News

It is with great sadness that we learned of the sudden passing of Kees van der Linden. We extend our deepest sympathies to his loved ones, family, and friends during this difficult time.

We have quite a housing problem to solve in the Netherlands. How is it possible we don’t have packed metropolises with skyscrapers? And will that change in the future? University of the Netherlands travelled to Rotterdam with senior lecturer in area development Tom Daamen to delve into this.

After a year-long tour as part of '100 Years of Myth Maison d'Artiste', the scale model has now returned to the faculty.

Last Tuesday, 2 April, TU Delft's Vision Team Wonen (Housing) presented their report 'Room for Housing: towards an integrated approach to the Dutch housing challenge’. Vision Team Wonen was set up by the Rector Magnificus in 2023 to address the growing housing crisis in the Netherlands. The team includes experts from CEG, TPM, IDE, and every department of our faculty. It was coordinated by Dr Gerard van Bortel (MBE) and Ulf Hackauf (Urbanism).

BK professors Philomena Bluyssen and Atze Boerstra joined forces with a global network of 37 fellow experts on the indoor environment. Their collective paper, published in Science, calls for improved monitoring and regulating of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in public spaces. It unequivocally states that “mandatory standards would result in immense benefits to the health and productivity of people around the world.”

The Netherlands is suffering from an ever-worsening housing crisis, but at the same time many buildings stand empty. The book ‘Transformation into Housing’, edited by four BK researchers, provides a thorough overview of the feasibility and sustainability of transforming these buildings into homes.

It is vital to address current and future challenges in the built environment as quickly as possible. Think of heat stress, loss of biodiversity, and flooding. Therefore, we invite you to follow the new MOOC Urban Ecology Design. You will learn how to contribute to a more biodiverse, nature-inclusive, and sustainable built environment by applying nature-based solutions in designs and policy.

On Friday, March 15, more than 1000 students, mostly accompanied by their parents, visited the Open Campus day. On all faculties and in the auditorium there was the possibility to learn more about the Bachelor programs of TU Delft. Because the numerus fixus of BK was closed on January 15, most of the students at our faculty were VWO 5 students.

In her inaugural address, Janina Gosseye will reflect on what the Honeywood File, published in 1929, might look like if it were written today, nearly one hundred years after the original book appeared. Who might the architect be, and how would they engage in architectural practice? What might the commission be? A mansion for a wealthy couple, or perhaps rather a large shopping centre? In her address, Gosseye will also consider what architectural historians might learn from the way in which the Honeywood File, which is an epistolary novel, was written.