periodical for the Building Technologist

60. BouT XXBOUT

PRAKTIJKVERENIGING

student association for building technology

periodical for the Building Technologist

www.octatube.nl

Jan Brouwer +31 6 51 31 62 50•Chris Karthaus +31 6 46 32 70 21• info@brouhaus.nl•www.brouhaus.nl•www.brouwerarchitect.nl

Deze stoel weegt slechts twee kilogram. Het onderstel bestaat uit 4 in elkaar gelijmde 6 mm dikke multiplex onderdelen. De totale dikte van de kuip is 8 mm met aan de buitenzijde berkenfineer van 1 mm. De randen zijn afgewerkt met een zwart rubberprofiel. De stoel is behandeld met matte transparante lak.TWOKG

advBout_juli2015.indd 1 20-06-15 14:07

Cabinet 02.West.090Faculty of ArchitectureJulianalaan 1342628BL DelftThe Netherlands

+31 (0)15 278 1292 www.praktijkverenigingbout.nl rumoer@praktijkverenigingbout.nlBOUT

PRAKTIJKVERENIGING

student association for building technology

Jan Brouwer +31 6 51 31 62 50•Chris Karthaus +31 6 46 32 70 21• info@brouhaus.nl•www.brouhaus.nl•www.brouwerarchitect.nl

Deze stoel weegt slechts twee kilogram. Het onderstel bestaat uit 4 in elkaar gelijmde 6 mm dikke multiplex onderdelen. De totale dikte van de kuip is 8 mm met aan de buitenzijde berkenfineer van 1 mm. De randen zijn afgewerkt met een zwart rubberprofiel. De stoel is behandeld met matte transparante lak.TWOKG

advBout_juli2015.indd 1 20-06-15 14:07

Colofon

RUMOER 603rd Quarter 201521st year of publication Praktijkvereniging BouTRoom 02.West.090Faculty of Architecture, TU DelftJulianalaan 1342628 BL DelftThe Netherlands

tel: +31 (0)15 278 1292fax: +31 (0)15 278 4178www.PraktijkverenigingBouT.nlrumoer@PraktijkverenigingBouT.nl PrintingSieca Repro, Delft

ISSN number1567-7699

CreditsEdited by: Marc Nicolaï Text editing: Koen Fischer Marc Nicolaï Jelmer Niesten Rutger Oor Ali Sarmad Lefteris Siamopoulous

Cover design: Jelmer Niesten

Cover image: RuMoer

RUMOER is a periodical of Praktijkvereniging BouT, student and practice association for Building Technology (AE+T), at the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft (Delft University of Technology). This magazine is spread among members and relations.

CirculationThe RUMOER appears 3 times a year, with 150 printed copies circulation and digital copies made available to members through online distribution.

MembershipAmounts per academic year (subject to change):€ 10,- Students€ 20,- PhD Students and alumni€ 30,- Academic Staff€ 80,- Companies

Single copiesAvailable at Praktijkvereniging BouT for € 7,50.

SponsorsPraktijkvereniging BouT is looking for (main) sponsors. Sponsors make activi-ties possible such as study trips, symposia, lectures and much more.There is also the possibility of advertising in the RUMOER:Black & White, full page € 100,-Black & White, full page, 3x(once in every edition througout one year) € 250,-Full color, full page € 200,-

CopyFiles for publication can be delivered to BouT in .docx or .indd, pictures are preferred in .png or .jpg format.

DisclaimerThe editors do not take any responsibility for the photo’s and texts that are displayed in the magazine. Images may not be used in other media without permission of the original owner. The editors reserve the right to shorten or refuse publication without prior notification.

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CONTENT Past06 History of BouT 10 RuMoer History and BT Graduation Highlights 16 AE PART 1: INTERVIEW

22 AE PART 2: INTECTURE

Present37 Design Informatics: Izmir pavillion

38 Student Surveys

42 INTERNSHIP - Guus Gooskens

44 INTERNSHIP - Jelmer Niesten

46 INTERNSHIP - Nick De Lange

Future48 Architect or Engineer? - Bart Kramer-Segers 51 The Future of Modelling - BEMNext

52 Vertical Farming - Luuk Graamans

56 Bio-based FRP Structures - Rafail Gkaidatzis

42 - Intership in Dubai!

48 - Working at ARUP!

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EDITORIAL

The 60th edition of Rumoer celebrates over twenty years of BouT and Rumoer. We dug up some history about BouT and went through old Rumoers to find interesting articles worthy of highlighting. With the help of teachers and students we documented the current state of BT and AE. AE -the love child of BT and Architecture- has been going strong for over five years. We interviewed the AE teachers involved with the AE journal and asked them to supply us with their highlights of the last five years. A survey was held among current students to give an idea of what goes through their heads and we asked students to tell about their internship experiences. Finally we want to give an idea of the future for current students and what they might get involved with during and after their AE+T education. In the final part you will find new articles about graduating BT and what might come after.

Enjoy!

Marc Nicolaï (Rumoer 2015-2016)

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Dear members and readers,

We’re excited to present to you our sixtieth issue of the RuMoer! The focus on stories of all people who’ve been involved with BT of the past years, has resulted in content that brings a smile to the readers face. As board of BouT, we are proud to contribute this way in creating a bridge between the architects and the engineers. The article about the questionnaire amongst members is my personal favourite. It reflects the result of enthusiastic input of both students and teachers from Building Technology. As a student association, BouT facilitates opportunities for BT- and AE-students to grow and develop themselves beyond their academic knowledge. During the first meeting of the new academic year, the board of BouT discussed some new ideas and we are highly motivated to continue with the second half of our board year. Several events are planned for the members to gather with us during the following semester. In the first week, BouT celebrates the academic start of the new BT-students with a barbecue for all the people involved with Building Technology. For the new Msc-students, we advise you to subscribe for membership via the website of BouT: www.praktijkverenigingbout.nl

Via the newsletter you will be updated on the latest news and developments within Building Technology. More importantly, members can join for free on the organised excursions to building technology related companies. During the coming semester there will also be another study trip, specially organised for our members, to an exciting location: Valencia! Definitely worth to check it out via our website or Facebook. Make sure you subscribe in time when the study trip is announced officially, before all available positions are filled!

So, are you interested to expand your organisational skills as part of a committee?

Do you have crazy ideas that you’d like to realise and you need some help with this?

Or are you interested to get in closer contact with the university or other companies?

Step by our office and share your thoughts!

FROM THE BOARDFrom left to right:Ahmed Assad (Education)Roxanne Kiel (Events) Frederico Riches (Finance & Sponsoring)Carlijn van der Werf (Chairman, also pictured bottom right)Marc Nicolaï (RuMoer)Ali Sarmad (Secretary)

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We’re always open to new ideas and possibilities. Currently, BouT is looking for enthusiastic students for committees and the future board follow-up. Feel free to contact us via mail, website, Facebook or in person. Our office is located next to the BT-studios in Cabinet 02.West.090.

We are looking forward to a new inspiring semester with Building Technology!

On behalf of the BouT-board,

Carlijn van der Werf

Chairman 2015-2016

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HISTORY of BouTPraktijkvereniging BouT has existed almost as long as the BT section and looking back on it now, a transition from a somewhat typical Dutch student society towards a more internationally oriented organisation is apparent. Along the way things were lost, things were changed, and new things grew.

By Marc Nicolaï

The Beginning

September 29, 1994. The first official BouT board takes office at drinks at Jan Brouwers (one of the professors involved with founding BouT) home, followed by a dinner in a cramped Italian restaurant with the board of ‘BouT in forming’. It would be the beginning of a busy year, in which BouT gradually took shape. The story continues to tell of how the first BouT ‘hok’ (or office) was located indoors without windows, and only after heated lobbying they were able to move and actually build their own office across from the elevators (this was in the old Architecture building). This office was officially opened with a party in June 1995. Weekly meetings and daily attendance in combination with full time studying was cause for much sleep deprivation but led to a practice association that quickly became better known. A main cause for trouble was the lack of proper computational equipment. The single Apple Macintosh, whose archaic shut down sequence apparently was difficult to master, was cause for much frustration.

The Birth of BT

Of course before BouT could be founded, Building Techology as a master direction had to be created. This happened in the onslaught of a faculty crisis that occurred when the faculty was faced with closure if the curriculum were not changed

dramatically to include more technically focussed courses. This quickly led to the new master directions Building Technology and Building Management. One of the people involved was Jan Brouwer, trained as an architect, but passionate about the role of technology in architecture. His flamboyant character came to dominate the first five years or so of BT and BouT and even after his retirerement his influence was still felt for over a decade.

