News

At the end of October, diplomats and scientists from all over the world came to Cali, Colombia for the 16th United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16). Those who visited the Dutch pavilion between debates and lectures sometimes witnessed unexpected things. A dance conveying knowledge about the water system? A woven belt that says something about how to grow food in harmony with nature? The Landscape Architecture Section has a refreshing message: ‘Traditional and indigenous knowledge can be harnessed to landscape solutions for biodiversity and water.’

In Nature Partner Journals, ten researchers advocate the use of imagination in tackling the climate crisis. They focus specifically on urbanising river deltas, which are of great social and economic importance and highly vulnerable to climate change. "We scientists should not merely outline doomsday scenarios," says Professor Chris Zevenbergen. "Create a vision for people to believe in and work towards.”

Tess Broekmans, co-owner of Urhahn urban design and strategy, delivered her inaugural address as professor of Urban Design on Friday 6 September. In it, she addressed ‘the complexity of the everyday’. After all, how can designers' visions connect better with people's everyday lives? In doing so, she also sees a new role for area developers.

An extraordinary project is underway in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province, on the island of Borneo. The hills, which were mostly covered by eucalyptus plantations just last year, are currently a tangle of roads, construction sites, pipelines, power cables... This area, comparable in size to the province of South Holland, will become Indonesia's new capital: Nusantara. Professor Steffen Nijhuis (Urbanism) visited the area as part of a delegation of the Universities Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE). He considered how LDE, and specifically Bouwkunde, can contribute to this project.

The urban environment is constantly changing. In the city, the major transitions we are struggling with as a country and planet, such as climate, mobility, energy and housing, come together. At the same time, the city is a place where we live together and where we search with each other for practical solutions to those complex and large-scale problems. Tess Broekmans will deliver her inaugural address 'The complexity of the everyday' (De complexiteit van het alledaagse) on Friday 6 September.

Two researchers at our faculty have received grants for their research proposals. Deepti Adlakha receives a personal grant from NWO Open Science - XS for her research on the effectiveness of City climate action plans. Henriette Bier receives a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchange 2023 for ArchiSpace, research that aims to develop reliable and safe extraterrestrial settlements together with MSc and PhD students.

How do you design cities in such a way as to allow people to live as pleasurably and healthily as possible? Professor Machiel van Dorst combines his knowledge of architecture with a background in environmental psychology. For his inaugural address, Van Dorst argues for focusing on the city at eye level: “To a certain extent, where you live determines who you are.”

On Tuesday 30 January, five Architecture students (TU Delft) presented hypothetical plans for the redevelopment of three Delft locations. Delft alderman Frank van Vliet (Climate, Culture and Public Space) and city master planner Tako Postma gave their reactions to the plans.

On 11 January 2024 the workshop Digital Engagement in Times of Climate Crisis took place as part of the TU Delft Delta week.

Two projects in which faculty researchers are involved or are the main applicant have recently been awarded with funding. These are the CIVILIAN project on civic engagement and the Building 4 Belonging project on loneliness.