Bnieuws 48/08 - Be our guest (2014/15)

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INDEPENDENT PERIODICAL OF THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT TU DELFT

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Colofon

Bnieuws Volume 48 Edition 08 02 June 2015 Contact Room BG.Midden.140.

Julianalaan 134 2628 BL Delft bnieuws-bk@tudelft.nl Editorial Board Daphne Bakker Lotte Dijkstra Jip Pijs Jane Stortelder

SPEAK 11

Welcomed in Delft

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Towards a Practical Aesthetics

Editorial Support Helen Jager Contributers Tomas Dirrix Sarah Frikech Lucs ter Hall Jamal van Kastel Pierijn van der Putt Peter Russell Cover Garden Design

by Piet Oudolf Editorial Advice Board Sue van de Giessen Robert Nottrot Inge Pit Pierijn van der Putt Marcello Soeleman Ivan Thung Linda de Vos

CREATE 17 24

LEARN 06

Behnisch and Wood

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The Secret Life of Chairs

Next Deadline 15h of June 12.00 Bnieuws 09 01 July 2015 Illustrations only in *.tif, *.eps or *.jpg format, min. 300 dpi Š All rights reserved.

Although all content is treated with great care, errors may occur.

Rethinking Stone

Designing with Plants

EXPLORE 12

Startruimte010

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Stap in je ontwerp

Editorial

BE OUR GUEST

You are never alone in the architectural field. Our profession is to cooperate with others. This starts during your studies: you work in groups, have discussions, and you get feedback from your peers. A fun aspect of this cooperation is literally diving into someone else’s perspective, attending guest lectures, or by visiting a location and doing fieldwork. At our faculty we receive visitors on a daily basis. Our guests stay for an hour, to give a presentation, a day, to attend a workshop, or even years. Many international students come to our faculty to study architecture and the built environment from a different perspective than their home university. With this issue we would like to celebrate the many ways in which you can be and receive a guest.

Our faculty welcomes many guest lecturers and professors, being part of an international scientific community. Visiting professors Stefan Behnisch and Gavin Wood talk about what they have brought to share with the BK Community.

Instead of working alone at home or in a small office, you can also share an office space with colleagues and exchange knowledge and ideas. Startruimte 010 offers such a space to young entrepreneurial graduates.

Guests can also be objects. Chairs are placed in and around our faculty for the exhibition ‘Take a Seat, Host a Chair’. Carola Hein tells us what we can learn from these chairs.

We do not only receive guests, sometimes we ourselves are guests. Students from Explore Lab organized a workshop by Dutch Landscape architect Piet Oudolf, who graciously invited students into his garden and office.

With virtual reality you now have the possibility to be a guest in your own building: what can you learn from standing in a 3D representation of your own design?

Pull out a chair and make yourself at home in this edition of Bnieuws. Please be our guest. Welcome!

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#Bnieuwd

Festival / OEROL - SENSE OF PLACE Visiting the island of Terschelling during the annual ten-day site-theatre and landscape art festival Oerol? Don’t forget to stop by our two faculty projects: Birds-I-view (Landscape Architecture) and Stuiflab slaaphuis (Architectural Engineering and Technology).

The island of Terschelling / 12.06.15 - 21.06.15 / oerol.nl

Congrats / FILIPPO DORIA Filippo Maria Doria has won the Archiprix International 2015 with a plan for a blind in the park of the Villa Borghese in Rome. Bnieuws would like to congratulate him with this great achievement. Read all about his winning graduation project in Bnieuws 01.

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ARGUS EXPO An exhibition of the most remarkable, representative, innovative, inspiring and ambitious master-projects.

Don’t miss it!

Symposium / CIRCULARITY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT This symposium is a unique opportunity to discuss the state of the art of circularity in the built environment.

Moreover, it provides an excellent networking opportunity!

The programme consists of outstanding keynote speeches, pitches and parallel sessions.

BK Expo / 30.06.15 / 15:00

Our faculty / 01.07.15 / 9:00 / circularitysymposium.nl

#Bnieuwd

Movie Night / TIAFF During the Tilburg Film Festival several films and documentaries will be shown in twelve hours in the three rooms of Cinecitta. The theme is ‘Transition’ and the restaurant will serve special dishes based on architecture.

Goodbye / THEO VAN DER VOORDT Because of his retirment, Theo van de Voordt will give a farewell lecture on importent themes of teaching and research. After several speeches, there will be drinks. You are very welcome to join. Please register with Laura Bovelander: l.bovelander@tudelft.nl Bnieuws would like to wish Theo all the best!

Cinecitta / 19.06.15 - 21.06.15 / cinecitta.nl

Room A / 05.06.15 / 15.00

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Workshop / IPHS 2015 The International Planning History Society (IPHS) is dedicated to the enhancement of interdisciplinary studies in urban and regional planning history. During the three day workshop speakers from all over the world will come to our faculty to talk about the emergence of planning history, its disciplinary roots, core theories, methods and writings, its key people, institutions, and practice.

11.06.15 - 13.06.15 / For more info visit iphs2016.org

Visiting Professors

BEHNISCH AND WOOD Words Jip Pijs

Images SB & GW

The faculty invites renowned designers and researchers as visiting professors every year. The visitors can contribute to the renewal of research and education with their views. In 2013 Bnieuws interviewed Jacob van Rijs of MVRDV, the first visiting professor. Since then Spanish architects Cruz and Ortiz, Gavin Wood and Stefan Behnisch also visited our faculty. Bnieuws spoke with visiting professors Wood of RMIT Melbourne and Behnisch of Behnisch Architekten. Both have different backgrounds and have their own agendas whilst staying in Delft.

Find out what they are contributing to our faculty and why.

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How are you connected to this faculty and how did the guest professorship come about?

GW: I have been working with OTB for a number of years now, particularly with Marietta Haffner. We have been involved in a number of activities: one is a series of international think tanks on the subject of housing law, the most recent one being hosted by TU Delft in October last year.

In addition to that I have a couple of research projects that have involved OTB. We have looked at the way people, in particular older people, have been managing mortgages taken up to buy houses. Are they paying them off, are they borrowing more? Are they approaching retirement debt free? We have done comparative studies.

OTB and Haffner are very knowledgeable of the European mortgages market.

Continue reading about Gavin Wood in Part II. SB: I am connected on a personal level to Ulrich Knaack, but I knew of Delft and I have given at least one lecture here a long time ago. Knaack asked me if I would be interested in the visiting professorship and I simply said yes! I have been going to different schools for twenty years now. The last time was at EPFL in Lausanne three years ago. I always do two or three semesters, take a break an than go elsewhere. I find it very interesting to look a different schools and compare the curricula. It is usually also a great way of getting good people to work for us [Behnisch Architekten, ed.].

