. A research conducted in the province of Groningen showed that 50 per cent of the current demand in energy in the area can be taken care of with proposed local solutions. Without having to get the better part of ones energy demand from other, potentially instable parts of the world, realistic solutions exist. Planning based on ‘Energy Potential Mapping’
implicates spatial actions that are different from the contemporary paradigm. Combining functions will result in a very fine and delicate planning, focused on the quality of living. According to the research, observing the characteristics and qualities of an area will bring both the problem and the solution closer to the population, indirectly forcing them to feel more responsible for their actions. dr.ir. Andy van den Dobbelsteen
Debate & handing over The final presentation, on ‘Super-Use’, was by Jan Jongert of 2012Architecten. Super-Use (www.superuse.org) is an online community for designers with a focus on innovative approaches to reuse and recycling. A pleasant diversion from the more scientific presentation by the dif-
ferent research groups, Jan Jongert’s presentation focused mainly on practice and built work. The final debate, moderated by Piet Vollaard (director of ArchiNed), focused on the development of a general agenda, unifying all the different ap-
B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | The architecture annual
proaches that were shown during the afternoon. Unfortunately, a rather vague discussion ensued that was more on terminology than content. Closing the event was the handing over of the first Architecture Annual to the Dean, Wytze Pa-
tijn, by Professor dr.ir. Ulrich Knaack. Honouring the theme, the outside of the book was donned in lime green. A lime green that was nevertheless quickly hidden inside an extra paper, showing a photo of our burnt down faculty building.
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bouwkundebitter Het bittere lot van ons prachtige gebouw laat een zure smaak achter. Een goede wijn streelt alle delen van verhemelte en tong, en wel in zodanige mate dat geen overdreven nasmaak achterblijft, maar een melange - zij het met een ondertoon. Mij bevallen dergelijke wijndruiven met een ‘bittere’ grondtoon – de Malbec, de Carmenère… Het Bouwkundebouwwerk was een prachtfles, met wijn uit een mooi jaar – opeens is de kurk voortijdig lek, een scheur in het glas zelfs, en weg is die heerlijke smaak, louter bitter blijft over. Terugrazend over ’s Heren dreven, komend uit Frankrijk, was het eerste wat ik op zondagavond 1 juni in Nederland deed: afslaan bij Delft. Een uur lang probeerde ik enorme rondjes te rijden, teneinde ons gebouw van alle kanten te kunnen zien. Bodyguards die het lijk wat te laat tegen iets leken te beveiligen – of wellicht mij tegen het gebouw – ontzegden me zelfs de toegang tot het tentenkamp. Geen ‘pas’ bij me… Maar wat ik van alle kanten zag was een geblakerde bonk beton – en vooral ook het beeld van de foto’s uit de kranten waarop ik alle kamers aan de Westzijde zag verdwijnen, waarin ik vijfendertig jaar de goede zaak heb gediend… Het is ook zuur om postuum over het gebouw te mogen schrijven, nadat ik nog pas enkele maanden geleden in de Grote Vergaderzaal een groots afscheid van de club vierde. Er werd godbetert een ‘Facultair Testament’ gepubliceerd met allerlei, in mijn ogen, verstandige adviezen aan de
zittende Decaan. De Stalen Pad voor het gebouw zag ik graag verwijderd – en wat bleef er na de vuurzee staan? De Pad... Mijn wil is geen wet. Ooit schreef ik ooit een ironisch stukje over het opengooien van de studeerkamers door middel van glazen ruiten, en tegen de verloederende panoptisering die het gebouw van al haar erotiek beroofde. De brandweer kon natuurlijk wel beter haar werk doen, maar toch… Letterlijk: “Die ene hypothetisch verkoolde collega weegt toch niet op tegen al dat reële, verborgen genot.” Nu moet ik – nederig – Onze Lieve Heer op mijn blote knieën danken dat - wellicht dankzij die vervloekte glazen panelen - iedereen heelhuids naar buiten is gekomen.