The Fire

Skipping ahead, an important event impacted the whole of the Architecture department, BouT included. Like many others, BouT lost most of its material possessions in the fire of 2008. The following years consisted mostly of the association barely holding on, but it also meant the association could be rebuilt from the ground up. The association became more internationally focussed, with the RuMoer switching to English as the main language. The current board has most of its meetings in English now that two international students have joined the ranks.

Rise of AE

Another innovation was the development of a graduation direction that attempted to bridge the gap between architecture and BT. Although officially a part of the architecture direction, and graduates becoming architects, BouT has seen another

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graduation Master lab come under its wing. Many students have trouble choosing between AE and BT for their graduation direction. Whether they choose AE or BT, in the end both groups are represented in the members of BouT. Over the recent years this in turn has had its influence on the RuMoer as it shifted some of its articles towards more architecture oriented subjects. This might make BouT less of a hardcore building technology association, but has made it more approachable for the rest of BK City. After all, BT was never founded to be a completely separate part of the faculty, but a driver for the development of technological development and applications in architecture.

The Last 5 Years

The work of our recent predecessors laid the foundation of how BouT is run today and we’re working on further improving and refining the process. Our main focus remains on bringing students, staff and practice together in engaging events that form an important addition to the curriculum of BT and AE.

A sincere thanks to the previous boards, for your hard work and input.

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The Discussion

An important discussion throughout the years has been about what we are studying for. What is building technology and what will we do after graduating? The following is a short overview of what has been published before on this subject.

“I’m convinced that ultimately our built environment will look differently under the influence of technology. We should take care that new generations of architects and engineers will be schooled with insight in the continually changing societal, cultural and technical processes. Where better than here in this environment. Architecture is the art of necessity. Let’s not forget that.”

Translated excerpt from Jan Brouwer, The Making of Architecture , (2000). Jan Brouwer was involved with founding BouT as one of the early BT professors.

The Building TechnologistProf. Ir. C. van Weeveren (in first lustrum edition of RuMoer):

The building engineer who graduated in Building Technology shall be able to work in several positions. In an architecture office he can, in an early stage, adjust the design and the technical components to one another and during the process optimize them. Both within architecture offices as in producing companies the Building Technologist can be active as the ‘product architect’, who alongside the project architect will design and develop products, as well as apply open product systems within the (building) design. Other than that he can develop and design products for architectural applications independently and act as advisor for and in between architects and producers. As manager he can guide the design, development and research department at a producing company, as well as create design applications and take care of product marketing. As architecturally schooled technologist or technically grounded architect he will widely employable but above all he will be able to function as a link between architecture and technology, between designer and producer.

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The roles of the Building TechnologistBased on the article by Arlette van Poppel (in RuMoer 5, see also the diagrams on the right):

The Researcher: Not as specialized as the Building Physicists from TU Eindhoven, or Material Engineers, the Building Technologist is a generalist who can work together with the specialists and create a link to applications in society.

The Designer: The building technologist isn’t just good at detailling. He can assist architects with properly integrating technical aspects into the overall design and focus on working together with contractors and advisors.

The (building) Product Designer: working directly for product manufacturers is one option (in R&D for example), another would be working at an architecture firm as contact person with the manufacturers, preferrably after having worked for the manufacturers for a couple of years, gaining valuable experience without losing sight of the architecture practice.

The Consultant (Adviseur): becoming a consultant for acoustics, light, etc. at an engineering firm, probably specializing in one subject over the years.

The Manager: after some years of building up experience in the field, a BT graduate might become a manager at a building product manufacturing plant, leading the desiugn, development and research department, as well as being concerned with marketing.

Whatever the case, the Building Technologist will have to sell himself well to get a job. We might not be architects but we definetely bring together a wide set of skills in design and technology that could be usefull to a wide range of companies. Any company involved with development of technical components has use for smart designers that can bring together the many facets of technical design and application. It helps if you can find a field to specialize in, but generalists can also be usefull (although more rarely).

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HISTORY of RuMoer

The RuMoer archive at the BouT office is acccessible to all members of BouT! We also have a variety of magazines available.

Origins

The RuMoer has existed as long as BouT. Although the current format and lay-out have been used for over 10 years now, it didn’t always look like it looks now. Recently we were happy to receive this early christmas present in our physical inbox (see images on the right): edition 5 of the Rumoer. Sadly our own archive does not contain any issue of the Rumoer before th 17th, so we were very happy to receive this very old edition. Although the cover and lay-out are completely different, the content is very comparable to what we publish now: articles on building technology in the field, graduation projects and internship stories (back then all in Dutch). Worth noting is the extensive article about the plans for building a new central library building for the campus, a building most of us are now very familiar with.

Throughout the years the RuMoer has been a platform for all branches of BT: students, university staff and professionals in the field. Next to that the RuMoer publishes BouT events and occasionally gives updates on the state of the association, like in this anniversary edition. If you have something on BT you wouild likle to share then feel free to contact the board, or the board member specifically responsible for the RuMoer (information available on the website).

Although English has been our main language for communication for several years now this wasn’t always the case. Number 43

was the first Rumoer that was primarily in English, and also the first post fire edition (in 2008). All editions before 43 were primarily in Dutch, but with some articles in English, depending on the source. This year, with two internationals on the board, we also have our board meetings in English. The next edition of Rumoer will also be focusing on the international position of building technology.

RuMoer committee

The RuMoer committee is the most active committee of BouT and is always looking for more enthusiastic people to join in on the fun! As a committee member you will work with the boardmember responsible for the RuMoer to get the necessary work done for publishing each edition of RuMoer. This work ranges from contacting writers, or even visiting them for interviews, to editing articles, to sending out the physical copies. Feel free to come by the office if you want to know more!

Highlights

On the following pages you will find short versions of several of the graduation projects we have published over the last five years. For full versions you can access our physical archive or access the repository for the graduation reports. We’re also working on making the articles available through the website in the near future.

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RuMoer 47: Cradle to Cradle

Materializing

(First published in RuMoer 47, this is a summary)Sanne de Groot

Being fascinated of eco materials I chose to investigate how far Cradle to Cradle principles could be integrated in a building. The assignment that I found was at a small scale but with some challenging aspects like long spans and recycled materials. The design was already partly fixed as can be seen in the following figure. The construction was determined in the design as cardboard. This is an interesting material but not very practical in this case due to moisture sensitivity and cold bridges. The material which would be used instead was developed during this graduation process.

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RuMoer 50: Biomimicry for Light

Regulation in Building Envelopes

(First published in RuMoer 50, this is a summary)Anita van der Brugge

One of the aims of the building envelope is to maintain a visual comfort in the enclosed spaces. Current technologies control daylight in order to reduce visual discomfort, like glare, by directing or blocking light. Unfortunately, these technologies also reduce the occupant’s view and therefore do not completely satisfy the demands of visual comfort.

This graduation project focusses on innovative solutions for visual comfort inspired by nature. Biomimicry is a problem solving methodology, looking to the natural world for models for new technologies. In multiple disciplines, biomimicry is quite succesful. The curved up edges of an airplane’s wing are inspired by the wings of an eagle. The eyes of a shrimp provide inspiration for laser techniques in a CD/DVD burned.

So how does nature reduce glare? Multiple organisms have the ability to reduce glare. One of them is the fish. For fishes it is important to have polarized vision to straighten the rays of light. In water there are many small particles that cause reflection (glare) when coming into contact with light. Polarized vision enables the fish to see an object without interference from all the light scattered by these particles. This helps the fish to see it’s pray or predator.

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In the offshore industry there is a big opportunity for improvement in design and in the use of other materials. The specific problems in weight, maintenance for the Living Quarters (LQ) and the time-consuming construction method are asking for improvement. This graduation project was a feasibility study that gave tools and ideas on how to improve these specific problems. The idea of a sandwich panel that can be easily mounted in the structural frame, the specific weight and the idea that it’s maintenance free will even result in cost-saving.

RuMoer 51: Lightweight Modules Offshore

(First published in RuMoer 51, this is a summary)Jefta van der Elst

Scenario 01: Low-Tech

Scenario 01: Medium-Tech

Scenario 01: High-Tech

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RuMoer 53: Transformation from office to dwelling and dwelling to user

(First published in RuMoer 53, this is a summary)Peter van Luijn en Willem Kok

High vacancy rates of offices are a major problem in the Netherlands. Especially since the start of the economic crisis, the number of empty office buildings has increased significantly, with the highest highest vacancy rates found in structures build from 1960 till 1980. This is a result of aesthetical, technical, energetically and functional decay of the façades, installations and infrastructure. The offices vacancy problem is completely strange when looking at the housing demand. To meet the plans of the ministry of housing, in theory every year 80.000 houses must be built, a number that is far from what is built. Although the mentioned facts would suggest that much transformation are taking, this is not the case.