I have always been well aware of this architectural school and some of the people working in my office went to this faculty, although I have to say they are all German.

Dutch people do not come and work in Germany, for reasons I do not understand...

Part I. THE VISITING TEACHER You think it is a language barrier?

SB: It should not be a problem for Dutch people to learn German I suppose. I do not know what it is exactly. It probably just does not cross their mind.

There is so much work for architects in Germany right now. I know a lot of architects who are looking for well-educated young architects.

You have been a visiting professor at many universities. From the educational systems you have seen, which one would you prefer?

SB: I do not think there is a best. There are some more suitable for the way I work personally. To me education that emphasises an integrated design is important, so young architects learn enough about all the other different disciplines. They do not need to know how to calculate structure. They have to know what questions to ask and need to be educated to work together in groups. Other architects are very different: they like, what I call, the ‘master class educated kind of student’.

Our office works in a similar way to a design studio, unlike some offices that have a big design master. In these offices one sketch is done by the master and handed over to the ‘assembly line’. I am not judging that, it works for them. My partners and I monitor and guide more. We have regular pin-ups, where people show their work and we discuss what everyone has been doing. In this way it is more about the people than about the master piece.

Young architects that come to our office stay on a project until it is built. They learn to work from design to site supervision and completion. They go through the whole scope of being an architect.

Usually they stay another year and then open their own office, because they learned how to do it, which is fine. I think that is what I can contribute. I am not the right one for a master class to tell students how to design a building. I think I can discuss with students and show them how to get the best and most consistent out of what is in them already.

“STUDENTS DO NOT NEED TO KNOW HOW TO CALCULATE STRUCTURE. THEY HAVE TO KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK.” We can teach new architects in our office how to do cost calculations or tender documents, but we cannot teach them how to design or how to work with others. I prefer schools that train their students to be socially competent and not egomaniacs. I think TU Delft is doing a pretty good job, EPFL also. ETH Zürich for instance I am not so sure about.

What are the goals you want to achieve during your time here?

SB: I have been asked to focus on the integrated design and to make the students understand the architect’s job is not just to happily design, but to put different aspects and elements together.

So you believe in a mentorship structure?

SB: I do not know if mentorship is the right word, it is a business after all [laughs]. But I genuinely believe experienced architects can help young architects to develop their talents.

Do you like to teach?

SB: I enjoy it, but it is also an egotistical thing in the end because I learn a lot too. You see, I am 57 now and if I would depend solely on my personal experience, I would have lost track right of what is happening today. Young people and students are more in touch with the relevant topics of today and I benefit from that. The life plans of young people

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STEFAN BEHNISCH Stefan Behnisch is principal partner and architect at Behnisch Architekten, a succesful international agency located in Stuttgart, Boston and Munich. He has won multiple international awards in the field of architectural design and sustainability. Behnisch is no stranger to the ‘visiting professor concept’ and has taught at multiple universities including Yale School of Architecture and the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne.

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are very different: they are urban, the car is not the main issue anymore, etc. They involuntary teach me about living and consequently urban planning.

Thinking about the future of the city with twenty elderly men like myself is nonsense. You need to be in touch with the younger generation and teaching is a very good opportunity to do so.

You are considered one of the leading architects in the field of sustainability, how did that come about?

SB: I am not even sure if I am considered that way and I certainly do not want to be labelled! It makes me a specialist and I do not believe in specialists.

Obviously we are sometimes perceived that way. It happened by accident. We won a competition for the Alterra institute in Wageningen. We actually stepped in for another German architect who simply did not have the time to compete. We were relatively naïve and did not come with a final solution, but with a concept. At that time nobody spoke about sustainability. So we, together with a German research institute, did fundamental research and the building was successful.

It is a charming building, the clients liked it and the energy performance was, and still is, very good. We

actually never achieved something similar later on. It is not because we were that good back then: we were lucky the users were scientist of an environmental agency and knew how to make the building and the winter gardens work. It was their merit. The project was very satisfying for all of us, because it dealt with content beyond organisation, costs, time, and nice form. It included an additional aspect that provokes consideration and informs your design. Since then we have worked in the field of sustainability.

Any tips for future architects what should they know or read about sustainability?

SB: As I said before they should know a little bit of everything. I learned more from discussing than reading books. But if you are really interested, I would start reading a ‘70s book of the so-called Club of Rome: ‘The Limits of Growth’. It marked the beginning of the sustainable movement, so you get your history straight. A lot of books are full of technical details, but you have to know enough to lead an educated discussion and it is important to know when and who to ask.

GAVIN WOOD Gavin Wood carries out research in the field of government policy, urban development, housebuilding funding and labour-market economics at the RMIT in Melbourne, Australia. As visiting professor he is connected to OTB. He was director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHUURI) and has worked at Murdoch University in Australia and the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

Part II. THE VISITING RESEARCHER What is it that you want to achieve during your time here?

GW: I want to cement and expand research links between TU Delft and RMIT University in Melbourne. While I am here I have three specific tasks I want to work on. One task is the preparation of a special issue of the International Journal of Housing Policy. It will be based on papers presented at an international think tank on the Edges of Home Ownership that was hosted by TU Delft in October 2014. It will be jointly edited with Marietta Haffner from OTB, as well as Professor Susan Smith (Cambridge University) and Associate Professor Rachel Ong (Curtin University).

A second key task is the creation of a research design that will form the basis of a research grant application to be submitted to AHURI later this year.

One of the major themes of this year’s AHURI research agenda is taxation and housing. I am speaking with academics here to put a proposal together that would involve a comparative study of recent housing tax reforms introduced by EU governments. A subgroup of these reforms will be

examined to assess whether they could improve the efficiency and fairness of Australian housing taxation arrangements. The research project plan envisages OTB researchers as having responsibility for the review of EU housing tax reforms. The research grant application is due in August and the outcome will be known in November.

The third goal is writing a joint paper with Professor Marja Elsinga on the future of home ownership and the welfare state. It will be delivered at the European Network of Housing Researchers conference at the end of June 2015.

You gave a seminar on homelessness, what was it about?

GW: In recent decades homeless numbers have risen to much higher levels and the nature of homelessness has changed. Back in the 1960s the homeless were typically thought to be middle aged single men with alcohol and drug related problems. But homelessness is now experienced by a much wider range of household types and individuals.

