After Delft: Gideon Goedhart
Building management advisor Gideon Goedhart wants the traditional building sector to step out of its comfort zone. He calls his role as project manager for Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar his great breakthrough.
Goedhart’s affinity with construction showed itself from an early age: as a child he loved to play in houses that were being built. Although he considered studying aerospace engineering, he eventually chose architecture because he loves to create things. “Like nearly everyone who studies architecture, I thought I'd become an architect”, he says. “As it turned out, I had more affinity with the organisational aspect of building projects.”
He graduated as part of the project management research group. His thesis Knowledge Sharing in Free Form Building Designis about organising the design process in such a way that the traditional building sector steps out of its comfort zone and dares to work differently. Other than in straightforward lines without curves.
Photo: Sam Rentmeester
One of his case studies was the architect Frank Gehry, renowned for his free-form buildings such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. “What Gehry does is take a lump of clay and model it in a shape that is pleasing to him”, explains Goedhart. “Then he scans it, processes the digital model and turns it into a building.”
For an original way of making this process tangible, Goedhart secretly approached the then rector Jacob Fokkema to ask if he could make a scan of his head for a 3D print. This was a first in 2004. Fokkema agreed. Goedhart’s graduation mentors were suitably surprised during his graduation presentation.
He really learnt his trade after his graduation, working as a project manager from 2005 to 2012 at the DHV engineering consultancy. One of his projects was the Koningin Máximakazerne at Schiphol. “We did the operational management and saw to it that the contractor did good work. I think it’s a must that students see how design processes work out for contractors.”
He views his role as project and operations manager in the construction of Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar as his personal breakthrough. This ambitious project taught him to step off the beaten track. “At Voorlinden I was given the opportunity for personal development by taking courses at the Rotterdam School of Management and Nyenrode.” Because despite the broad base he acquired at TU Delft, which prepared him well for his daily practice, he missed focus on skills such as leadership. This was largely compensated for by his administrative year in the Delftsche Studenten Bond.
In 2016, he moved to the ABT engineering consultancy where his work involves managing large-scale, challenging projects. These include an underground bicycle park with a high-rise building at The Hague Central Station, and redeveloping the head office of an oil and gas giant. He takes inspiration from a quote by Virginia Rometty (CEO of IBM): “You have to feel comfortable with being uncomfortable; if you’re not uncomfortable you don’t learn.”
Gideon Goedhart
Home town: LeidenCivil status: Married, one son, one daughter
Programme: Architecture & Built Environment
Student association: Delftsche Studenten Bond (DSB)