Sic transit gloria mundi – zowel de fysieke wereld van bergen, rivierdalen en gebouwen, als de geestelijke wereld van ideeën en meningen. Maar helemaal ironisch was ik niet – zoals geen ironicus ooit geheel ironisch is. Net als met die goede wijnsmaak is er steeds een bloedserieuze ondertoon. De zelfde God die ik in een vorige alinea bedankte, verhoede dat een dergelijke panoptische ‘openheid’ de toekomstige faculteit zal beheersen. Ergens in een blad meende ik Decaan Patijn te hebben horen beweren dat hij de nieuwe opzet in het tentenkamp beschouwt als een spiegel voor zijn ideaal van een toekomstige faculteit, geheel bestaande uit flexibele, open werkplaatsen. Herzbergers kantoortuin ‘resurrected’ - zeg maar. Het lijkt me dodelijk voor het intellect.
Rectificatie
Van Hal heeft heeft nooit voor het Amerikaanse adviesbureau The Green Round Table gewerkt, zoals in het artikel staat vermeld. Wel heeft ze veel met mensen van dit bureau contact gehad toen ze in de Verenigde Staten onderzoek deed naar de marktkansen van duurzame woningbouw.
Door een fout is in B_Nieuws 12 (mei 2008) een verkeerde versie van het interview met prof. Anke van Hal (duurzame woningtransformatie) geplaatst. Het gepubliceerde interview bevat enkele feitelijke onjuistheden.
Sierksma
Architecten, stedenbouwers – noem ze maar – hebben toch niet alleen behoefte aan ‘open communicatie’, ‘brainstorming op de werkvloer’ en meer van dat fraais. Vast ook wel – maar wellicht met mate. In mijn ‘Afscheidstirade’ zei ik: “Zeker in het afgelopen decennium zag ik mijn leerlingen verworden tot magische aanbidders van de Groten der Architectuur, en tot lezers van minimale stukskens tekst.” Me dunkt dat veel afzondering bevorderlijk is voor het keren van deze trend…
nen, incluis het voetbalveld met het tentenkamp.
In mijn ‘Testament’ noteerde ik hoe inspirerend en gezellig het ooit was, toen tijdens bijna Frans bemeten pauzes stafleden en studenten eindeloos zaten te debatteren met het schuim op de bek en brood in de hand, gezeten aan de Weeber-tafels. Zoiets is prima voor een ‘esprit de corps’. Maar het is dan wel de bedoeling om zich daarna te kunnen afzonderen, om daar op te kunnen gaan in moeilijke en moeizaam te verwerven kennis. Dat is altijd een sobere en eenzame aangelegenheid geweest.
Heer, behoedt ons voor een ‘statement’ van weer zo’n ijdele architect. En Heer - U zult moeten oppassen, want zo’n buitenkansje laten al die hotshots niet graag aan zich voorbij gaan – deze pomo-Blitzkrieger staan al te dringen voor de tent van de decaan…
Ook de nieuwbouw lijkt me sober te moeten zijn – een universitaire faculteit waardig. In ma douce France deed ik - electronisch volstrekt incommunicado – per krantenknipsel de surreële ervaring op van kijken naar een lijk van een gebouw, zonder dit feit mentaal te kunnen accepteren. Ik kon niet zien wat ik zag… Vanuit La Roche schreef ik een condoleance-kaart aan Wytze, met aan de beeldzijde een door Lloyd Wright zelf getekende versie van een van zijn mooiste Prairie Houses. En ik stelde onze decaan voor om daarvan gewoon een replica of zes neer te zetten - op de huidige terreiVan Hal is aan het Centre for Sustainability van de Universiteit Nyenrode verbonden als hoogleraar Sustainable Building, niet als onderzoeker Het vooroorlogse Wallisblok in de Rotterdamse wijk Spangen is ten onrechte aangeduid als voorbeeld van woningbouw uit de jaren zestig.
Prachtige, sobere paviljoens zouden het worden – geen kapsonesvleugels voor zelfbenoemde Groten uit de Architectuur, die daarin veeleer een sarcofaag voor hun eigen roem aanrichten dan er universitaire kennis te onderrichten. Vooral moeten die paviljoens worden uitgerust met veel kleine stiltecellen voor studenten die toch nog willen studeren…
Wytze, laat je niet als een vulgaire, onbenullige PvdA-wethouder van Bouwzaken verleiden om ‘je stempel te willen zetten’ op de TU-wijk - ‘om iets van jezelf voor het nageslacht achter te willen laten…’ Ga niet, als je eenmaal tachtig bent, als een overjarige ouderling staan patsen bij weer een nieuwe neo-kerk, die je dan trots aan je familie toont – “Mijn gebouw!” Laat je tegen die tijd met terughoudende trots op iets moois en sobers kunnen wijzen - zeg maar op een paviljonaire, universitaire faculteit.