I delivered a seminar that was based on research I am conducting in Australia using a panel survey of

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over 2000 people who are vulnerable to homelessness or are actually homeless. They are interviewed at six month intervals over a three year period of time. The research is looking at pathways into and out of homelessness in order to identify factors that force people into homelessness and amongst those that do become homeless, what kind of assistance facilitates escape from homelessness.

As the homeless are notoriously hard to track, this data set is novel and offers a rare opportunity to research the ‘journeys’ travelled by those vulnerable to homelessness.

Families with growing children, who we all know are expensive, access their housing equity in this way.

This welfare role is somewhat different from owner occupied housing’s traditional welfare role as a buffer for old age. Owner occupiers were widely expected to pay off the loans that they took out in order to buy their home and therefore enter retirement with zero housing costs. These new forms of housing wealth challenge this traditional role and herald the emergence of asset based welfare as a substitute for the supports offered by welfare states, that are shrinking in most developed countries.

“OTB HAS ALWAYS HAD A HIGH PROFILE IN THE UBRAN STUDIES AREA”

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You also gave a public lecture on ‘asset-based welfare systems that are an alternative to the traditional welfare’. Could you elaborate this title?

GW: During the early years of this century some lenders began to introduce innovative mortgage products, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries. These flexible mortgage products allowed home owners to borrow more, secured against the same house. They effectively turned the home into an ATM: houses and the wealth that is stored in them became liquid.

In the other countries, such as the Netherlands and USA, these kinds of products were not widely available. However, the refinancing of mortgages became much more common. People would go back to their bank and say: look, I am on a fixed term mortgage and I would like to refinance with a higher mortgage against the same home over the same term.

The refinancing option means that the owner occupiers’ housing equity is not just a vehicle for the accumulation of wealth, but savings that can be drawn on to fund pressing spending needs.

Empirical studies find that equity release is not typically used for champagne moments or holidays.

It is people with tight budget constraints that are using the wealth in their homes to meet their needs.

What is your impression of the research done here?

GW: I was not coming in to this blindly [laughs].

OTB has always had a high profile in the urban studies area, and an internationally respected reputation for ground-breaking research. I know academics in Australia consider OTB a leading research institution that will strengthen research collaborations in the area of housing and urban studies. I am also keen to foster relations with Real Estate and Housing in the Faculty, as I am aware of shared research interests that it would be mutually helpful to exchange ideas on.

Any tips for future architects, what should they know about the housing market?

GW: I am an economist by training, not an architect, so I am reluctant to offer advice on issues related to the built environment. However I am aware that many architects have an interest in economics issues – for example, I spoke with Professor Kees Kaan who I know takes an interest in economic affairs.

There is an influential school of thought that emphasises the importance of urban design and amenities to urban economic development, based on growing body of evidence. I would urge architects to take this perspective seriously.

WELCOMED IN DELFT! Dear Bnieuws readers, It is a great pleasure and honour to have been appointed as dean of this storied and spectacular faculty. I have barely arrived here yet have been greeted warmly by all the students, staff and faculty members I have had the pleasure to meet until now. Thank-you.

I am taking over after Hans Wamelink’s excellent job as interim-dean and I want to thank him and the staff of the faculty for preparing everything for my arrival with great care, precision and attention to detail. I suppose this is something one could expect in a Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, but they have exceeded all my expectations!

This faculty is robust and according to the latest rankings, one of the best in the world.

Of course, everyone here knows that, but it is still nice to hear that from others, especially from independent groups made up of our peers. However, we will have to be wary of resting on our laurels – the best in the world are always getting better and so we too, will have to see how we can improve our education, our research, and the quality of life in BK City. I am looking forward to doing that with all the other members of this faculty.

In the meantime, there are still weeks of packed agendas, schedules and exams before we break for the summer. I wish everyone the best in wrapping up the semester, but especially much needed rest and welcome quiet over the summer. The next weeks you will see me continue to attend all sorts of meetings for the first time but more importantly, to continue to meet more people in the faculty – if our paths cross on BK Street, feel free to say “Hi”!

Yours Truly,

Peter Russell / Dean

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Creatieve broedplaats

STARTRUIMTE010 Tekst & Beeld Jane Stortelder

Westblaak 161 in Rotterdam, de nieuwe locatie van startruimte010.

Het geluid van de stad, de lichte ruimte met grote etalage en natuurlijk de pas afgestudeerde ontwerpers die allemaal (letterlijk en figuurlijk) aan het bouwen zijn aan hun eigen architectenbureau. Een combinatie die zorgt voor een gevoel van spanning: dit is startruimte010, hier gaat iets gebeuren. Deze eerste indruk blijkt te kloppen als oprichters Birgit Jürgenhake (docent MSc3 & MSc4 Dwelling) en Alijd van Doorn (docent Design & Construction Management) het woord nemen. “We worden gedreven door enthousiasme. Op 31 maart 2014 besloten we het te gaan doen, sindsdien hebben we alleen maar vooruit gekeken. Een jaar later staan we hier, met een eigen bedrijf.”

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Gewoon doen Het idee ontstond twee jaar geleden, toen Birgit een afstudeerder aan een opdracht kon helpen en daarmee aan een start in de praktijk. Later, bij een gesprek met een opdrachtgever, merkte ze dat opdrachtgevers graag zekerheden willen die een starter nauwelijks kan bieden. De vraag hoe ze dit als docent en architect uit kon gaan breiden, bleef al die tijd in haar hoofd zitten. Toen Alijd een e-mail stuurde aan alle ontwerpdocenten van de faculteit over hoe Bouwkunde haar afgestudeerde studenten kan ondersteunen, reageerde Birgit enthousiast. Hoewel zij elkaar op dat moment niet kenden, vullen de twee elkaar goed aan. Birgit met haar kennis vanuit de architectuur en Alijd met haar ervaring met bouwmanagement. Een brainstorm volgde en het idee werd verder uitgewerkt. “Wat heeft een startende ondernemer nodig? Dat is ons uitgangspunt,” vertelt Birgit. “We hebben onder andere in het Schieblock verschillende bijeenkomsten georganiseerd met mensen uit ons netwerk, waardoor het concept begon te groeien: afgestudeerde studenten, met de ambitie om een eigen bureau te starten, ondersteunen met een netwerk van experts. Falen was vanaf begin af aan geen optie, we wilden vooruit. Toen het initiatief er was, hebben we lang getwijfeld over de vorm. Uiteindelijk hebben we besloten om een bedrijf op te richten: startruimte010.