These points play a huge role in the lack of transformations: - There is no flexibility in the process and product phase of the traditional transformation process- The high book value and price of offices- The difference in lettable floor area between office and apartment buildings- The low floor height- The difficulty of penetrating the common used pre strained concrete floors- The high interference is related more to problems and thus higher costs

outer l

ayer

process

frame

frame

infill

inner- (outer) layer

etc.

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The Solar Decathlon began as an initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2002 to demonstrate the applicability, feasibility and quality of solar technology for the housing industry by designing and building a zero-energy house. It is a competition between universities from around the world which can be described as a combination between a building fair and the Olympics!

The Prêt-à-Loger team consists of Students from TU Delft who are looking to renew the world. Our project ‘House with a Skin’ will compete in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 competition in Versailles and aims to solve the problems relating to the current building stock by laying a new skin over existing houses. In this way, the homes of the inhabitants can be preserved while new spaces are created to the front and rear of the house. The insulated skin will provide a climatic buffer zone to the outside, generate its own power and reclaim the somewhat lost relationship to the public street thus tackling issues regarding ecological and in particular social sustainability.

RuMoer 57: Prêt-à-Loger

(First published in RuMoer 57, this is a summary)Osama Naji, Director of Communications Prêt-à-Loger

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Exhibition halls are buildings that are typically used or rented for a few days, but most of the time these type of halls are vacant. By adding functionality the usage rate of these buildings can be increased. A logical choice to add to the building would be acoustic functions, as they often require a large floor surface, e.g. music festivals.Also structure of a large exhibition hall with a preferably free floorplan requires a characteristic structural design. The integration of the acoustic functionality and structural demand has led to the following research question: “What are the characteristics of a multifunctional exhibition hall of which the structural design is integrated with the variable acoustical design and of which the acoustic properties are used as decisive factors in the visual appearance of the design?” Using computer analysis, literature studies and case-studies a conceptual design was developed.

RuMoer 59: Multi-functional exhibition hallWhen acoustics integrate withthe structural design

(First published in RuMoer 59, this is a summary)Lotte Baerends

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AE PART 1: INTERVIEW – The AE in AE+TAn interview with the minds behind AE: Thijs Asselbergs, Anne Snijders and Tjalling Homans

By Ali Sarmad

an introductionI’m Thijs Asselbergs, I am an architect and I’m interested in how you can renew architecture. I’m leading the chair of Architectural Engineering which started in 2008 together with Patrick Teuffel, a structural engineer. We started with a question, which others before me have also asked, ‘If technology is the answer, then what is the question?’ I’m from the years that the idea of ‘quality’ in architecture began, especially in the Netherlands. Later on, in the 90s, sustainability showed its face. What we’re seeing at the start of this century is that ‘innovation’ will be the subject. So what we like to do is what I call ‘e-tecture’, something that doesn’t exist, it goes about the integration of technology in architecture.

My name is Anne Snijders and I am an architect. I guide students through their graduation projects. What I like to do is challenge them to fully exploit their potential, experience how to trust on their gut feelings, and to come up with smart ideas to implement in architecture. So actually what we like them to do is to research questions of their technical fascinations while looking towards a point on the horizon. ‘’Why are you interested in these themes? What makes it so suitable for this context? ‘’ and ‘’How are you going to use it?’’ give good opportunities for relevant assignments. By understanding all aspects of these questions you get a story. So what we do is story-making about new assignments which contribute to the time in which we are living in now.

I’m Tjalling Homans and my role in the studio is both coordinator and tutor. What I like is thinking about how to organise the studio and the graduation process in such a way that we can deliver students prepared for their after-TU life. We try to find answers for questions that arise outside of this faculty. In our studio it’s about filling ourselves with technical knowledge that we can implement and improve our architecture with. My question is how to organise our studio in such a way that we can achieve that. Our studio has a specific format: Every student has his/her own topic but takes part in several knowledge platfoms that are related to context or fascination. In this way our students can share knowledge with and learn from eachother, in between MSc3 and MSc4, but also without side parties.

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How was the AE studio conceived?

Thijs: The question of the studio was asked in 2008 when we came out of the department of building technology because we wanted a more design related studio inside the department since we have a complete warehouse of knowledge inside BT. We need to bring the knowledge holders out of their rooms to show them the significance of their knowledge so that it can implemented on more design related questions. We were allowed to construct this studio so that such knowledge can also be integrated in architecture, also making you eligible to be a licensed architect. So now, the department of Building Technology doesn’t exist anymore, we now call ourselves the department of ‘Architectural Engineering and Technology’. Hyperbody was also part of this department, and formerly RMIT now known as Heritage and Architecture, influenced us a lot since in the Hyperbody environment we ask ‘non-architecture’, ‘re-use related’ or ‘stock’ questions. Now what we see is that a lot of students are interested in that, it has seen a lot of growth in the last years in this and we really appreciate it.

What sort of design process are students expected to follow?

Thijs: We start by asking ourselves a few questions like how can we improve not just the building itself - not only the product of architecture - but by technical solutions, the environment on a broader scale? We are working through all the scales, we are not only working on just a small piece or the renewal of materials. We sometimes also do that however, because I like ‘zappi’, which is the material that doesn’t exist, a material that can do everything. It is the solution to everything. If a student comes up with ‘zappi’ then they can graduate with a 10, but of course no one knows how to find it. We are really interested in finding this elusive material but we are also interested in what you can call a ‘new zappi’, that is finding new solutions on how you can improve all the things that are going on now outside the built environment. We do that with a studio and have done for many years, we’ve had big growth.

Do you think AE&T is to the Faculty of Architecture what Building Engineering is to Civil Engineering?

Thijs: No, I think what you see outside of the course is that you have generalist and specialists. We are generalists, all three of us and also the other tutors such as Monique Smit and Job Schroen who are a part of our studio. We’re all architects, so we’re looking towards all questions as generalists. I’m really interested in some of the specialists that are here and how we can use them and perhaps improve them. Some years ago I introduced Marcel Bilow, who we now know as Dr. Bucky of the Bucky Lab, to do the ‘make’ part of our studio. He is a source of innovation, materialization and the integration of it in components of architecture, so that our students are not only building specialists but also know how they can implement their skills in the field of architecture.

Tjalling: It also works the other way around, when we look as architects towards different technical disciplines. We then try to challenge those technical disciplines by asking questions about architecture. We wonder if the technical solution can in a way evolve because we want something more that we can do now.

Like Archigram?

Tjalling: Yeah, sometimes you have freedom and you want to make something but you don’t have the technology nor the time so you make it in your head. Very good that you mention Archigram.

Thijs: Yeah nice example, Archigram. I also learned a few years ago from a student that I had, Pieter Stoutjesdijk. He told me that there was a second industrial revolution going on. I’m from the 20th century and what you see now is the integration of the internet and all the digital manufacturing and digital production that you can do. We asked ourselves if it was possible to implement these things in architecture. We immediately got together with Marcel Bilow and tried to find new answers and new subjects that were asked outside architecture. For instance, we have a lot of empty ‘stock’ in Western Europe, how

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can we temporarily fill this ‘stock’ with digital fabrication? So, we helped each other. Pieter Stoutjesdijk has now graduated and is now running his own studio. Of course we are very interested in what’s going on in our faculty of the ‘Built Environment’ or formerly known as the faculty of ‘Bouwkunde’ a Dutch word that’s not really easy to translate into English, but that’s another story but we are also very interested in what’s going on along the rest of Mekelweg. I think that’s also a challenge for us.

Could you give us examples of the kind of questions that you raise in the studio and how they influence the students?

Thijs: We discuss various themes. We could talk about Chen Shen, a very interesting Chinese student who studied questions about bamboo. He went as far as to suggest that we make a temporary stadium very close to the city that can be used and discarded. We have a lot of potential to study bamboo in the Dutch context. We’re always looking for more questions to study and arrange them into themes. We could talk about Limburg, in the South of the Netherlands, about the Internationale Bauausstellung (the IBA) in Parkstad. It will include all the areas close to Maastricht, Heerlem, Kerkrade and Brunssum. There are completely different questions asked there, not related to the renewal of the city but about how to make new landscapes and how technology can help us in this regard. We have started a discussion with the people of IBA, which is a large exposition that will reach its conclusion in the year 2020. We got our students involved which was also a challenge for them because they could immediately see what was going on outside, helping them enhance their portfolio. It also helps us help them give an impression of the necessarily of the projects that they are working on, their real-world impact. We also brought them into contact with other universities that are related to the IBA academy, with Arcen, to the University of Maastricht and our Belgian contacts. So we always bring them with us because we want them to implement their thoughts in a new environment.

Anne: We can often start very small. That combination is very interesting I think. We have to move from very small to very large. Not only making buildings but also products. Materialization and asking what do you want to make, and why? Connecting it with the context.

