Education
BIG contributes to teaching in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment across Bachelor, Master and post-Master levels. In the Bachelor, members or BIG teach in the leerlijn 'Science & Skills' (Wetenschap & Vaardigheden); specifically in BKBWV6, a course which focuses on 'The Practice of the Architect: Position and Reflection'. In the Master, BIG runs two courses: a research elective called 'Building Stories' (AR0825) and a research and design studio (AR2MM001). More information about these two Master's courses is available below. Finally, BIG also contibutes to PhD education in the facullty with a course called ‘The Dog, the Cook and the Mapmaker: Modes of Writing in Architecture Research’ (ABE021).
AR0825 'Building Stories' (Msc2 elective)
The Msc2 elective ‘Building Stories’ (AR0825) invites students to reflect on the interaction between social, political, and cultural developments and the built environment on the one hand, and how we construct (hi)stories of the built environment on the other hand. The focus of the course is on the second half of the 20th century, and each year, we focus on one particular theme. Themes that have been set for this course in previous years are 'secularisation' (2021-2022) and 'sustainability' (2023-2024). The course spans 10 weeks and consists of three parts. In this first part, students work in groups to find 20 potential case-study building projects by consulting databases of architectural journals. These case-study projects must relate to the theme that is set for the course that year. In the second part of the course, each student chooses one project, which they must research in greater depth using a variety of research methods, but always including fictocriticism. As students research their chosen project in greater depth, they also develop first a script, which is entirely textual and then a storyboard, which has some basic sketches. In the third part of the course students develop and design a complete graphic novel short story about their chosen project. Three key concepts that underpin this graphic novel short story (and the course in general) are: 'situatedness', 'other stories', and 'criticality'.
Examples of student work:
AR2MM001 Design Studio (Msc2 studio)
With a focus on societal and socio-political concerns, the Msc2 design studio (AR2MM001) offered by BIG places the perspective of the users of buildings and urban environments central in its design. The Msc2 studio offered by BIG typically consists of three parts. The first part, ‘Readings, Research and Debates’ focuses mainly on gaining an understanding of different interpretations of the central concept of the studio – this concept changes every three years – and the different stances and positions that one can (theoretically) adopt vis-à-vis this concept. In the second part of the studio, entitled ‘Storylines’, each student is invited to interview three chosen protagonists; these are the future users of project that is to be designed. Through these interviews, each student is able to refine and sharpen their own design brief to meet the expectations of their protagonists. The third and final part of the studio focuses on developing the design based on the three storylines of the chosen protagonists, and in relation to the various positions and interpretations of the central concept of the studio that have been explored in the first part of the course.
Between 2021 and 2023, the central concept of the Msc2 studio of BIG was ‘freedom’. In this iteration of the studio, students examined what freedom (might) mean in architecture and urban design today, and how urban environments might change as we weigh individual freedom against civil liberties and ‘the common good’. From the academic year 2024-2025 on, the central focus of the studio has shifted towards the concept ‘play’.
Examples of student work:
'Freedom' by Grégoire Rivier (2023)
'Freedom' by Roos Scholten (2023)
'A Day in the Life of Marcus, Marie and Cyriel' by Wessel Kruidenier (2022)
