Architecture Archives of the Future
The education of the Architecture Archives of the Future group is situated at the intersections of advanced architectural design, history and theory, archival studies and museology. The aim is to develop innovative methods of architectural knowledge production based on the new opportunities offered by digital media and technologies, while building on the Delft methods of plan analysis and precedent research.
Focus and approach
Architecture archives are considered a resource full of knowledge, experience, and inspiration for designers. Education and research are therefore geared to open up these resources to critically and speculatively design for the future. Notions of memory and heritage are combined with the ones of imagination and projection. Questions that drive the education and research programme are design-driven with the aim to contribute to the urgent societal questions of today. Such confrontation and combination of archival studies and design-driven questions will lead to new approaches and design knowledge. VR and XR technologies and digital modelling are key tools, yet always in combination with the 'old' media of paper drawings, physical models and other media, all in order to explore the possibilities, meanings and values of these media in relation to architectural design, and their impact on the planning and experience of the built environment. The group is part of the Building Knowledge section of the Architecture department, and works together with the Nieuwe Instituut and Jaap Bakema Study Centre, to further research based on the holdings of the National Collection of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Programme
The recently launched group Architecture Archives of the Future currently offers two courses:
- The MSc 2 elective Housing Studies: An Open Intersectional Archive (AR0107) mines the rich housing traditions of the Netherlands and beyond. Design analysis is combined with archival studies, readings and interviews. This elective is organised together with the Architecture and Dwelling group.
- The MSc 2 studio The Virtual Architecture Museum combines digital modelling and VR technologies with archival research and architectural studies to learn from earlier architectural concepts and speculate on new ones and their related experiences. The studio is supported by the VR Lab.
Staff
Dr.ir. Dirk van den Heuvel, Dr. Alejandro Campos Uribe.