News

On 5 April, SenseLab founder and professor Philomena Bluyssen has been appointed an honorary member of the Dutch chapter of the International Society for Indoor Air Quality.

Can the organisation of public space be handed over to private parties? Yes, according to Els Leclercq's conclusion in her doctoral research, but it has serious consequences in terms of what is and is not permitted in streets, squares, and parks. She calls for clear government regulation.

Geographical point clouds are a useful tool for modelling our built and natural environment. In practice, however, this demands a lot of manual work. Ravi Peters completed his PhD project on the use of a 3D skeleton, enabling to divide point clouds into objects that then became easier to process automatically.

The Chair of Public Commissioning is starting a research project, commissioned by the water boards, on the collaboration between the water boards and commercial parties in infrastructural projects.

Last week, the report ‘Haagse Hitte: Het Haagse warmte-eiland in kaart gebracht’ on the urban heat island effects on the city of The Hague was presented to city council alderman Joris Wijsmuller.

Although a curved form is known to be stronger than a flat structure, we do not know exactly how much stronger. Doctoral candidate Qingpeng Li tried to find out by testing various shell structures. His findings show that even a small curve can provide significant reinforcement.

With pleasure the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment announces that Alexandra den Heijer has been appointed as Professor of Public Real Estate [Publiek Vastgoed].

The price of houses in Amsterdam, whether rising or falling, influences house prices in a large part of the Netherlands. This is an important result of Alfred Teye's PhD research, because insight into house price developments and risks in the housing market is crucial for society.

The quality of building projects is to a large extent determined by supervision and coordination. Too often a lack of either leads to delays or accidents, notes Building Law specialist Hugo Strang in his doctoral research. More than a Building Quality Assurance Act is needed to improve this, he believes.

In the project ‘Urbanised lowlands’, led by Reinout Rutte and Jaap Evert Abrahamse, the landscape of the Netherlands is approached as a system of urban development, water, energy, and food.