Archinect - News

In Delft, a 3D-printed passage by Studio RAP reinterprets traditional ceramic crafts

2023-07-13T12:15:00-04:00

Rotterdam-based Studio RAP has completed a 3D-printed ceramic walkway in the Dutch city of Delft. Titled 'New Delft Blue,' the project “reinterprets the world-famous decorative qualities and design vocabulary of Delft Blue porcelain,” with a fusion of 3D clay printing, computational design, and artistic glazing.

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

The scheme is located in the communal courtyard of the PoortMeesters residential building block. Within the block, two large arching gates cover a public staircase, drawing reference from Delft’s historical role as a trading city. Studio RAP’s intervention within the arched passage takes its inspiration from traditional Delft Blue porcelain plates, whose vocabulary has changed radically over centuries with influence from Chinese and Japanese designs.

Image credit: Riccardo De Vecchi

“The differentiation between a decorative, nature-inspired frame and idyllic scene, however, has bee...

Mecanoo completes Delft City Hall and Train Station

2018-09-28T19:44:00-04:00

Following the construction of the first phase in 2015, the Mecanoo-designed Delft City Hall and Train Station is now fully completed, the Dutch firm recently announced. The 28,320 m2 project sits on top of a train tunnel, which replaced an old concrete viaduct that divided the city since 1965. Now, the project connects Delft's historic city center to the east of the tunnel with the residential neighborhoods to the west.

Photo credit: Mecanoo.

The project's design celebrates the past and present of Delft, Mecanoo describes. As travelers ride the escalators, they can look up to see a gigantic 1877 map of Delft on the ceiling, which Mecanoo designed with Geerdes Ontwerpen. Outside, travelers can see the city and the old station. Walls and columns in the interior are decorated with a contemporary reinterpretation of Delft Blue tiles. The train station also directly connects to the city hall.

Photo credit: Mecanoo.

“Panels of fused glass with len...

Work on Europe's first hyperloop test facility in Delft has been completed

2017-06-08T15:24:00-04:00

Back in February, TU Delft won the first phase of SpaceX's Hyperloop Competition, beating out MIT and the Technical University of Munich, for their design of a human-scale Hyperloop pod. Well, last week, Europe's first hyperloop test facility on the TU Delft campus was unveiled.

Hardt, which was founded by some of the winners from Elon Musk's hyperloop competition, is the first European company to work on developing the futuristic transport system. They have been working in conjunction with the construction company BAM to build the 30-meter long test facility revealed last Thursday. The facility consists of a tube with a length of 30 meters and an external diameter of 3.2 and will allow Hardt to try out all the important systems at low speeds. Testing will focus on examining the safety, the propulsion, the gliding and the stabilization of the hyperloop vehicle. In addition, the company is also interested in looking into potential social issues concerning the new form of transportatio...

TU Delft appoints Peter Russell as new architecture dean

2015-03-11T14:15:00-04:00

After a careful international recruitment process, the Executive Board has appointed Peter Russell as dean of TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment effective 1 May 2015. Peter Russell is currently Professor of Computer Supported Planning in Architecture (CAAD) at the RWTH Aachen University. He also serves as Rector's Emissary for Alumni Affairs at the RWTH where he has been Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and chaired the Dean's Council.

Mecanoo's newly opened Delft train station hall stays true to its city roots

2015-03-03T21:46:00-05:00

Six years after the project was first announced, Delft's new railway station hall opened its doors to the public this past Saturday. Designed by native Dutch firm Mecanoo, the new building purposefully nods to its cultural roots so that visitors arriving at the station will know from the get-go that they are in Delft indeed.

The station hall, which is the first phase of the development, is built above a new train tunnel that will replace an old 1965 concrete viaduct by 2017. Amsterdam/Aachen-based Benthem Crouwel, who worked on the Rotterdam Centraal Station, designed the station's below-ground platforms.

With Francesco Veenstra as design lead, Mecanoo focused on balancing Delft's rich history with its present and future for their design concept. As expected, the Delft Blue color scheme is rampant throughout the building's exterior and interior.

The building's outer fused-glass skin was designed to "reflect the Dutch skies" and features a lens-like sphere pattern that refers to a commo...

Get Lectured: TU Delft Fall '13

2013-11-11T15:46:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. (UPDATE: We've begun adding international schools!) Check back regularly to stay up-to-date and mark your calendars for any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Today's featured poster comes from the The Berlage Center, a post-graduate department of the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands.

A little history: The Berlage Center was established after the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam closed in 2012 when all funding ceased for post-academic institutions in The Netherlands. The Institute's deans included one of its founders Herman Hertzberger, Wiel Arets (1995), and Alejandro Zaera-Polo (2002). Since 2012, the Berlage Center continues to operate as a research, discussion and cultural platform for architectural, urban, and landscape issues.

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