We zijn zelf dus ook een start-up. Zo zijn we nu bezig met het ontwerpen van een logo en een website. Het bedrijf is heel organisch en dynamisch gegroeid: we denken niet van te voren alles uit, we doen het gewoon. We leren zelf ook iedere dag bij.”

Samen sta je sterk Startruimte010 is geen opleidingsinstituut. Het is in eerste instantie ook geen reactie op de Beroepservaringsperiode (BEP), maar wat is het dan wel? “In deze tijd moet je

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Jonge ondernemers bouwen aan hun eigen bureau en visitekaartje

als architect sterk staan. Het starten van een eigen bureau is een uitdaging,” vertelt Birgit. “We willen deze positie voor ondernemende architecten faciliteren en ondersteunen. We bieden een gezamenlijke werkplaats, coaching en expertondersteuning. Door in een collectief te werken, ontstaat er een wisselwerking en kunnen de starters elkaar helpen. Wij maken gebruik van ons opgebouwde netwerk en we organiseren sessies en lezingen met experts. Hoe maak je bijvoorbeeld een kostenraming en hoe stel je een factuur op? Allemaal

vragen waar je als starter mee te maken krijgt. We hebben gemerkt dat mensen met ervaring hun kennis hierover graag willen delen. Iedereen is enthousiast over het concept: de experts, de starters en natuurlijk wijzelf. Enthousiasme is onze drijfkracht.”

Volgens Alijd is startruimte010 geen alternatief op een baan in loondienst. “De starters weten dat zij hun eigen pad willen volgen en niet via een omweg eerst bij een bureau willen werken. We selecteren op drive, talent en professionaliteit door middel van een pitch; hoe groot is de ambitie om een eigen bureau te

starten? We hebben een quickstart programma ontwikkeld om erachter te komen wat precies de passie van de starters is en waar de interesses liggen.

Vervolgens helpen we om het jonge bureau op de rails te zetten. We leren vaardigheden aan die niet in het huidige curriculum van de faculteit zitten. Ook gaan we uit van een grote inzet vanuit de

ondernemers. Ieder met een eigen specialisme. Op dit moment zijn dat alleen nog Delftse architecten, maar het doel is om in de toekomst een variërend palet te krijgen met niet alleen architecten, maar ook met landschapsarchitecten, stedenbouwkundigen en interieurontwerpers vanuit verschillende disciplines en opleidingen.

“STARTRUIMTE010 IS HEEL DYNAMISCH GEGROEID: WE DENKEN NIET VAN TE VOREN ALLES UIT, WE DOEN HET GEWOON. WE LEREN ZELF OOK IEDERE DAG BIJ.”

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afgestudeerden zelf, voor zowel het eigen bureau als voor het collectief. De starters houden de ruimte om zich zelfstandig te ontwikkelen. Ze doen bijvoorbeeld zelf de acquisitie. Onze coaching is on demand. Dat betekent dat wij hulp bieden wanneer de starters aan geven dat nodig te hebben. Na twee à drie jaar vliegen zij weer uit, met een succesvol eigen bureau.”

Ook al liggen de wortels niet bij de BEP, het is de bedoeling dat afgestudeerde ontwerpers via startruimte010 hun beroepservaring kunnen opdoen. Na deze twee à drie jaar kunnen zij dan de architectentitel aanvragen. “Het moduledenken van het Architectenregister en de on demand-benadering van startruimte010 moeten alleen nog beter bij elkaar worden gebracht, maar daar is goed overleg over.”

Ontwerpen en bouwen Per 1 juni is startruimte010 te vinden aan de Westblaak in de plint van kantoor- en winkelpand RotterdamOffice. Op dit moment zijn de eerste starters hier hun eigen footprint met demontabele werkruimte aan het ontwerpen én bouwen. Dit wordt het visitekaartje van de jonge bureaus, die letterlijk in de etalage komen te staan. Dat is ook precies de bedoeling: open en laagdrempelig contact.

“Heb je een ontwerpprobleem? Kom binnen!” aldus Birgit. Zo wordt zowel de vraag- als de aanbodkant gefaciliteerd, een echte win-winsituatie dus. Er zijn nu vier startende bureaus aangesloten bij startruimte010, met in totaal acht jonge

Eén van de acht ondernemers is Stefanie Stulen, die in december 2014 aan onze faculteit is afgestudeerd.

Samen met Martin van Lent startte zij StuLent, een jong architectenbureau dat zich richt op de beleving van architectuur. “Startruimte010 is echt een steun.

We worden heel vrij gelaten, maar als we een vraag hebben over bijvoorbeeld het opstellen van een offerte, dan krijgen we daar hulp bij. Het is als jonge architect moeilijk om in het wereldje te komen. Als collectief merk ik dat we serieuzer worden genomen; we komen er sneller tussen. Bovendien is het een leuke groep en werken we niet in elkaars vaarwater.

We zijn allemaal uniek en we hebben een eigen specialisme.”

013, 015, 020?

De ruimte aan de Westblaak is natuurlijk beperkt.

Op dit moment is er nog plek voor drie nieuwe bureaus. Ook is er een aantal flexplekken beschikbaar. Naast een grotere variatie aan starters en specialismen hebben Alijd en Birgit daarom ook de ambitie om in de toekomst startruimte010 uit te breiden tot bijvoorbeeld startruimte015, startruimte020 en startruimte013. Rotterdam is slechts het begin!

Ben jij een jonge ondernemer en ga je binnenkort afstuderen? Op 17 juni organiseert startruimte010 van 16:30 – 18:00 een informatiebijeenkomst voor geïnteresseerden op hun nieuwe locatie aan de Westblaak 161 in Rotterdam. Je kunt je aanmelden via info@startruimte010.nl

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Graduation AE&T

RETHINKING STONE Words Lucas ter Hall

Images Sara Frikech & Lucas ter Hall

Within the field of architecture, stone buildings have taken an important position. However these buildings belong to the past. They have been replaced by steel beams and thin sheet materials inherited from the industrial era. A new building method could contribute to a sustainable and independent way of building. Hence the title of my research; rethinking stone.

The goal of the research was to develop a grasshopper programme that could calculate the geometry of a stone skeleton structure using post tensioning. The programme was intended to be a basis for integrating structural design in an early stage of the design process.

Morocco is one of the few countries which still possesses historical Islamic architecture. In today’s Arab world, it is an open and stable country to explore and experiment with new architectural ideas.