Tjalling: I think that’s in a way the evolution our studio made in the last five years. We’ve always been very interested in technical innovations; for example, material innovation, making glass out of new techniques like digital fabrications. Now we’re getting more and more interested in how we can implement new innovations in our assignments. So it’s not only about innovations, it’s also about connecting it to a location. For example, IBA Parkstad, what are the problems there? And can we in a way relate it to technical innovation. How the two come together, how can we improve the built environment, with our ‘AE Architecture’.

Anne: So if you look at the evolution of our studio, at least when I came in -that’s three years ago- you saw a lot of ‘machines’ being made. Students were doing research in product development and materialization, for example, and made machines from it. Really interesting, since then you know what you need but we wanted to take this one step further and wanted to give use to these technical possibilities. So next came functionality, implementing it at a human scale and then the last step was to introduce the design to a certain context. So these are the certain aspects that we try to implement in our assignments.

Do you think these aspects are the difference between AE+T and Building Technology?

Thijs: What I’d say we’re still interested in is how you can as a generalist still be the master builder. Then you have to know also a lot about the craftsmanship involved, ‘how you can make it’. It’s not only about the design part of the architectural aspect. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t like the translation of ‘Bouwkunde’, if you go outside the faculty you only see ‘Architecture’. My point is that if you want to be a good architect or engineer, you have to connect both, you have to know about

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both design and engineering. You have to know about what we called the ‘new craftsmanship’, otherwise, contractors and developers are much stronger than you as an architect because they will know how they will make it. As an architect or engineer you need to know the same because then you can tell the story yourself. Of course you need a lot of specialists to help you if you want to be a master builder, you need to prepare a team. This is something that you can learn at TU Delft. There are so many specialists here but you as the master builder need to put the team together. Architecture is not only about having the knowledge but also about the ‘process’ and only then you can better challenge yourself and eventually make a better world, which is what it’s all about. One of the other themes that are more relevant today for us other than digital fabrication is the use of glass. Rob Nijsse is I think of the best professors in the world with respect to innovation with glass. So at IBA we’re working on structural engineering of columns made from glass. Eva van Gelderen is working on making large towers in an urban plan Ate Snijder has made for IBA. Ata and a South African student were working in Morocco and they made a complete glass roof. How did that start Anne?

Anne: Actually the fascination came from an inventor called Markus Kayser who made a device with which you could make glass from sand using the energy of the sun. Therefore they went to this desert like environment because they needed a lot of sun which was better there than it is here. We told them that this was a question for Building Technology so you have to make and implement it in a building like environment. What is interesting is that the glass has completely different characteristics than the ‘kasbah’ like environment in which a lot of houses in Morocco are being made. So with this glass, they could make a new typology in a sustainable way because they used only the sand from the environment. I think the characteristics of the material in relation to what you could reach with connection and form made it so interesting. Bringing daylight into buildings which were normally so dark and massive because of mud construction. So, they did something that was completely contrary to what people normally did with such a material.

You gave us an example of an architect who is innovating with new materials and is somewhat of a specialist but don’t you think that this is something traditionally reserved for people like material engineers?

Thijs: Yes. That’s an interesting point but that’s also the renewal what were looking for.

Anne: So what they did was that they learned from Markus Kayser , they were not the inventors of the machine but they knew that it was possible to do this. With this knowledge, they dreamed again because this dream was already 100 years old. Now the time is here, they started to dream again and made a building out of glass.

Thijs: It’s going back to Generalists vs Specialists because with the example that Anne gave of Ate Snijder you can see that he has ‘the knowledge’ as an architect but he acted as a specialist in this field. If you see the German situation, with Ulrich Knaack, Tilmann Klein and Marcel Bilow who are also related to our faculty in the design and construction department. In Germany you have the opposite situation, these specialists are also registered architects but they are no longer making complete buildings but they are part of a team that improves facades. Of course they can still say that they are architects. If you happen to ask them about their knowledge they will immediately tell you not to ask for a complete building from them because they just want to improve facades in a team of other architects. This makes them engineering related architects, you can also put this upside down, making them architects who are also using new materials and know how to find the right specialist. For instance, Carlo Maria Morsiani, an Italian student who did a lot of research in the usage of sand. He worked on the beaches of the Netherlands and made a very interesting composition with sand, which you can of course use in many different ways, you can make a museum out of it for example. The interesting fact is that it disappears, so it’s ‘disappearing architecture’. What’s important is that not only did he tell an architectural story but he also proved that it was possible to engineer it using sand technology.

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Do you help bring your students up to date? What is the studio environment like?

Tjalling: Yes, but it’s not only about bringing them up to date, because that sounds very directional and one-sided. We like to keep eachother sharp, going back and forth. We learn a lot from our students and they also learn a lot from eachother. In the end every student is a kind of semi-expert on his/her own technical fascination, but we’re all architects. So it’s very nice to have a discussion. How do we inspire our architecture with technical knowledge.

Anne: I think ‘research by design’ is a good slogan for our studio. It’s going one way and back. It’s doing research by having an idea and looking at the dot on the horizon. After designing you go back to the research and look at what could be developed more.

Thijs: Let’s give you another example, of an old question that people still can’t answer. The story about solar panels. You hate them or you love them but everyone has to use them because the main question in coming decade will be of producing energy producing buildings and environments. One of the main aspects will be integrating solar energy production into buildings, we need a lot of solar energy to be honest. One of our students, Marko Koops designed a museum in Rotterdam, started not only with the solar panel question but also with the use of phase changing materials in his building. So in the main structure and the facade, he introduced these ‘questions’ regarding the difference in temperature of the water of the river near which the museum was located. He tried to make a machine which could produce energy by temperature differences but also something that didn’t look like a machine that was producing energy. You also have a new ‘look’ in an architectural sense where solar panels are integrated into the look of the building. For a while then he was a ‘specialist’ in the use of phase changing materials in such a context. At the end of the day he still made a good design and was nominated for the Archiprix. I think this is a good example of research by design in the context Anne mentioned earlier, you start your design and then your research will be immediately done.

Anne: What I think is even more interesting than the final ‘look’ is the question behind the question. So if you look towards solar panels and you want to know how to implement them or even better, why you want to implement them, then you can find out what you need. Then you not only use the roof etc. for using the solar panels but you can start from the starting point and eventually arrive at integrating them in the facade, which consequently also affects the ‘look’. We always start with ‘What do you need and why?’ ‘What do you want to achieve with your design?’

Coming to the AE Journal, can you give us a brief history and tell us something about the ambitions behind it?

Thijs: I started it immediately when I came here. I thought it was a strange situation that we had 300 to 400 graduates every year but we never see them. I saw them walking out to the parking lot with their parents saying good bye and eventually ‘thanks for the Diploma!’. We never saw their work! I wanted to show our students’ work just in a journal, something easily printed. This helped get the word out about what we were doing and I think also helped the faculty take up more responsibility for those graduating. It also helped people respond to the students’ projects, particularly the reflections of the architects and technical specialists walking around in this faculty. We needed a showcase but also an open platform where we could discuss with our students about which direction which our studios should take.

Tjalling: It’s a big responsibility but it’s also giving the faculty a certain transparency and it also helps us sharpen ourselves. If you put something in a journal, you really force yourself to think about what you are doing. You also give other people the opportunity to reflect on the projects which as a consequence improves the quality of our education.

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Do you have certain criteria for selecting projects for publication or do you publish them all?

Thijs: We like to publish as many projects as we can. We’ve had considerable growth in recent years, we’re quite a large studio with about 60-70 students a year. So that’s larger than the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, one of the biggest academies in the Netherlands. We try not to discuss who is the ‘best’ but which projects help us clarify the questions that we want to discuss and also fit the themes, which are of course derived from further questions like ‘How do you make it?’, “What are the stock questions?’ and ‘What are the main energy questions?’.

Tjalling: New students bring new themes. For example, digital fabrication and the new industrial revolution which Pieter Stoutjesdijk brought up. We’re also quite an open studio, open to new ideas and new innovations.

What do you see in an ideal student for your studio?

Anne: They need to be curious!

Thijs: You must have passion of course for design and engineering and you must be curious. There must be a little bit of passion regarding innovation and a will to try to make the world better. ‘What do we need?’ Of course there’s nothing against making very beautiful and well designed architectural theaters but what we think is that we have to put new topics on the agenda and not just business as usual architecture. Let’s make things better!

Could you highlight some student projects from the past few years that you think stand out?

Anne: For me it was the Chen Sen, the bamboo girl, because her project was about making small connections and implementing them in a strange context of the urban jungle. I think introducing bamboo into this concrete environment really makes the project in the end.

Tjalling: My favourite until now was Sol van Kempen. He is a passionate inventor and really wanted to improve things. But also wanted to improve himself, very critical. It might not have been the most beautiful project, but for me it certainly was the most beautiful process. He was very reflective and questioned the role of the architect.

