News

Robert Gorny, affectionately nicknamed Bob, is an Architecture theorist, lecturer, and researcher. In his work he has always engaged with feminist and queer theory. As such, his appointment to the position of Diversity officer (now called EDI officer) this past February was a logical next step. Cecile Calis originally applied for the same position, but her pitch for an event-based approach convinced the dean to create the new position of Community officer. Together they champion the cause of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) and Community at the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.

Ai Weiwei is a conceptual artist, political activist and philosopher from China. He was in the Netherlands for the opening of the exhibition 'Ai Weiwei. In Search of Humanity' at the Kunsthal. For lecturer Job Schroën of the master studio Extreme, this was an excellent opportunity to invite Ai Weiwei to our faculty.

PhD candidates Nail Ibrahimli and Shenglan Du are both doing research on how to advance architecture with AI. Nail builds AI models which combine photogrammetry with artwork analysis to create stylised 3D objects. Shenglan became fascinated by processing point clouds from trees, reconstructing their shapes from raw data. For her PhD, she is extending the scope to urban objects in general.

During the festive closing ceremony of BK-Archiprix, the participants for the National Archiprix, the annual competition for up-and-coming design talent, were announced. The jury selected the nine projects to participate in this prestigious Archiprix.

The Mirage is an outdoor sculpture made of more than 450 glass cylindrical columns from 70 different types of desert sand. Its realisation was no easy task and required the collaboration of hundreds of people worldwide. For the past 2 years, the TU Delft Glass Group has been working behind the scenes on the R&D of this challenging cast glass sculpture.

Did you know that many cities are also forests? You can see for yourself when you switch Google Maps to satellite mode. From this bird’s-eye view, you will notice that the average tree cover in cities often exceeds 40%, well above the lower limit of the ‘forest’ classification. Certain regions of Delft even reach 65%, which is more than most natural forests in Europe. But what kind of forest is Delft? Or, more accurately, which kinds?

Living and working in Bangladesh, “Architectural Design for Climate Adaptation” is almost more of a necessity than a choice for Marina Tabassum. She brings her personal style to it, combining knowledge of local climate, materials history, culture and community. Marina Tabassum has started as Professor at our faculty on 15 September 2023.

Today, the exhibition ‘Kom Kijken’ opens in the Oude Kerk in Delft. It celebrates both the life and work of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek as well as microbiological research as a whole. The exhibition is the culmination of over a year of effort from artists, designers, and a construction team. Integral to the project were the design and marketing by students at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.

The second quarter of 2023 shows positive purchase price trends, as well as a higher number of mortgages taken out and homes sold. This fits within the usual seasonal pattern of the owner-occupied housing market. Therefore, this cannot yet be seen as the definitive reversal of the current correction in the owner-occupied housing market. However, there are indications that a free fall in transactions and prices is not to be expected in the coming months.

“The way we construct our buildings needs to change.” says Arjan van Timmeren professor of Environmental Technology & Design at TU Delft. Over 35% of our global greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the built environment. A third of that amount is specifically related to the production of abiotic (non-renewable) materials such as concrete, metals and plastics. The associated challenges are not only climate related, but also concern resource scarcity, health and housing provision.