Unfortunately, the interest in the Moroccan artisan tradition is decreasing among younger generations. The overall search for a contemporary architectural identity among Moroccan architects inspired the idea of creating a small public building that would house a fablab centre. The fablab would be a space where craftsmen, designers and architects can come together to reinvent and further develop their craft in a new way with the use of new technologies such as 3D-printers, robotics and a cnc-machines.

In order to link the fablab back to Arab tradition, the renders feature figures from 19th century Orientalist art. It is a way of playfully acknowleding the rich cultural history of Morocco, but also a way of linking tradition to innovation.

Lucas is co-founder of Studio RAP, a Dutch architectural design and fabrication studio commited to bringing innovative software solutions and industrial fabrication methods to the construction industry.

For more info: studiorap.nl

< Rendering of fablab centre featuring figures from Orientalist art

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Interview Carola Hein

THE SECRET LIFE OF CHAIRS Words & Image Lotte Dijkstra

Have you spotted them yet? The chairs from the project ‘Take a Seat, Host a Chair’? They have popped up everywhere in our faculty, at the faculty of Industrial Design, and even in the library and at the office of the rector magnificus. This pop-up exhibition is part of a larger project to bring back the chairs into the educational programme. Because “chairs have a lot of stories to tell, and we would like to find out what stories there are”, according to Carola Hein, professor and head of the Chair of History of Architecture and Urban Planning caretaker of the Architectural Collections and Productions (ACaP).

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How is the chair collection related to our faculty?

I have been at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment only since September, but the chair collection has a much longer life. The first catalogues that we know of date back to the 1960s and our collection is well known. We lend our chairs for exhibitions and the catalogue by Otakar Macel, Sander Woertman and Charlotte van Wijk has even been translated into Chinese. Our chairs have had a long and exciting life. They come from a broad range of sources, have been used by diverse people and survived the faculty fire of 2008. Together with several colleagues from different departments within the faculty, we have started to devise a program to activate the ACaP, including the chairs. We will use the chairs in teaching and research to make the heritage of our faculty come alive and to bridge between past, present and future. I have the feeling that some of our collections, like the chairs, are better known in the rest of the world than within the faculty. It is my hope that this and future new projects around the archives will give the collections more visibility.

What other Architectural Collections and Productions do we have?

Other than the chairs we have several other collections, most of which were saved from the fire of 2008 too. We have a collection of negatives, slides, photos, and the model collection. Heritage & Architecture has a collection of examples of details and building materials. All these collections have a long history and some of these histories have been explored, but up until now the collections primarily existed independently from each other and out of sight.

For the chairs we decided to get them to move – literally. We now have about fifteen chairs in and around our building. One chair, for example, found a new temporary home in front of the office of our dean Peter Russell as a little welcome sign. Each

chair has its own booklet, inviting passengers to engage in a conversation and give their reaction on the chair. Do you like the chair, or not? Why? Do you notice anything in particular in terms of materials, details, etc.? Several faculty members have participated in interviews on their favorite chairs as part of the project “Chairs on Chairs” and we invite students and others to also send us their reflections.

In the fall, we will combine these booklets and writings, so students can use them within the bachelor Prototype course with Peter Koorstra and Robert Nottrot, the master Interiors course with Jurjen Zeinstra, or for the history thesis.

What can architecture students learn from an object like a chair?

The ACaP, including the chairs, are great tools for engaging students and teachers in education and research. They provide a unique opportunity to explore the materiality of the object, to engage with archives first hand, to do primary research, and to develop novel and interdisciplinary research questions. They are a unique tool to showcase and connect the different departments in our faculty.

Ulrich Knaack from Architectural Engineering & Technology for example created educational movies that discuss the design of the chairs to explain the basics of statics, and how these forces also apply on the scale of a building. Other faculty members use the chairs to discuss their materiality, the history of architecture, or to change cultural and social contexts. Another initiative that we have started to activate our collections is a blog called: ‘Did you see their profiles? Did you check their walls?’ This project provides background information relevant to the beautiful portraits of famous architects and designers that decorate the hallway in the East wing on the first floor. For the other collections we are still working on new initiatives and invite anyone interested to get in touch.

I aim to activate the collections, and give students a chance to bring their research and findings to the

outside world. At my old institution, we piloted multidisciplinary course clusters that led to physical and online exhibitions curated by the students. The starting point for one project was a set of burnt roof tiles from Hiroshima University. These tiles raised multiple questions: Why are they there? What makes these tiles special? We realized that the importance of the tiles comes from the backstory and the messages that are tied to them. They tell us a larger story on how the ties between the US and Japan evolved during times of natural and man-made disasters and the later reconstruction. We found out that Hiroshima University sent the tiles to the US as a ‘thank you’ for student donations for the rebuilding made shortly after the war. The original links between the universities had come from scholars and students who had built bridges exchanging knowledge, expertise, and friendship. The students participating in the course learned to handle original

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“WHAT DID THIS CHAIR DO TO MAKE IT SPECIAL?”

objects, develop questions, fit it into a bigger story, and translate this for a larger audience. The exhibition is still online and extends those connections.

For the chairs we would also like to capture diverse stories and to create an exhibition and a catalogue that highlights the multiple innovative facets of design education and research. With the collected information we will be able to have more insight in lessons we can learn from the chairs, and we will have new ideas about how we can connect topics.

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One story we already have about the chairs and the other objects is the fact that they were dragged out of the previous faculty building, after the fire of 2008.

The chairs might still be recognizable objects, but many of the older pictures for example where rescued in such a hurry, that few people remember what the exact order and original background story is. With the new project we try to unravel these background stories and find new perspectives.

What is your personal relation with chairs?

In my classes on architectural history, I have long used chairs to introduce architects and their concepts. Studying a chair provides small scale insights into the qualities of the design of a building or city. At the Faculty of Architecture we have the unique opportunity to not just show pictures of famous chairs, but to physically bring them to the classroom and to have students reposition them to study them from novel perspectives.

It is also interesting to think about the chair as a cultural object. In Japan, for example, chairs were not traditional parts of everyday life. Western architects traveling to Japan, like Frank Lloyd Wright, have appreciated many aspects of the traditional culture. Chairs are generally used to support their own ideas and approaches towards these traditions. In his book ‘The Natural House’ Wright commented that the Japanese had to be

helped “up from their knees and onto their feet.” He argued for buildings at a scale that fit the Japanese people’s sizes; for him that also meant that they needed chairs for modern living. This comment provides a broader picture of Wright’s understanding and engagement with Japan. This story about chairs also invites us to think more profoundly about border-crossings in architectural practice.