Thijs: Wang Xing. We worked on the east part of Haarlem, a city close to Amsterdam. I walked around with students and I told them about the history of Haarlem. He didn’t know anything about Haarlem but started to work very enthusiastically on a design he wanted to build on a very old canal. He designed it at the scale of Haarlem through parametric design. In an urbanism and architectural sense it was very well done but what was also very interesting was that he also made the detailing and made it possible for such a project to be made. So of course he ended up with a 10!

If it’s easier to make is it essentially a better project?

Anne: I think the ‘make’ aspect needs to fit the question that the student asks, whether a student wants to make an easily fabricated building then everything has to be easily fabricated but if the goal is to make a structure from titanium then you need to figure out all the relevant details, they’re all different projects.

Tjalling: What’s important is the specific focus of the student. If the focus is on the making, then that’s what the student will be specifically judged on. We’re talking about student projects here, so I would say the better project is the project that really answers the specific question of the student.

Thijs: If the ‘make’ question depends on the material. What we think makes you a better architectural engineer is if you answer the question of integration and detailing, whether it is titanium or glass. You need to know as much as possible about the material. At the end we also discuss whether it is a ‘beautiful’ solution, which I think adds value to the design. If you’re finding your ‘zappi’ as a student, and trying to integrate your ‘zappi’ in a beautiful design, then you get an 11 and go outside and find work!

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Architectural Engineering brings spatial, functional, social design and technical possibilities and developments together. Subjects like product design, material research, building physics, structural mechanics, computation and model and production techniques all play a major part in architecture. In fact architecture and engineering are irreversibly connected with eachother. Research in the field of technology leads to all kinds of improvements in architecture.This also works the other way around, for instance improvements in architecture help inspire research and innovation. Choosing for Architectural Engineering, means choosing for architecture as a complete design discipline in which technical possibilities are an inspirationand an important contribution to the architecturaldesign. Our annual journal gives the faculty insight in our master program and it shows recent workmade by students of the architectural Engineeringstudio.We hope you all like the work of INTECTURE, integration of technology in architecture!

INTECTURE themes:

FLOW

STOCK

MAKE

AE PART 2: INTECTURE – Philosophy and HighlightsWe asked the teachers involved with the AE journal, a publication aimed at promoting AE to prospective students, to make a highlight reel of the last 5 years of AE (graduation) projects. The result is a story about the philosophy of AE education and some of its most promising results so far.

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FLOWFLOW is for those who see buildings as structures interwoven with their wider system. Those who know or suspect that sustainability claims cannot be made without integrating the factors Time and Context. Buildings provide the setting for human activity. Human activity, by definition, is dynamic i.e. in motion, and contexts of human activity change. If sustainable performance is the aim, then buildings – and their built environment – need to facilitate and anticipate this motion. Sustainable performance of buildings has everything to do with

flows. Flows of people and flows of the resources needed to keep these people healthy, happy and comfortable.

FLOW is for those who want to enable building materials to flow circularly rather than linearly. This topic provides a platform to develop innovative systems that support a Circular Economy.

Urban acupuncture; a sustainable business hub for Mumbai a design by Sofia Cardenas.tutors || axel kilian | arjan van timmeren | elixa guseIn Dharavi, a densely populated area in the heart of Mumbai

trapped in the circle of poverty and the informality of a progressing industry, a desired future vision is formulated. The result is the introduction of new elements as generators to provoke predetermined changes (Urban acupuncture). The first intervention is a node that will introduce quality to the area and connect Dharavi to unused economic potential. The concept of this project, which is divided into three key phases, is to organize the lucrative artisanal occupations to make them accessible to external users. The macro phase creases reciprocity between design project and context. An intervention at the MahimCreek and the Mithi River improves the existing environmental conditions, increasing productivity, stimulating incomes and to increase connectivity by introducing a boulevard. The meso phase of the project establishes the design proposal. A bamboo bridge introduces consumers to the low tech icon called “Craft Tower” which works as a show room. A community centreis located on the inner flank of the bridge. Finally, the micro phase zooms in to detail level. To understand the behaviour of the structure a structural analyses based on a parametric module was developed (GC and DIANA). To research the behavior of the material a mechanical testing with bamboo and concrete was carried out and a prototype was built.

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Machine driven by hydrogen technology, a research centre that integrates energy, in Rotterdam.a design by Bernard Aukema.tutors || jan e ngels | andy van den dobbelsteen

oxygen. The wind is directed through the building. Airspeed is increasing at the narrowest point where a wind turbine produces the energy that is primarily used to compress the gases in their tanks. In the lower part of the building the fuel cells can convert these two gases back into electricity when the solar panels are insufficient. Even though the efficiencies of the electrolyser and fuel cells are limited, the energy losses (heat) contribute to increase the feasibility of hydrogen technology by heating the building. The building has been engineered and designed to obtain optimization for the processes which are related to hydrogen technology, as well as for the architectural expressions that explain the functioning of the building as a whole. The researched technology is the structuring element that forms a real-time processing, walk-through, energy self-sufficient architectural machine. Visitors move like molecules through the selfexplaining building and they experience the city, the environmental conditions, the building itself and its internal processes as one integrated and structured architectural design.

Energy machine; integration of wind, water and energy in a new Science Centre, in Rotterdama design by Marco Koops.tutors || jan engels | arjan van timmeren

The building is an energy self-sufficient design using hydrogen technology in combination with renewable energy. It is situated at one of the most inspiring hotspots of Amsterdam, the NDSM old shipyard terrain, where it forms an attractive addition in this already energy-experimental environment. The research and business center supports Dutch initiatives and informs people about hydrogen research and solutions in society. The Architectural Engineering studio focuses on architectural design that is mostly based on a technological research and fascination. In this case the research goal was to investigate the feasibility of being energy self-sufficient using hydrogen technology as an energy storage system. The roof is harvesting rain and solar energy. Just these two elements are used by the electrolyser located in “the head” of the building to produce hydrogen and

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Where we normally try to keep the (heat of the) SUN, the WIND and the WATER out of our buildings Marco allowed these elements to fully penetrate his Science Centre; not only to allow the users to experience them, but also to let them play an active (and visual) roll in the energy system of the building and thereby making them part of the exhibition. The structure of the building consists of an arrangement of vertical and horizontal “concrete slabs” that organize and define the spaces and serve as load bearing constructions. Beside that they also have specific functions. The Solar slabs are covered with sun cells; they provide energy by mosses that grow on the surface op the slab and act as natural CO2 filters. In the PCM slabs elements of Phase-Changing-Material are integrated that store and release the heat. The water of the river Maas is cooling down the interior and acts as storage. The building is surrounded by a multiple glass layered façade zone that reacts on summer- and winter conditions; beside that it enables the wind to reach interior spaces to provide ventilation.Using different techniques and computer programs, such as Comflowcdf-analysis (computational fluid dynamics), Ecotect and Fluent the engineering and the shaping of the architecture were balanced andthe experience of the changing daylight, the dynamics of the wind and the movement of the water is fully integrated in the representation of the building.

Renewal of nature; turning negative externalities into opportunities in Amazonian rainforesta design by David Jacome Polittutors || anne snijders | maarten meijs | siebe broersma

This project is about life. According to Johan Rockström, who leads the Stockholm Resilience Centre, we are pushing the planet to its limits in four different directions, and one of these limits is the ecosystem decline. In the very nature of things, life depends on mineral circulation on a constant cycle, among other factors. Key to sustain a circular metabolism, the proposed Center of Education, Research and Conservation inserts itself successfully in the Amazonian rainforest by looking at these cycles and becoming part of them in its subsystems. Throughout the building, ‘air plants’ and other organisms together with humans form a structure that provides a range of “ecosystem services”. The first ones provide food and medicines, and the second ones contribute to life regeneration for a place that was initially degraded. The end result is a symbiotic relationship which enables to renew nature, preserve biodiversity and keep heterogeneity in the Amazonian rainforest.

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4FFerland; an agricultural landscape in Amsterdam in a symbiotic closed cycle systema design by Samuel de Vriestutors || anne snijders | maarten meijs | arjan van timmeren

Natural ecosystems negate the idea of waste. In nature material ecologies follow cyclical systems where the residues of one process are feedstock for another process. Our urban metabolism however follows a linear system where consumption leads to waste. Because our resources and energy are becoming increasingly scarce we must reevaluate this system. 4FFerland offers an alternative. 4fferland is an agricultural complex and landscape in Amsterdam. It acts as an organism which lives symbiotic with the city closing its cycles. 4FFerland works like the human body. It breaths and eats from its environment (nutritious residues, water and CO2). Likewise it excretes (organic products), sweats (heat and electricity) and breaths out (air and biogas) into its environment. Similar to the human body 4FFerland’s organs interact and share their nutrients, residues and energy. The body’s organs are represented in 4FFerland by the different types of farmers and producers required by the human diet. Inside 4FFerland the productive elements are stacked according to their light requirement. 4FFerland is an acronym for Food, Feed Fiber and Fuel farming. In 4FFerland these four essentials are balanced. 4FFerland shows the possibility of agriculture without waste. It offers a framework for sustainable production of food and energy by autarky throughout different scales and networks.

