The continued significance of collections for design education CHARLOTTE VAN WIJK
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft, PO box 5043, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands c.a.vanwijk@tudelft.nl Keywords: collections, education, research, exhibition ABSTRACT
The Chair Collection of TU Delft was founded in the 1960’s as a teaching collection, but its use in education waned over the decades. However, when most TU Delft heritage was relegated to the central heritage department, the Chair Collection was kept in the faculty building, because of its importance to the faculty’s identity and educational potential. The chairs are currently on permanent display, and information on the items is given through touch screens. In 2015 activities were initiated to get more out of the collection. This resulted in pop-up exhibitions and in participation in three educational projects. The results of the courses, in which students design tables, lamps and sets in dialogue with the collection items, were found to be improved. Students were more focused on course objectives, and the design process was more informed, with richer results. In this paper, I will present these initiatives and discuss its preliminary results. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Charlotte van Wijk is curator of the Chair Collection and other faculty collections (models, images). Research interests are origins, nature and future value of the collections, their historical use in education, current object based design education, the connection of education, exhibition and research and the exhibition of architecture and planning.
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