Chairs are versatile objects. You can think about a chair as an object to sit on, as an aesthetic object, a piece of engineering, or part of a cultural narrative.

Personally I find most chairs too confining, I cannot sit still that long. Having lived in Japan for five years, I like to sit on a zabuton cushion on the floor. Or, if I need to use a regular table, I prefer a gymnastic ball to balance on. Among the famous chairs, I prefer an Aalto stool with three bent legs and a circular seat.

You are not confined by a backrest or an armrest; you can move as you wish and carry it to a different room. It can serve as a ladder or you can use the stool to put a pot of flowers on it.

In short: please engage with the chairs popping up around the faculty; find out where they are, share your thoughts, memories and stories on the boards or on the blog, and help us figure out what happens around a chair!

Reflect on the chairs here: tudelft-architecture.nl/ chairs/history-of-architecture-and-urban-planning/ blog/find-us-and-our-friends-and

BEGINSELVERKLARING Jaren geleden schreef ik columns voor Delta, de universiteitskrant. Achter die studentencolumns school geen enkele gedachte, ook niet onbewust. Ik schreef simpelweg waarover ik wilde schrijven. In bouwko-taal zou je zeggen: er zat geen concept achter. Misschien, heel in de verte, hoopte ik dat meisjes mijn stukjes leuk zouden vinden. Maar dat is geen concept, dat is heel iets anders.

Nu ik mijn eerste column voor Bnieuws moet schrijven, is die zorgeloosheid opeens ver te zoeken. In tegenstelling tot vroeger ben ik op zoek naar een uitgangspunt. Wat is het idee achter deze column? Waarom schrijven mensen columns? Waarom schrijf ík columns?

Ik vraag me af waar die vragen vandaan komen. Heeft iedereen er last van? Als een rechter dubt over een vonnis, twijfelt ze dan alleen aan haar beslissing of ook aan zichzelf, als mens? En een civieler die een brug bouwt, voelt die de noodzaak om voorbij de wetten van de zwaartekracht te graven en zijn diepere persoonlijke betekenis van het begrip ‘brug’ naar boven te halen?

Lijkt me niet. Het concept van rechtspraak zit ergens in de wetten verborgen en het beginsel van een brug zit in de combinatie van overspanning, benodigd draagvermogen, bouwtechniek en economie – in ieder geval niet in de zielenroerselen van de ingenieur. Hoe meer ik erover denk, des te meer raak ik ervan overtuigd dat de vraag naar een persoonlijk beginsel hoort bij de studie bouwkunde. Niet voor niets krijg je als student keer op keer de vragen om je oren ’Wat vind je nou zelf?’ en ‘Wat wil je nou precies met dit gebouw?’

Met een deadline voor mijn neus vraag ik me af of die wezensvragen wel zo relevant zijn. Schiet ik er eigenlijk een steek mee op? Het antwoord lijkt ‘nee’, want het scherm is nog steeds leeg. Uit praktische overwegingen hanteer ik dus maar de methode van vroeger: schrijven waarover ik wil schrijven. En verder niets. En dat van die meisjes laat ik maar zitten, want dat werkte tóch niet.

Pierijn van der Putt / Docent Architectuur

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Piet Oudolf Masterclass

DESIGNING WITH PLANTS Words Daphne Bakker

Images Tomas Dirrix

Moved by the atmospheric and sensitive beauty of Piet Oudolf’s gardens, five Explore Lab students set out to organise a masterclass in order to “learn through the eyes” of this celebrated Dutch garden designer. It was an initial step towards gaining practical knowledge on plants, but also on learning new ways of representing the garden. Another goal of the students was to shed light on the need of this type of education, which allows students to work and learn closely with an expert on a subject. “Masterclasses tend to have the reputation of placing someone on a pedestal. In reality it is a way of having close, one-on-one contact with someone who is very experienced and inspirational. It removes the distance and humanizes them,” explains Marianne Neijts, one of the initiators of the masterclass.

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The first day of the two-day masterclass was spent at Oudolf’s atelier and garden in Hummelo. Though known as a modest man who keeps to himself, Oudolf openly shared with the students his vast knowledge on plants and his approach tothe development of a design. The need to not just be able to identify plants, but to understand the way they ‘perform’, led Oudolf and his wife Anja to set up a nursery.

Oudolf’s unique approach in garden design is visible in the way he incorporates death and decay of the plants, creating gardens one experiences, not meant to be simply admired as a decorative element.

The participants were asked to pick five plants from Oudolf’s publication “Planting, A New Perspective”. They were then placed in groups of three students and were given the task of finding a way of designing a garden with the plants they selected. This exercise revealed that some students immediately started working within borders in the shape of either circles or rectangles, indicating that they were implementing the design method Delft is known for: schemes and programmes. Fortunately, the participants were able to let go of this and based their approach to the design exercise on the nature of plants and not on a preconceived system. This illustrates another desire of the Explore Lab students; who wish to approach the design not just through what the programmes stipulates, but through the qualities of materials - in this case plants - in favor of creating spaces with atmosphere.

While Oudolf uses photography of realized gardens in order to convey his designs, the second day of the masterclass explored the ways in which the representation is not just a tool for communication, but a way of charting one’s own sensibilities towards garden design. Inspired by the work of Dutch artists Alexa Meyerman and Kim Boske, the students used layers to create their individual representations.

The second day of the masterclass involved a close collaboration with Erik de Jong; a good friend of the Oudolfs and professor of Culture, Landscape and Nature at The University of Amsterdam. He lectured on the works of Oudolf - “His hand thinks, his eye feels, his skin looks.” - as well as on the ideas of the New Dutch Wave and took the students on a journey of representation in garden design. He expressed being delighted by the fact that architecture students start to embrace garden design again. There was a time in Delft when landscape architecture had started to adopt the vocabulary of architecture, leaving the world of plants. Now, a decade later, gardens and architecture have found each other once again through this world of plants.

The masterclass was organised by Explore lab students: Sido Cherel, Tomas Dirrix, Marianne Neijts, Mieke Vink and Anton Zoetmulder, in collaboration with the Department of Landscape Architecture, and was held on the 17th and 20th February 2015. For more information and the resulting designs, please consult the compendium “Designing with Plants”, which will be released on the 9th of June or e-mail masterclassexplorelab@gmail.com

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Artifact

LES FORMES ET LES SIGNES Artifact Peter Koorstra

Rond 1990–1991 was ik als adviseur betrokken bij het aankopen van kunstwerken voor een van de ministeries en maakte ik kennis met de schilder Gerard Verdijk en zijn werk. Ik raakte onmiddellijk gefascineerd door een aantal tekeningen, waarvan ik er uiteindelijk één kocht.