Energy Reproducing Architecturea design by Sergey Fedatsenkateachers || anne snijders | maarten meijs | regina bokel

A sustainable energy research centre, optimized for several users Energy Producing Architecture project is an investigation of a correlation between building energy efficiency and building integrated energy production versus architecture. The finding of the right composition of the design elements which would answer technological and architectural requirement was the most important part of the design process. Once found, every aspect of the design became a part of the large, architecturally correct, energy producing system. It became like a machine where each detail serves a purpose whether it is technological, architectural or both. Based on the preliminary energy calculations Johanneberg Science Park produces about 68% more energy than it uses, which is about 109 480 kWh/year. This would be enough to provide 23 households with 4 persons with energy throughout the year. Therefor Johanneberg Science Park serves as a statement that energy producing buildings are possible.

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Aquatecture; sustainable water solutions in design for football stadium Qatara design by Osama Naji

This project stemmed from the fascination of the integration of water within architecture. Prior research was conducted to find sustainable water solutions for consumption and cooling that can be exposed architecturally. The project brief was to design a football stadium for the 2022 FIFA world cup in Qatar - a hot, arid region with limited natural water resources that provides the perfect platform to implement the sustainable water solutions explored in the research. The core theme of this project is therefore the integration of water as a driver of the design that explores how water can be celebrated in a region with a great but somewhat lost tradition of water-use in architecture and public

spaces. The stadium collects water by condensation through its dew (and rain) water collection panels on the roof but also the facade which collects fog in the period when the seasons change. The facade also evaporates water in the summer when humidity is lowest and temperatures are high resulting in passive, evaporative cooling. A thermal energy reservoir stores heat energy gained through the solar collectors on the roof. This heat can be used to provide active radiant cooling with the use of absorption chillers. On-site, natural wastewater treatment recycles wastewater to be used for irrigating the pitch resulting in a drastic reduction in water demand. Finally, membrane distillation can be used to produce fresh water from seawater - with the use of heat. The project makes the most out of its geographic location and orientation to integrate water functionally but also sustainably and aesthetically.

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STOCKFor those who want to start from the perspective of the existing, STOCK is the topic. By looking carefully to what is already there, our stock-students reveal thoughts about the question how to intervene. Ideas for interventions can be of a wide range of variaties: the upgrade of existing housing stock to measure up to our comfort needs; subtle or crazy ideas for the vacancy problems of former office buildings or product-developmentof interiors or facades; the interventions could differ from the

scale of a product, to the scale of a building to the urban scale. It can lead to a strategy, it can lead to a design.

Stock is about the potential of the existing by looking differently at what is already there, by making use of a technical fascination, by studying the question behind the question, in relation to current or future needs.

Mass customised redevelopment; a new building and commissioning strategy for vacant officesa design by Chao Wangtutors || tjalling homans | anne snijders | tillmann klein

Fascinated by mass production and mass customization, Chao formulated his graduation project as a transformation of an existing vacant office building into a ‘vertical autonomous’: stacked dwellings and office units, designed tailor made within a set of rules and principles. Metaphorically he used the ‘self made sneaker’ and projected its various design options onto

a building design: what in this case is the shoe, and what are the embroideries? He translated the complexities of this seemingly simple projection and made a distinction between the hardware [components linked to the building structure] and software [components linked to the individual units]. This analysis resulted in a conceptual design, in which accessibility, public space and piles are guaranteed. Within this structure he designed a set of possible plans for the units. He treated the facade double sided and created a multi useable facade element [for dwellings as well as offices] and a set of rules for the use of public space.

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House of Mirrors; rethinking the existing with sun-acupuncturea design by Bram van Hemmentutors || tjalling homans | annesnijders | siebe broersma

Large quantities of office buildings call for a rebirth into residential buildings. The typical office floor however, is not instantly reinterpreted as a living space. Poor daylight conditions for example don’t measure up to our comfort needs. Bram introduced 120 computer controlled (heliostatic) mirrors, placed in a tilted construction frame overvaulting the roof, to send their light via a curved mirror into translucent shafts drilled through the building volume. The shafts, supported by a construction hanging from the tilted construction frame, form the centre of each apartment. The shafts more than double the buildings daylight penetration and directly diminish the days with a heating load from 213 to 170. Excessive heat from the mirrors during summer days is stored in the ground, so that the system fully covers the building’s heat demand in the winters.

PopUpVillage; an innovative housing strategy for vacant officesa design by Leon Zondervantutors || mo smit | maarten meijs | pieter stoutjesdijk

How to transform empty offices temporarily into high quality living space, without permanently changing the building itself, and without a financial investment from the building owner? The PopUpVillage is the result of a search for an architectural product and service that offers a complete flexible and userfriendly transformation strategy. It is a vibrant community consisting of a variety of functions, such as housing, workshops and office space. It consists of removable, portable, plug and play homes that are put inside the offices, built out of so-called ‘function pixels’. These pixels are wall elements with integrated functions, which can fold in and out, to make quick and easy transportation possible, but also to make a space-efficient transformable interior. They are small enough to fit through any door or elevator, and can be set up in less than a day. Users can choose their own types and configuration of function pixels, and so make

their own ideal space. This hardware is owned by the company PopUpVillage, who exploits it as ‘mobile realestate’, funded by investors. They rent empty office space, and gain rental income by the inhabitants of the PopUpVillage. This service ensures that the owner of the offices doesn’t have to do anything, but still get income with their empty property. It is a sustainable alternative to anti-kraak, but also for traditional temporary and permanent building transformation. When the transformed building needs to transform back to office space, the PopUpVillage can move out to another building, to extend the life of the building materials and pay-back time for the investments.

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MAKEMAKE is for those interested in Production Technologies, the use or even the development of a new material or maybe a well known material in a new application. While the Maker Movement is known for its tinkering and experimenting to design and build mostly personal gadgets, to hack electronics or to make something in a smaller scale, we would like to expand this new spirit into an architectural scale. How do we change the future of our environment, our homes and our cities by using technologies that are broadly available, open source and create a bottom-up

approach towards a better and more sustainable future. Make is for all of our students who think about starting a business with a small intervention that will have an impact on an architectural scale; a flatpack building system that can conquer the topic of abandoned office stock, shelters out of recycled material or a new gardening system that changes our walls into green gardens.Through their prototypes, models and experiments our makers can change architecture as we know it till now.

Multi functional canal pavilion; parametric design attached to sustainability and industrial design in Haarlem A design by Xing Wang tutors || jan engels | arjan van timmeren

The Architectural Engineering master studio has delivered a series of thesis designs of extraordinary quality that have been rewarded with high marks. Based on a morphological study of Haarlem and its eastward-directed expansion plans Xing Wang

has decided to increase the density of the inner city of Haarlem by designing the Haarlem Canal Pavilion. It is a multi-functional pavilion built on a Haarlem canal, connecting the Haarlem railway station to the city centre. The design culminates Xing Wang’s fascination for parametric design in relation to CNC driven manufacturing. The project is a continuation of a small pavilion design as part of the MSc3 studio. A double curved surface built with 2D irregular pentagons was parametrically designed. The elements were then ready to be CNC machine milled. The thesis design was made with triangles of different shapes and

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dimensions. To quote his tutors in B-Nieuws: ‘With his approach to parametric design attached to the parameters sustainability and especially industrial engineering (CNC), product development and detailing, he addresses to the (potential) problems with regard to building industry and free form design in particular as for avoiding potential construction failures and related necessary excessive budget reservations. By doing so he makes both complex building forms and free form design better controllable and the development and free form designed buildings better within reach.‘ Xing Wang has integrated architecture and engineering and has extended the meaning of Architectural Engineering.

