Following yesterday's breaking news, and the recent update from MADianito, Roemer, from TU Delft's faculty, sends us his updates and photographs (view them in the gallery)...
The faculty of Architecture of the technical University of Delft in the Netherlands with more than 3000 students has burned down yesterday the 13th of May. The architect was Jaap Bakema who built it in the seventies. It started with a small fire (of a coffeemachine on the 4th floor) after a waterflood in the building. All people were safed but the building is ruined. This thursday an exhibition with many models produced and collected over many years by the faculty would open (with models of projects by Rietveld, Le Corbusier, Melnikov, Duiker, Van Eyck, Adolf Loos, Eames and many many others, including the famous collection of many original chairs by Le Corbusier, Rietveld, Gispen. Luckily 80 models and 200 chairs have been saved from the lower parts of the building. Most likely the collection of the Architecture Library (more than 400.000 books and magazines - on of the best of Europe - will be safed too. Although the water and smoke damage must be disastrous.
11 Comments
all this is probably drink coffee to stay up and work all night!
Well at least it seems as if the book collection is safe!
well.... there be notes, not much, but some (articles), mentioning also how much final projects were lost!, imagine we r in the season of end of semester, so a lot of final projects of the near 3000 students were laying around there and lots of them im sure without any backup in digital format... not to mention ppl who were doing PhD researches for years....
is sad, i mean mostly knowing how much time it takes to produce stuff in architecture....
and the books, and the chairs, and the sketches and drawings for exhibition... it all came together in a very bad timing...
I feel bad for the students, have they already had their final reviews? I hope so, has anyone heard anything if they haven't? I hope that digital work has been backed up, I know most people don't do it though... thank god for time capsule.
That's truly terrible. My gosh.
But does anybody else think it's kind of ironic how an architecture school building burned down because of a water leak?
Hopefully the school gets back on their feet soon.
Im currently in New Zealand but was recently accepted to the TU Delft Masters programme, and I was due to start in September. Does anyone know of any updates regarding new students starting next semester? Very pleased most of the books were able to be salvaged!
Felicity;
You can try to mail your questions to h.a.j.ootes*at*tudelft*dot*nl who is currently dealing with questions about marks, coarses and so on. They may refer you to the International Desk, but I can not find contact information from them.
For different more general questions about the fire and how we students are going to deal with it you may mail me at teunverkerk*at*gmail*dot*com
I do have some emails of the International Office, I cannot publish them here but will transfer them to you if you contact me via mail.
Final review will be in a couple of weeks, from regular students as well from grad students
So yes, a lot of irreplaceable work has been lost... A big tragedy!
As for the new semester starting in September: don't worry, a temporary building within the campus has almost been arranged already.
Very sorry to hear the sad incident. It is good that many valuable things and the books in the library have been saved.
When I was studying architecture at the University of Toronto, in 1972, my project proposal was a "school of architecture". The faculty demanded a feasible "raison d'etre" and financing for wishing to design a school of architecture, as there was already a building in which we studied. One of my profs said to me, "you can say there was a fire
in the building and the insurance would pay."
I told the jury just this, without mentioning the
prof's name. Everyone looked at each other
and the prof who had suggested this to me said: "let's accept this. Askin is so interrested
to design a school of architecture. If we don't accept his reason, he might burn the building down!" I gulped and my idea of designing a school of architecture was accepted. I designed a spiral type building, open in the middle, which felt like "one wholesome institution", studios building upon one another. One could take the elevator or climb up and down the studios to talk with one's friends in different years. A fine building design it was. I still have the project if my friends at Delft would like to see it.
(My brth date is May 13 - won't say the year!)
Askin Ozcan
Architect and
author of THE SECOND VENICE,
STOCKHOLM STORIES, SMALL MIRACLES,
WISDOM IN SMILE, LIGHTNING AND A BOUQUET OF ROSES
Very sorry to hear the sad incident. It is good that many valuable things and the books in the library have been saved.
When I was studying architecture at the University of Toronto, in 1972, my project proposal was a "school of architecture". The faculty demanded a feasible "raison d'etre" and financing for wishing to design a school of architecture, as there was already a building in which we studied. One of my profs said to me, "you can say there was a fire
in the building and the insurance would pay."
I told the jury just this, without mentioning the
prof's name. Everyone looked at each other
and the prof who had suggested this to me said: "let's accept this. Askin is so interrested
to design a school of architecture. If we don't accept his reason, he might burn the building down!" I gulped and my idea of designing a school of architecture was accepted. I designed a spiral type building, open in the middle, which felt like "one wholesome institution", studios building upon one another. One could take the elevator or climb up and down the studios to talk with one's friends in different years. A fine building design it was. I still have the project if my friends at Delft would like to see it.
(My brth date is May 13 - won't say the year!)
Askin Ozcan
Architect and
author of THE SECOND VENICE,
STOCKHOLM STORIES, SMALL MIRACLES,
WISDOM IN SMILE, LIGHTNING AND A BOUQUET OF ROSES
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