De fascinatie ontstond doordat ik getroffen werd door zijn denken in tegenstelling en het uitdrukken daarvan in beeld. Het was een thematiek waar ik zelf destijds onbewust mee bezig was en waarvan mij de waarde door het werk van Gerard Verdijk plotseling duidelijk werd. Het is sindsdien ook altijd een leidraad geweest in mijn werk en denken. In zijn tekening “Les Formes et les Signes” kwam dit voor mij op een perfecte manier tot uitdrukking. De schitterende balans tussen de uit de hand gemaakte en toch strikte constructie van de compositie, de subtiele toepassing van de kleur en de aan elk materiaal en vorm gelieerde eigenaardigheid van handschrift brachten mij het werkelijke inzicht van het begrip gelaagdheid. De tekening toont wat mij betreft aan dat door de fundamentele kennis en begrip van de compositiebeginselen het mogelijk is om op intuïtieve wijze te werken. De compositie gaat natuurlijk over de balans tussen de vorm en de contravorm, tussen de kleur en de textuur en het handschrift. De tekening toont tevens dat vorm binnen de compositie niet alleen een beeldende betekenis maar ook een meer literaire betekenis, die van teken / gebaar, kan hebben.

Deze tekening opende voor mij een wereld die minder formeel was en die de waarde en de betrekkelijkheid van de regels liet zien. Uiteindelijk is de tekening meer dan de som der delen en dat is wat dit werk voor mij nog elke dag interessant maakt. Of zoals Gerard het zelf ooit zei: “Die Abbildung ist nicht das Abgebildete”.

Peter invites Kristel Aalbers to share her Artifact in Bnieuws 09

< Les formes et les signes, 100 x 70 cm, door Gerard Verdijk

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Virtual Reality in het onderwijs

STAP IN JE ONTWERP Tekst Lotte Dijkstra & Jane Stortelder

Het lijkt misschien iets uit een sciencefiction film: zet een bril op en je waant je in een futuristische wereld met gigantische wolkenkrabbers, vliegende auto’s en bizarre neonreclames. Met de virtual reality-technieken die nu beschikbaar zijn, is dit echter mogelijk geworden. Paul de Ruiter en Winfried Meijer van TOI en Arno Freeke van @HOK zien hierin ongekende mogelijkheden om architectonisch te ontwerpen. Op een zonnige ochtend nemen zij de tijd om de redactie van Bnieuws een geheel nieuwe digitale ervaring te geven en om te laten zien hoe virtual reality (VR) kan worden ingezet als ontwerptool in het onderwijs.

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De toekomst?

Bij het ontwerpen van de Bijlmermeer in Amsterdam werd in de jaren ’60 een grote maquette van de toekomstige wijk gebouwd. Een kleine camera werd vervolgens in de maquette gehangen, waarna op een zwart-wit televisie te zien was welk effect de schaal van het project precies zou hebben op de bewoners.

Tegenwoordig kunnen we met 3D-modelleerprogramma’s nog veel verder gaan in het beoordelen van de kwaliteit van een ruimte vóór de gebouwen daadwerkelijk zijn gebouwd. Met de ontwikkeling van VR-technieken is het nu mogelijk om daadwerkelijk door je gebouw te lopen en zo te beoordelen of de ruimtes niet te klein zijn, of de gevel niet toch nét anders in elkaar moet zitten en of dat raam daar wel hoort. Hoe kan VR worden ingezet als een effectieve ontwerptool? En zijn er nog meer toepassingen mogelijk binnen de architectuur?

Google Cardboard Waar in de Bijlmer een camera aan een camera-arm werd gebruikt, zijn er tegenwoordig twee gadgets op de markt die geheel inspelen op de snelle technologische ontwikkelingen. De eerste en goedkoopste variant Google Cardboard bestaat uit twee onderdelen: een kartonnen ‘bril’ met twee

lenzen om je smartphone in te zetten en een gratis viewer in de vorm van een app. De bril kan je voor minder dan €10, - online kopen of eenvoudig zelf maken. Vervolgens maak je een 360° render van je ruimte, laad je deze in de app, je stopt je telefoon in de kartonnen bril en dan sta je opeens in je eigen gebouw! Op deze manier is Google Cardboard een laagdrempelige gadget waarmee je met eigen ogen kan ervaren hoe de schaal van je ontwerp precies werkt, ook als je ‘slechts’ blokken hebt staan op een plattegrond. Een makkelijke manier om tijdens je ontwerpproces eenvoudig te controleren of je ontwerp nog voldoet aan de door jouw en de opdrachtgever gestelde eisen.

Oculus Rift Waar Google Cardboard de mogelijkheid biedt om in het gebouw te staan en om je heen te kijken, gaat Oculus Rift nog een stap verder en biedt deze zelfs de mogelijkheid om door het gebouw te lopen. Deze VR-bril komt naar verwachting begin 2016 op de consumentenmarkt, maar bij TOI hebben ze ‘m al!

Met een speciale Maya plug-in en een game engine [red. een programma waarin bewegende beelden worden opgebouwd, zoals bij first-person games] kan je je 3D-model zodanig manipuleren dat je, met

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Google Cardboard; kartonnen bril met twee lenzen

“MET DE OCULUS RIFT KAN JE TIJDENS HET ONTWERPEN HET GEBOUW TESTEN. ALS HET AF IS, KAN JE DE VIRTUELE OMGEVING ALS OVERTUIGEND PRESENTATIEMIDDEL GEBRUIKEN.” behulp van toetsenbord en muis, door je gebouw of door een abstract model kunt bewegen. Dit biedt de mogelijkheid om onder andere te testen of je ontwerp een fijne schaal en goede routing heeft en je kan materialen zien en beoordelen. Daarnaast is de Oculus Rift ook een fijne gadget om presentaties te geven; wat spreekt nou meer voor zich dan een wandeling door het gebouw?

Maar wacht, er is meer: met de Maya-plugin kan je met de Oculus Rift ook, terwijl je in je eigen ontwerp staat, aanpassingen maken. Dat betekent dat je ter

plekke kunt zien hoe een verandering in het ontwerp de beleving van de ruimte beïnvloedt. Je kan nog een stap verder gaan door de Oculus Rift te gebruiken om je ontwerp echt te testen.