The Olympic stadium fleet; thirty floating elements connected to one stadium in RotterdamA design by Steven Goemantutors || jane ngels | arjan van timmeren

Olympic architecture isn’t only about presenting the Games, it is about proposing the Olympic dream. The main question of is whether the impact of hosting the Olympic Games justify the enormous costs and footprint. Isn’t there a way of rethinking these enormous events completely, where legacy and sustainability is part of the central architectural question? The Rotterdam 2028 Olympic Games should become the next chapter in legacy driven Olympic architecture. The Rotterdam Olympic stadium is built up out of floating elements and temporary components. A traditional stadium bowl is cut into separate parts to increase the post-Olympic legacy potential. The floating stadium elements can be reused as housing elements elsewhere in the Netherlands and abroad, but can also be

used for other purposes such as flood shelters. The temporary parts can be reused as stands for different sport clubs and temporary events. The Rotterdam harbour area is moving towards the sea. The RotterdamStadshavens are developed into the pilot project for floating buildings. A number of stadium elements are reused into a floating residential community in the Waalhaven area. The elements are reminders of the Olympic Games of 2028 and form the infrastructure and architectural expression for the transformation of this area. The waste in this post-Olympic stadium conversion strategy is minimised by limiting the adjustments necessary for the transformation. Most of the stadium elements are being reused. The stadium parts which can’t be reused are developed as lightweight structures and make use of materials that produce less carbon dioxide during their manufacture. This both reducesthe embodied energy and financial costs.

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La Casa del Paguro, from biology to craftsmanship; letting nature act on architecture at the Dutch coastlineA design by Carlo Maria Morsianitutors || jan engels | henriette bier

Contradiction, intended as a possible way to determine tension in design, lead the whole exploration. The main question focuses on how an architectural composition can relate to environmental conditions, so how natural and artificial collide, how smooth and rigid interact or how space and time dialogue; basically understanding the ambiguity of compromise. The project has the ambition to let tidal movements, benthic fauna and human science interact in a distorted sandy habitat. La casa del Paguro is a clear artificial intervention that does not try to mimic in the

environment but rather wants to modify its course by letting nature acting on it, defining therefore, a new state of wilderness through the action of time. A building that orbits around few cubic meters of pure energy, where an endless variety of micro habitats give birth to more than one fourth of all the animal life on earth. An ecosystem that let us discover another galaxy in the universe, one easily within our grasp. Time as one of the crucial element in the foundation of a respectful dialogue between human settings and natural spheres. How to cast a one generation building composed with the same constituent of the ground, a body that arises from its environment but discloses itself in a different anatomy, a stone on a sand beach which leaves only a trace of its transition. A shell for human and animals.An idea of erecting a disposable iconic building.A formalistic approach on biodiversity.A question on history and the role of monumentality.A fascination for the beauty of imperfection!

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Sun+Sand=Glass; Creating a new architectural language for Aït Ben HaddouA design by Ate Snijdertutors || tjalling homans | annebregje snijders | rob nijsse

Many of the readers will probably have seen videos by Marcus Kaiser who invented a 3d printer that prints objects in the Sahara desert using only sand and sun. Ate Snijder did research into the structural potentials of this material, which in lieu of an existing term, he called ‘solar material’. It’s a type of low grade glass that is produced by fusing sand particles together using concentrated solar energy using a lens or series of mirrors. The

design featured a number of specific structural applications of the ‘solar material’. Most notable is the meshed dome which sits within the ancient rammed earth walls of an existing ruin. Together they form an intriguing hybrid showcasing the contrasting structural and aesthetic qualities of the two materials. The common trait of both materials however is that they are locally produced resulting in an extremely sustainable and site-specific architecture. The building’s function is to be a hub for tourism with program of shops, food stalls and accommodation.

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Temporary bamboo Stadium; a game changer in concrete jungle Brettenzone, AmsterdamA design by Chen Shen

As an ecological and strong building material, bamboo can be the alternative constructional material to wood in long term consideration even in West – Europe, when facing the urgency of sustainable development. In this project, bamboo plays a key role in the levels of spacial quality, use, structure and construction with the aim of building a temporary, multifunctional and disassembled stadium in Brettenzone, Amsterdam. Main issues of the temporary disassembled bamboo structure are the aspects of the structural typology in relation to spatial quality of the stadium and the disassembled joints. This has resulted

into a self-stable structural component within the character of a repetitive rhythm of a bamboo structure. The joints are made in combination with a metal plate and inserted metal connection in the tensile joint. As temporary stadium in an urban context, the stadium could play a role on different levels: on the urban scale the living bamboo is implemented as green belt to support the recreational value of the strip. On a building scale, by integrating function, structure, detail and climate with spatial quality and light, the project intends to be an appealing alternative for - and act as a stimulator of activities in - the concrete and impersonal jungle of Brettenzone.

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Design Informatics: Izmir PavillionIn spring 2015 students following the course Design Informatics went to Izmir, in Turkey, to build the pavillion they had designed in a collaborative effort. This is the beautiful result.

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RuMoer Anniversary Survey A survey among BT and AE students

For this special edition of the RuMoer we asked fellow BT and AE students about their view on the past, present and future of Building Technology and Architectural Engineering. In this article we will present you the most interesting results and answers we received.

One of the questions about the past of BT asked the participants how long they thought BT existed as a Master or graduation track. While most people thought BT is only 11 years old, the actual correct answer was 23 years. Building Technology started in 1991 as a graduation track within the faculty of Architecture.

Furthermore the participants have been asked about the person in the field of Building Technology that have influenced them the most. It is interesting to see that most of them mentioned professors from the AE+T department, like Marcel Bilow and Ulrich Knaack, as the persons influencing them the most. There is no such trend for the question about the building that would best represent Building technology. The answers on this question vary from simple, but effective designs, like an igloo for example, to high tech and innovative buildings, like the building designed for Solar Decathlon and the Apple Glass Cube.

For the questions about the present we focussed on the current BT education at the TU Delft. We asked the participants what coursed they think they taught them the most, what courses they enjoyed the most, who their favourite teacher was and what they are missing in the current master track programme. While the most mentioned favourite teacher was Marcel Bilow because of his passion and enthusiasm, some people also noted that all the teachers are good in their own way because of their enthusiasm for their own topic. For the courses Bucky Lab was also mentioned a lot for its “anything is possible, as long as you’re convinced of it” approach.

56%35%

9%

0%

11 years

23 years

37 years

55 years56%

35%

9%

0%

11 years

23 years

37 years

55 years

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Which person in the field of Building Technology has influenced you the most?

Who is your favorite AE+T teacher?

“I love all the teachers. Besides the courses they give, you can have really deep, meaningfull and helpful conversations with

them.“

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Which AE+T course taught you the most?

Which AE+T course did you enjoy the most?

When looking at what the students are missing in the master track the answers mostly indicate that they would like to learn more different disciplines in more depth. Looking more into the use of advanced machinery, like 3D printing, laser cutting or CNC milling is mentioned for example. Some students also whish for more technical courses with more calculations, like the Technoledge courses while others whish more connections to the actual practice or more guidance during their studies.

Next we asked the participants some questions about the future of Building Technology. The first question was about what will be the most important focus for BT in the coming years. Both sustainability, the re-use of materials and the use of new, innovative, materials were mentioned a lot. Some participants also mentioned that new ways of thinking will become more important in the future. We asked a similar question about the material that would bring the most innovation in the coming years. Some people again gave innovative new materials as answer to this question, like FRP or UHPC. But other people mentioned already existing materials which would fit better in the mentioned sustainable ideas, like wood and other natural fibres.

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17%

35%17%

9%

22%(Architectural) designof buildings

(Architectural) designof building elements

Consultancy

Education/Research

Other

17%

35%17%

9%

22%(Architectural) designof buildings

(Architectural) designof building elements

Consultancy

Education/Research

Other

Which country would you like to work in?

The last two questions of the survey informed about the country and the field the participants would like to work in. While it is quite popular to just stay in the Netherlands, countries like America, China, England and Germany also attract quite some people. The most preferred field of work is the (architectural) design of building elements while working in education and/or research attracts the least people.

Concluding we would like to thank everybody who filled out the questionnaire: we hope you’ve enjoyed all the answers as much as we did.

What do you think will be the most important focus

for BT the coming years: “Less design and more critical thinking.“

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INTERNSHIP:Thomas Bell-Wright International, (Facade) Consultants, DubaiGuus Gooskens, student Building Technology

How did you get this internship?

Through the Blackboard news page I came across an advertisement from this bureau: they were looking for interns specialized in Façade Engineering. I was really interested in this great opportunity and after some e-mail conversations with them I was hired. I was a bit scared about the pace everything was happening in. But soon I was eager for my first trip to this big sandbox.

What was your main activity?

The bureau especially focusses on third party inspections and tests. They have a special accreditation to do this. This means that they are an independent party which can be hired to ensure quality for all processes in relation to building according standard methods and regulations. In practice this often means that the property developer or main contractor hires them to check up in the subcontractors and suppliers. If they don’t do their job as promised they will also reprimand them. Another department within this company is dedicated to façade consulting. This department advices architects and contractors about their designs and drawings. As intern I was involved with all the different departments. It was obvious that I wouldn’t be able to have full responsibility as intern, so this resulted into the fact that I was mostly assisting the engineers.