10 juni 2008 En de url van de webpagina waar Van Hals intreerede valt te bekijken, moet zijn: http://collegerama.tudelft.nl/mediasite/ Viewer/?peid=37aed48d-7922-41b5-b7ef-6bfc103dad6f
winner
Studenten BK behalen 1e en 3e plaats Archiprix De Nederlandse ontwerp-opleidingen selecteren jaarlijks hun beste afstudeerplannen voor deelname aan Archiprix. And the winners are... Studenten van de faculteit Bouwkunde hebben de 1ste en de 3de plaats behaald: Eerste prijs: Poliphili in de uiterwaarde - Ruud Smeelen Derde prijs: PowerFlood - A power plant and recreation complex in Zeeland - Shany Barath & Gary Freedman Meer informatie op www.archiprix.nl/
hello goodbye
Farewell Celebration On Monday 7 July 2008 the Farewell Celebration takes place. The Farewell Celebration is an event organised to give our international students the opportunity to say goodbye to TU Delft and their fellow students. 13:30 - 18:00, Aula TU Delft
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B_Nieuws 13 | july 03, 2008 | news
From 1st of March 2008, Dirk Jan van den Berg is the new President of the Executive Board of the TU Delft. Due to the fire he is already well known at our Faculty. He describes himself in the following words: optimist, forward drive, strategy, history, sailing and running.
Behind Glass
Who do you admire for his or her style?
Kofi Annan
What is the most beautiful building for you? CCTV building - Beijing, China
Your favorite author? Philip Roth
Biggest fear? Emptiness
What is your best and worst quality? best: focused, decisive; worst: impatience
What does your house look like? 19th century, modern details
If you could be the prime minister for one day, what would you change? Shift from minimizing dissatisfaction towards optimizing satisfaction
Who or what do you dislike that much that you take a d-tour? Will never go that far, simply look the other way
What was/is your favorite toy? Lego
Your favorite website?
http://www.google.com
what is your biggest irritation?
fools
Your favorite movie? A Beautiful Mind B_Nieuws 13 | juli 03, 2008 | behind glass
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
july
week 27 July 3
‘MidZomerNachtFeest’
party! drink! last time before the summer! stylos.nl
July 4
‘chanel mobiel art’
The last day of Zaha Hadid’s container of contemporary art in Tokyo. Destinations to follow: New York, London, Moscow and Paris chanel-mobileart.com
London Festival of Architecture Welcome to the London Festival of Architecture 2008, a celebration and exploration of the city’s buildings, streets and spaces with over 600 exhibitions, lectures, public space installations, guided walks, bicycle rides, boat tours, parties, design workshops and debates. The buzz of activity over the month of the Festival will move across five key ‘Hubs’, with large-scale public events taking place in a different Hub each weekend. This massive programme reflects the amazing vitality of London’s architectural scene. The theme of this year’s Festival is Fresh! – we are exhorting visitors to take a fresh look at London, to indulge in fresh thinking, to enjoy the fresh talent on show and the fresh air of the walks and rides. With the Olympics on the horizon, the Festival celebrates London as a creative hub, a focus for international debate and as a city transformed. We look forward to seeing you there.
July 5/6
‘Jazz in Charlois’
Music festival in Rotterdam 05-06 July jazzincharlois.nl/
week 28 July 7
‘farewell celebration’
‘How to burn your Building’
aaschool.ac.uk/summerschool/
exhibition and talk at MoreLondon/ Parkside Pavilion at 5pm.
-July 15
July 13-August 3
Exhibition on the 7 proposals for a new library in Utrecht.
lfa2008.org/
‘Bouwen aan scholen in Leiden’
exhibition on 6 different schools in and around Leiden. rapsite.nl/
‘Bibliotheek++’
cu2030.nl/projecten/bibliotheek/
‘In Cyprus Relax as Architects reinterpret’
Participating architects are asked to go beyond their normal limits and reinterpret one or a combination of 8 topics: the beach and its provisions, argo tourism, the coffee house and public open space, cyprus - the love island, the contemplation of the historic object, the souvenir shop, the boring hotel terrace, and the limitations of ‘meze & wine’ establishments. relaxincyprus.org/
-July 20
‘Flooded London’
Flooded London exhibition, held at Medcalf Gallery in Clerkenwell, presents a series of images depicting Squint Opera’s long-term view of how London’s population has adapted to raised sea levels.
