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The decreasing trend in the new-build supply of owner-occupied homes puts a continuously growing stamp on the dynamics and purchase price development of the existing housing stock. This hinders the possibilities of moving on from an existing owner-occupied home, which means that the supply of existing owner-occupied homes is also stagnating.

On 3 July, professor of Urban Area Development Co Verdaas will give his inaugural address. “The question of how we structure and organise the Netherlands seems harder to answer than ever. This chair exists in order to help government bodies and market players to interpret the underlying complexity.”

The municipality of Delft and TU Delft will intensify their collaboration on urban area development. “The challenges in urban area development request a close collaboration to achieve breakthroughs faster,” explains professor Co Verdaas.

As part of the upcoming book publication ‘The city of the future’, BK researchers Tom Daamen and Hedwig van der Linden reflected on the value of research by design for urban area development. This type of design thinking can create added value for clients on different levels of the design brief.

As of 1 April 2019, Co Verdaas has been appointed as the new dijkgraaf of the Water Board Rivierenland. The position of dijkgraaf within a water board is the equivalent of the position of mayor within a municipality council.

Dutch housing associations are very keen on sustainability, but when it comes down to it, costs are the decisive factor. This is the conclusion of Sandra Hoomans in her PhD research. “Strategic considerations on making housing stock more sustainable should also be based on ecological values.”

Paul Chan has been appointed Professor of Design and Construction Management. The Chair addresses questions of processes that enable whole-life thinking in the development and realisation of building projects. Future practices and accompanying new technologies are looked at from a sociotechnical perspective, exploring how they can contribute to constructing better buildings and communities.

Together with producers and clients, researchers from BK Bouwkunde and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) developed a prototype circular kitchen. This kitchen can be renewed almost indefinitely and adjusted to individual preferences, meaning it is a kitchen for life.

In the eyes of many practitioners, the architectural profession is undergoing a process of devaluation. To shed light on long-term trends within the profession, BK Bouwkunde starts a sociologic study on professionalisation of practitioners in architecture in collaboration with the ArchiScienza Foundation. This foundation stimulates activities on the intersection of architecture and science in the widest sense.

Every year, the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs awards the best master thesis on the housing market. Janneke Michielsen, alumna of the faculty of TBM, was awarded the first prize. The second prize was awarded to alumnus Martijn Nawroth, who graduated with a thesis on future proofing the housing stock of the municipality of Zoetermeer.