One time I had to assist an engineer with the inspections of building plans, and another time I was creating visualisations of design proposals, I was conducting market research into all glass suppliers or I was helping with inspections on mega projects. For example: the Al Mafraq in Abu Dhabi, the biggest hospital of the Middle East. That was quite something else than a market canteen in our small Holland.

Did you notice anything unexpected?

All this wealth and power also has a downside as well. I think this is generally known about this oil-driven imperium. But when it happens right in front of you it is definitely more intense: modern slavery. Dubai is drowning in it. There are literally millions of them. Or to put it differently: Sharsjah. This is a emirate where ‘they’ are put. ‘They’ are mostly from Pakistan, India or the Fillipines in a pursuit for wealth. There are stories which state that they have to hand in their passport in the morning and that it is only returned after a hot and sunny 14 hour long day of work. After work they are put in a van which brings them back to their tents. During the day this results in the sight of employees which, if the have a spare moment, dare to take a powernap.

What experience(s) do you especially remember?

Especially being on your own in a total different environment

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is an experience I value. My experience thought me that, when I’m in one place, I can easily get into a sort for routine. This trip brought me into contact with all kinds of new things which I would only rarely experience in the Netherlands. It might sound as a cliché, but it really helped to broaden my mind, to put things in perspective and makes you feel alive. Some of my experiences: very hospitable, getting into contact with the values of the Islam and Hinduism, meeting people from all over the worls, diving with sea turtles, water-skiing around the Burj Al Aravb, live in a villa owned by successful expats and owning my first car which I often used for roadtrips.And I would also like to mention the sun, which is hard to find in the winter months in the Netherlands. Because of the sun I was able to dive in the sea every day after work. With every day a view on the sunset. Almost bored? I don’t think so.

What would you recommend other students?

If it isn’t clear yet from my story, I will repeat it one more time over here: it is highly recommended. I don’t mean this specific location, company or setting, but just stepping out of your comfort zone in general and get ‘full frontal’ into something new alone. If I now just look at the photos again I’m itching to get back again. Maybe that I will try to find another location near the equator soon. Somewhere where they don’t mind it if a Dutch TU Delft comes to harass them.

“…or conduct inspections on the rooftop of a skyscraper with a Burj Khalifa skyline view. Very impressive as well.”

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INTERNSHIP: ZRi, consultancy firm, The HagueJelmer Niesten, Building Technology

Internship period: from September 2014 until December 2014

How did you get this internship?

During the Extreme course which I was following in Q4 of 2014-2014 Martin Tenpierik send an e-mail to all the students about the internship position, focussing on Building Physics, that was available at ZRi. Since I was quite interested in learning more about building physics I replied to the e-mail and was invited for an interview at ZRi a few weeks later. I turned out to be one of two candidates and a few weeks later, just before the summer break, I got an e-mail that they wanted me as their intern.

What was your general impression?

I really enjoyed this internship because I was able to experience quite some different aspects of building physics. While my main focus was on my research into acoustics I also got to work on some other projects like fire simulations, daylight and sustainability calculations. I got to work on such a variety of tasks mainly because the company isn’t that big. It has about 30 employees which all have to have some knowledge on these various topics.

What was your main activity?

I was mainly focussing on a research into the acoustics of

sports halls. For sports halls the so called reverberation time is generally used as the most important parameter to define the acoustical quality. During my research I compared the methods to calculate this parameter with the actual value of this parameter. I did this by doing measurements in fourteen halls and comparing the measured values to the calculated values. From this research followed that there was a possible improvement for the calculation methods, especially in the lower frequencies. In the last few weeks of my internship I was able to write a draft version of an improved method. While this method is far from proven I was really satisfied, and even surprised, with the fact that I was able to come up with something like this.

What was the most important thing you learned?

I think the most important thing I learned was that you’re never done learning. Before I started with my internship I was afraid that I wouldn’t have enough background knowledge about building physics since the education at the TU is more design oriented. However, it turned out that the background knowledge I had was more than enough to learn myself how to do the more complicated tasks. Of course I also got enough help from my colleagues when I wouldn’t understand some things, but I never had the idea that I was missing important background knowledge.

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What would you recommend other students?

I would recommend everybody to do an internship if possible. You can really learn a lot from it and it personally helped me to become more certain about the master track I had chosen. If you’ve the opportunity I would recommend doing an internship just before or after you start with your master programme, this way you can get a good idea about what your job can possible be when you’re finished. To help you even more with this a broad internship would be the best, so be sure you will not be stuck to just one project or research, but also ask if you can do some other, perhaps smaller, projects or tasks.

Do you have any final remarks?

When you try to find an internship, don’t only focus on the type of internship you want, also try to find a nice company. While I really enjoyed my internship for the research I was doing, I also really enjoyed working together with my colleagues: the atmosphere was very nice. This was highly motivating for me and really helped me to stay productive even when I would be stuck on a certain part of my research.

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INTERNSHIP:Oederscheim Moonen Architects, RotterdamNick de Lange, Building Technology

Internship period: from September 2014 until January 2015

How did you get this internship?

I got this internship by sending out my personal CV and portfolio. They liked what they saw and invited me for an interview. During this interview it became obvious that they really liked my technical interest and coulds use such a technical-minded person to help in their business, while they could also offer me some nice experience.

What was your general impression?

The office I had my internship in is a small architectural office with a staff of about a 10 persons. Because of this I was easily introduced to the whole team. It also allowed to have a close contact with these people. It was really easy going, had an open day-to-day business, and it was easy to ask questions and to get help. Although I was appointed a single mentor, it didn’t take long before I could go to anybody for advice.

What was your main activity?

Most of the work I did focussed on helping to create designs for various of their projects. This meant for example drawing a lot of AutoCad floor plans and sections for various houses, coming up with technical solutions for a commercial building next to

the new station in Utrecht and detailing of a to-be built sports hall in Zaanstad. For this last project, using revit, I made about half of the detail drawings for this building. Also some other different activities I did were helping with a photoshoot of a recently delivered building and using a foam cutter to visually design a difficult connection. I also joined several meetings with producers of building components, and joined a Revit training with the whole team. In the end I think I worked on virtually every project that was running at the office during my internship, and did almost every possible thing there was to be done. This did however not include really ‘scientific’ work such as in-depth research or anything on any of the construction sites of their projects.

What was the most important thing you learned?

One of the most important things I learnt during my internship was the practical approach and logic way of designing in an architectural office. What I personally like most, to design specific technical solutions, sadly did not really fit into the common way of designing. A more or less standard approach, solution and products are usually a more logical choice. Also another important thing I learned was the structure of working together with various other involved parties, and the day to day business in the ‘real-world’; more or less the practical experience I set out to achieve with this internship. Lastly the improved AutoCad and Revit skills I learned from experienced people were

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also meaningful.

What would you recommend other students?

All in all, I do advise other students to take an internship. However, I would advise to take it earlier on in your study than I did. My internship helped me a lot in getting a view into what I would later want to do. I think such an experience would be useful earlier on in your study. I did my internship after the first year after my first year in my masters course. It would not have changed my choice, but for others, doing it before you start your masters course could make it easier to make some decisions. Although I think it is important to like the place where you do your internship, eventually it does not really matter where you do it as long as you do it and like it. I liked my internship a lot and I look back at it in a good way and appreciate the experience.

Do you have any final remarks?

I would advise to take some time to make a nice portfolio, and when looking for an internship, to think about it as an exercise for later when applying for a ‘real’ job. Also I think it is important to know what you want to get out of an internship and look into where you want to do it and what it can offer to you. The small nature of the company I had my internship at allowed me to get a close look into almost all important aspects in the company.

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Architect or Engineer?Interview with Bart Kramer-Segers, Senior Designer and Project Manager at Arup.

At the last BT series he told us about his work on the Mauritshuis. In this interview he tells us a bit more about himself and his experience working at Arup.

By Marc Nicolaï and Ali Sarmad

Did you originally want to become an architect?

Actually, back in secondary school I was passionate about becoming a jetfighter pilot, but I failed the test twice. After the second time I changed my direction. But then I had to pick a whole other career path. I bumped into architecture as part of a general cultural course in school called CKV.I was really interested in the architecture part. So I thought, what do I like? I like science and I apparently like architecture. I always liked those Discovery channel TV shows like ‘mega buildings’ or about skyscrapers. That triggered me to study architecture and later to apply at Arup.The first year at Delft was really different from the polytechnical college I did a year at first. A lot more artistic elements. Like art history, which I really liked, but also sketching with which I had issues because of my skill level. But by working hard I got my propedeuse in one year. Although I started out with the ambition to become an architect, when I started the bachelor track I already had a lot of interest in the technology part. Already in the first semesters I liked to work out more detailed parts of for example a holiday home. I immediately felt the need to zoom in. But I also really liked the conceptual part and the design. My bachelor graduation was focussed on building technology. I did the semester that was called ