News

Mortars are recurrently damaged and in need of frequent replacement due to salt crystallization. Mortars with mixed-in inhibitors can help mitigate salt damage. The new research project MORISAL investigates how these inhibitors can create a sustainable and cost-effective answer to a recurrent and severe problem met in practice.

The second Jorma Vitkala Award of Merit was awarded to the professor of Architectural Glass for his contributions to the development of glass applications within the field of architecture.

Six articles on architecture and built environment design education have been published in the latest open access issue. Twenty staff members from all over the faculty contributed to broad range of topics.

Professor of Architectural Glass James O’Callaghan has been awarded the 2019 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal. The Institution of Structural Engineers recognises his contribution to the exploration of the behaviour and limits of structural glass to create ambitious, transparent structures.

Collaborative production in cities has the potential to promote a more circular production paradigm, engage communities, and promote urban and community development. The research project Pop Machina aims to understand the spatial and social consequences of such circular collaborative production in urban areas.

The City-Zen Roadshow visited Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. The group of international environmental experts, led by Andy van den Dobbelsteen and Craig Martin (AE+T), studied the city together with residents and created a strategy to make the city a greener and healthier place.

Good bridge design requires perfect interaction between all parties, but that is precisely where things often go wrong in modern practice, concludes PhD researcher Joris Smits. He argues for a role as ‘design integrator’ for the architect, to combat fragmentation of the design process.

During the Green Tie Gala 2019, professor Andy van den Dobbelsteen was awarded a top 3 position in the ABN AMRO Sustainable 50. This list reflects what has happened and who contributed the most to a more sustainable built environment over the past year.

The new Breeze Hotel will open in a few weeks in Amsterdam. The hotel is the first building to apply ‘Earth, wind, and fire natural air conditioning’, and uses natural processes to ventilate the near 200 rooms of the hotel. The concept was developed by Ben Bronsema, and presented within his PhD research in 2013. The performance of the concept will be monitored for a longer period to further enhance the system.

Students from BK Bouwkunde and the Czech Technical University collaborated on applying computational techniques to design and build an architectural object with a complex form. The resulting ‘Dream catcher’ is a robotically woven bio-composite structure.