De lichtinstellingen kun je dusdanig aanpassen dat je bijvoorbeeld infrarood ziet en koudebruggen kunt opsporen. Zet er een koptelefoon bij op en je kunt de akoestiek testen. Met behulp van een geurgenerator en zogenaamde data-gloves [red. handschoenen die textuur nabootsen] kan je zelfs de gehele sensorische ervaring van een ruimte simuleren!

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Poster van Berend Raaphorst voor het vak Beyond 3D Visualization

Een volgende stap is het vastleggen van de verzamelde data voor bijvoorbeeld onderzoek. Laat tien proefpersonen door het gebouw lopen en test op die manier of de routing wel logisch is. Of onderzoek het groepsgedrag: wat gebeurt er als die tien mensen tegelijkertijd door het gebouw laat lopen? Vindt er interactie plaats op de geplande punten? Met een beetje fantasie en vooral geduld zijn de mogelijkheden van VR eindeloos.

Bouwkundige VR VR is dus op drie verschillende momenten in je ontwerpproces toe te passen. In het begin van je

ontwerpproces kan je, in de virtuele omgeving, ontwerpstudies doen en je ontwerp op bouwen.

Tijdens het ontwerpen kan je je ontwerp testen en als het ontwerp af is, kan je de virtuele omgeving als overtuigend presentatiemiddel gebruiken. Wat de techniek vooral kenmerkt is dat deze zo breed inzetbaar is. Niet voor niets dus dat er steeds meer aandacht in het onderwijs komt voor deze manier van ontwerpen. In de bachelorvakken Overdracht en Vorm worden de basisvaardigheden van 3D-modelleren en het gebruik van Google Cardboard aangeleerd. Bij Ontwerpen II en Ontwerpen IV wordt Google Cardboard ook

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daadwerkelijk ingezet tijdens het ontwerpproces. Het is de bedoeling dat verdere technieken, zoals de Oculus Rift, in het tweede kwartaal van 2015/2016 zal worden toegepast in de master, bij het vak Beyond 3D Visualization. De technieken worden al gebruikt als onderzoekstool bij het analyseren van de beleving van ruimten en het ruimtegebruik.

Test het zelf en stap in de wondere wereld van VR! Op 9 en 10 juni staan de mannen van TOI met de Oculus Rift in de pauze bij de hoofdingang.

Speak

TOWARDS A PRACTICAL AESTHETICS Words Jurjen Zeinstra

In recent years Argus has organized the ‘Night of the Philosophy’. This year’s theme was ‘Subjective Aesthetics?’. This initiative of Argus and especially their choice of the topic is laudable. For some reason reflecting on aesthetics is not so common in our faculty: in recent debates on the presumed new role of the architect ethics seems to dominate over aesthetics. In this ‘ethical’ perspective, the architect as a creative author with a developed aesthetic sensibility has become slightly suspect.

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Every competent architect, however, will have to agree that in the end aesthetics is inseparably connected to the core of the discipline. And yet architects, students of architecture but also their tutors find it difficult to address it properly. Decisions and judgements on issues like proportion, rhythm and composition are often taken in an intuitive way. Many architects and especially architecture students ‘cover up’ these intuitive decisions. They try to rationalize these decisions by constructing an argument that binds various aspects of their design together. Aspects like programme, context and typology are, ideally spoken, integrated with spatial lay out, building structure and materiality. To create an aesthetically satisfying design, the designer, consciously or not, will look for the proper expression on all the different scale levels. It is here that one might introduce aspects like ornamentation and decoration. These aspects are part of what I would like to call, after Gottfried Semper, a ‘practical aesthetics’.

Our faculty rightly considers architects to be generalists: competent and knowledgeable in many fields. For some reason, ornamentation and decoration is excluded from these fields. This is surprising, since the current situation in Europe increasingly asks for architects and designers that have the skills and competencies to reuse, refurbish and alter the existing building stock. In all these assignments, independent from their scale or complexity, the creation of interior spaces will play a central role. The designer of these spaces, whether called architect or interior architect, needs to be able to integrate all the programmatic, technical, social, logistical, financial and aesthetic demands.

In my opinion, quite particular sensibilities and skills are crucial here and a design training that integrates knowledge of and design experience with ornamentation and decoration may be extremely helpful. Topics like representation and the experience of material surfaces are immediately connected with ornamentation and decoration. Take for example the treatment of surfaces that enclose a space (the walls, floor and ceiling).

The choice of materials for these surfaces is just one step. The way these materials are assembled, the way they relate to other materials and also the proper finishing of the

these materials are other important steps. It is here that ornamentation and decoration come into play. Both enable the designer to ‘add a layer’ to different materials in different ways. In a literal sense, one adds a layer by creating a new pattern with a different scale, by creating depth and shadow (allowing light to touch and penetrate the surface), by creating a new colour or a new texture that contrasts or highlights the background material. In a broader metaphorical sense one adds a layer of meaning or association (or multiple layers of meaning or association) that enriches the reading or interpretation of the surfaces and, by that, also of the spaces they contain.

Today, decoration is becoming increasingly easy and affordable to produce. For a long time, the building industry has been dominated by centrally organized mass production of building materials and components from a standard catalogue. Nowadays, with the rapid developments in digital design and production with 3D-printers, laser-cutters and so on, tailormade building elements can be produced locally in limited editions in an affordable and fast way. Some of the arguments that Adolf Loos used in ‘Ornament and Crime’, for instance that ornamentation is a waste of labour and money, are no longer valid.

With all the new possibilities it seems strange that the design of decoration is something that is not part of regular architectural education. The rich tradition of the nineteenth century regarding practical aesthetics, as found in the books by architects and designers like Gottfried Semper, Owen Jones, Jules Bourgoin, William Morris and others, has been cut off in the twentieth century. The current ‘fashion’ in the use of decoration and ornament is often not much more than picking a wallpaper-pattern from a catalogue. It has hardly any connection to research and teaching in architecture schools and it often misses out the opportunities that the new technologies offer.

I want to make a plea for the reintroduction of practical aesthetics as part of the curriculum of every architecture school. An aesthetics that not only explores traditions but that grasps all the opportunities of contemporary technologies to decorate our environment in a sensible and beautiful way.

NEXT MONTH 09 ARGUS bids farewell to the academic year with a exhibition showcasing the very best of all the studios.

Get ready for summer by taking a bite out of Fruits of Study! Which architect would you like to see share his or her experiences as a student of architecture?

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Bnieuws VOLUME 48 EDITION 08