Archive

Spatial integration of new buildings in an existing environment is food for much discussion, while it in fact is not about words. Studies should focus on forms and patterns, if the goal is to achieve historical continuity in an urban design, concludes Jiaxiu Cai in her PhD research.

Many cities form on the banks of rivers, but that does not mean that city and water are integrated by definition. PhD researcher Claudiu Forgaci investigated how better designed river corridors can contribute to a more resilient and more liveable city.



The winning design for a new stair case of the BK Expo physically and visually connects the exhibition space with the surrounding spaces. The design by Veerle Alkemade and Sanne Sophie Hoogkamer is the winning design of the Stylos Scala design competition.

The new BK Lab for innovations offers a creative space to develop new innovations and to make cutting-edge research visible within the faculty. The new Lab, located at BG.West.200, offers a communal space where researchers can interact and push the boundaries of their research projects.

A new collaboration with the Dutch installation sector has resulted in the creation of the Chair of Building Services Innovations. The chair will be directed to the academic development of innovative building services and support of this part of the building industry, which has a pivotal role to play in the challenges of sustainability and quality of life.

Together with producers and clients, researchers from BK Bouwkunde and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) developed a prototype circular kitchen. This kitchen can be renewed almost indefinitely and adjusted to individual preferences, meaning it is a kitchen for life.

Uta Pottgiesser has been appointed Professor of Heritage & Technology. She will continue the cutting-edge research programme on the technical aspects of architectural heritage, which is vital for the sound restoration of historical buildings.

The knowledge programme Smart Urban Regions of the Future deals with societal challenges. Two research projects from BK Bouwkunde have been funded in the latest round of the SURF knowledge programme: research into future spatial patterns of grocery shopping and research into sustainable urban riverfronts.

Spatial quality is still too often neglected in interventions to keep the water out. That is unnecessary, concludes PhD candidate Anne Loes Nillesen. First list the technical possibilities, then develop an integrated solution in consultation with all relevant parties.

During the last week of the Venice Biennale, BK Bouwkunde organised a closing ceremony of research exhibition BK Booths. Content makers, current students and colleagues, alumni, and professionals gathered at Palazzo Mora to discover the BK Booths.

The Resilient Island Foundation was founded by five students of BK Bouwkunde. Their goal is to implement a circular economy of food and waste in the world’s most isolated communities. Their first project ‘Maldives Matter’ was selected as one of the five finalists at the TEDx Award in Amsterdam, out of 200 applications.

In the eyes of many practitioners, the architectural profession is undergoing a process of devaluation. To shed light on long-term trends within the profession, BK Bouwkunde starts a sociologic study on professionalisation of practitioners in architecture in collaboration with the ArchiScienza Foundation. This foundation stimulates activities on the intersection of architecture and science in the widest sense.

Together with the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (CHA), BK Bouwkunde TU Delft developed a digital natural stone library. The considerable collections of natural stone of both the RCE and the TU Delft are now easily accessible. Thus, identification and application of natural stone becomes more effortless for architects, conservators, and researchers.

Every year, the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs awards the best master thesis on the housing market. Janneke Michielsen, alumna of the faculty of TBM, was awarded the first prize. The second prize was awarded to alumnus Martijn Nawroth, who graduated with a thesis on future proofing the housing stock of the municipality of Zoetermeer.

The proposal ‘Writing Urban Places. New narratives of the European city’ has been accepted as COST Action proposal. Klaske Havik (Architecture) leads the consortium, aiming to collect current initiatives of scholars addressing urban change from the crossing point of literary studies, urban studies and architecture. The goal is to offer a conceptual framework and operative tools to analyse urban narratives and to share knowledge with city makers.

Geodata open up opportunities for countless new applications, but the true potential remains untapped. Open datasets from the geo-world are not sufficiently compatible with standard search engines or access to them is restricted. According to PhD candidate Linda van den Brink, there are both technological and social obstacles that need to be overcome.

Martijn Stellingwerff has been awarded a Delft Education Fellowship to showcase and test different augmented education settings. His project ‘DelftXRealities’ will explore education settings that range from a digitally augmented TU Delft campus to full-immersive VR settings that allow collaborations between participants from all over the world.

Critical materials are materials which we need for current and future product technologies, but which are now or soon difficult to acquire. BK Bouwkunde is part of the consortium SusCritMat, which aims to educate people from industry and academia about important aspects on critical materials.

Hedwig van der Linden graduated with her project ‘Expedition Rotterdam – or the revival of the hidden Reconstruction City’. Her project has been awarded with the NRP Master Award 2018 for her original and innovative attitude towards transformation and renovation.

Hans de Jonge (MBE) received the medal for his work towards expanding the professional field of public housing and town planning with building, project, and area development, and his attention for the management and exploitation phases of the building process.

Sarah Heemskerk graduated with a thesis on applied leadership styles on various contract types. She researched how the leadership style of project managers connects to the rise of integrated contracts in the sector.

Students from BK Bouwkunde and the faculty of Industrial Design will develop a large scale, immersive interactive installation with artist and architect Philip Beesley. From 17 - 25 November 2018, the installation will be on display at the TU Delft Science Centre.

The cooling of buildings slurps energy and is primarily aimed at combating the effects of the sun. Can solar energy and heat not be used for cooling? PhD candidate Alejandro Prieto Hoces discovered that solar cooling offers opportunities, but it rarely is a final solution. Just start with good sunscreens.

In Chili bezitten veel mensen een appartement, maar lang niet iedereen kan het ook onderhouden. Dat leidt tot ernstig verval. De woningsector heeft dienstverleners nodig die technische hulp, maar ook conflictbemiddeling verzorgen, concludeert promovenda Luz María Vergara D'Alencon.

Every autumn, the best gradation projects of BK Bouwkunde are selected and exhibited at the BK Expo. The jury selected the nine best projects to compete in the Archiprix, the leading annual competition for upcoming design talent.

Peter Boelhouwer (OTB) is one of three experts appointed in an Advisory Committee to the Dutch Ministry of Economics and Climate. Together, these experts will give their expert opinion to the Ministry on the value and value decline of housing in the earthquake area of Groningen.

Glass bricks from recycled glass in organic shapes, designs for a hyperloop station in Amsterdam, and a chaise longue created from 3D robotic printing. These three projects from students and researchers of Architectural Engineering & Technology are now on display at the Dutch Design Week 2018.

Researchers from BK Bouwkunde TU Delft developed a functioning glass swing, together with Arup, Schott, and RAMLAB. Users of the Glass Swing are able to interact with the structure, a showcase of the structural potential of glass.

Architect and BK alumna Alessandra Covini received the Prix de Rome 2018 for her project Amsterdam Allegories. Her proposal for the Sixhaven area in North Amsterdam turns the area into a walled harbour in which twenty-one islands provide space for passing visitors.

Malaysia has not been a colony since 1957, but this is not reflected in public space. Just like the British time, urban planning is all about controlling the masses, says PhD candidate Nurul Azlan. It’s time for urban designers to become independent, too.

The exhibition ‘Or Noir: Marée, Ruée, Virage’ introduces visitors to the wide impact of oil on our life and our environment. Seven stations document past and present impact of oil and visualize future scenarios, inviting the public to engage.

Research project NEXT EXTREME was shortlisted for the Water Research Prize of the World Architecture Festival. The project dives into next generation infrastructure design under extreme conditions and is conducted by Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin and Filippo LaFleur (Urbanism).

Three BK alumni compete for the award for upcoming talent with good and new ideas towards transformation and renovation. On 31 October 2018, Hedwig van der Linden, Lauren Boots, and Nikkie de Boer will hear which of the five candidates has won the NRP Master Award 2018.

In the coming years, TU Delft will be conducting research into the possible restoration and modernisation of the Aula Building, which is a listed monument in the Netherlands.

In the Rio Paraná Delta the natural, industrial, and urban dynamics collide head-on. Lack of participation in planning is at the root of the problem, concludes Verónica Zagare in her PhD thesis. An Argentine version of the Dutch polder model could offer a way out.

BK alumnus Bram van Grinsven created the winning design for the idea competition of the roof of the Maassilo in Rotterdam. Van Grinsven proposes to construct a glass floor, protruding over the edge of the existing concrete structure: creating a floating hotspot 40 meters above the harbour of Rotterdam.

The history of modern architecture is more than a list of exceptional buildings. We need to look at how buildings function, says PhD candidate Jorge Mejia Hernandez. If we concentrate on their theoretical significance, the history of architecture becomes a caricature.

Eleni Chronopoulou graduated from BK Bouwkunde in the summer of 2018, with a thesis on how landscape architecture has the capacity to work as an integrative common ground. The BK alumna has been selected as the Best Graduate 2018 from the BK Bouwkunde.

An open access tutorial will be developed to help creative professionals mitigate value conflicts in their business strategies. The joint research between BK Bouwkunde and Industrial Engineering will result in a tutorial.

Paul Vermeulen has been appointed Professor of Architectural Design. Within the theme ‘urban architecture’, he will focus on the ‘formless public building’ in the city.