News

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.

A broad international debate is paramount for urban planning education. To this end, the Bridge DOCS research project aims to connect students from online courses with students in on-campus classrooms. Igor Tempels Moreno Pessoa and Roberto Rocco received a Comenius Teaching Fellowship grant of € 50.000,- to develop the necessary platform. They will start with connecting first year Urbanism students with students from the MOOC ‘Rethink the city’.

Automated mobility is likely to happen and will significantly change cities. The symposium ‘Robocar and Urban Space Evolution’ looked at automated mobility in the context of sustainability, and the future of urban planning and design. A summary of the symposium and further reflections on the theme are now available through the open access publication of the same name on the BK Books platform.

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.

For a successful intervention on cultural heritage buildings, the effectiveness and compatibility of conservation materials and techniques should be assessed prior to application. The new Heritage & Technology Lab has been set up to develop and assess solutions for the conservation of historic buildings.

As of 1 April 2019, Co Verdaas has been appointed as the new dijkgraaf of the Water Board Rivierenland. The position of dijkgraaf within a water board is the equivalent of the position of mayor within a municipality council.

Dutch housing associations are very keen on sustainability, but when it comes down to it, costs are the decisive factor. This is the conclusion of Sandra Hoomans in her PhD research. “Strategic considerations on making housing stock more sustainable should also be based on ecological values.”

A trombe wall with phase-changing materials can ensure a much lower energy consumption of buildings. That becomes evident in the DoubleFace 2.0 research project. State-of-the-art technologies breathe new life into this age-old heat control method.

In the Spring semester of 2019, BK Bouwkunde welcomes Dhaka-based architect Marina Tabassum as visiting professor. Tabassum is celebrated for her focus on local culture, climate, materials and history. On 21 March, she will kick of her visiting professorship with her public lecture 'Cross-cultural approaches in architecture'.

The Dutch Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) will present the KIVI Academic Society Award to Andy van den Dobbelsteen, professor Climate Design & Sustainability, on 18 March, the Day of the Engineer. Van den Dobbelsteen is awarded for his years of pioneering in the field of sustainable construction and for his distinctive presence in the debate on climate change.