July 20-October 19
‘Serpentine Gallery’
this year designed by Frank Gehry serpentinegallery.org/
august week 31 august 1
‘Student Health Design Award’
lfa2008.org/
week 32 week 33 week 34-35 Exhibition august 11 Competition ‘Bartlett Architecture Summer Psycho Buildings: Artists and ‘Green Earth’ Architecture 27 august: closing date for submitSchool’
for any student architectural project The Bartlett Summer School 2008 will be a Micro-festival of Architecconcerning healthcare design. architectsforhealth.com/library/studen- ture. Students will explore the built thealthdesignawards/awards2008.html history of festivals from the South Bank of the Thames to the Crystal ‘Round Building Reuse : 360’ Palace looking at the events and RBR:360 asks the applicant to detheir legacy. A design based provelop their own program and locate gramme will lead to the creation of a site or sites to reuse the brise the elements of the festival. soleil of the iconic Round Building in bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture//summerschool.htm Downtown Orlando.
28 May - 25 August The exhibition brings together the work of artists who create habitat-like structures and architectural environments that are mental and perceptual spaces as much as physical ones.
august 14/15/16 ‘Project of the Year Competi- ‘Pukkelpop’
owee.nl/
rbr360.com/
tion’
Architects, interior designers, landscape architects, city planners, students and researchers are invited to submit projects that have been planned or written since 2005. International jury will include well-known architects and academics. All the works reaching the second stage will be reviewed extensively in Architecture of Israel.
After Neurath: A Safe Place - International System of Disaster Pictograms
aiq.co.il/
lfa2008.org/
august 18-21 ‘Owee’
ontvangstweek TUDelft
Hasselt, Belgium pukkelpop.be/
august 15/16/17 ‘SteeOwee’
eerstejaarsweekend Bouwkunde
ting proposals for the Green Earth, internation graphic design competition designboom.com/green_earth.html/v
Exhibition
‘3rd International Alvar Aalto meeting on Modern Architecture’
30-31 august: The 3rd International Meeting on the Research of Modern Architecture, organised by the Alvar Aalto Academy, examines the points of contact, the influences and effects, the interactions and affiliations, the correlations and cross-fertilisations, the bonds and links between thinking, designing, and building alvaraalto.fi/conferences/2008/
stylos.nl/
august 9-24 ‘EASA’
the 28th European Architecture Students Assembly in Letterfrack, Ireland easa008.ie/
summer
WEEK 28 WEEK 29 WEEK 30 WEEK 31 WEEK 32 WEEK 33 WEEK 34 WEEK 35 London Architecture Festival, June 20 - July 20 Deep Design Summer School, SPD, Milan, June - July 2008 ‘Dubai Next’, Vitra Museum, till September 14 2008 ‘The New York City Waterfalls’, Olafur Eliasson’s art piece in display in New York City, June 26 - October 13 ‘NL 28 Olympic Fire’, NAi Rotterdam, May 31 - September 21 ‘Limited/Unlimited - One Hundred Years of Dutch Design’, Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen Rotterdam, June 14 – October 12 ‘EXPO ‘58, DEJA VIEW’, Brussels, September 30 ‘Ai Weiwei’, Groninger Museum, Groningen, till November 23 2008
events
tijden: 29 juni - 31 augustus locatie: Stroom, Den Haag stroom.nl/
‘AA Summerschool’
event organised to give our interThe three week full-time AA Summer national students the opportunity to Architecture School offers an exciting say goodbye to Delft. approach to architectural design 13.30-18.00, Aula TUDelft for anyone interested in exploring architecture as a profession or as an July 11 extended field of research.
week 30 Competition
lfa2008.org/
dates: June 20 - July 20 location: London
De tentoonstelling van Derk Dumbar en zijn team bij Stroom Den Haag, richt zich op de recent ontwikkelde rampenpictogrammen, de bronnen en het onderzoek, dat uiteindelijk zal moeten leiden tot een gestandaardiseerd systeem dat de mensen in rampspoed moet wijzen naar een veilige plek. ‘A Safe Place’ is een ideologische onderneming en getuigt van het geloof in beelden als basis voor een universele communicatie die culturele verschillen overstijgt.
week 29 July 14-August 1
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B_Nieuws 06 | january B_Nieuws 07, 2008 | 13 report | july 3, 2008 | agenda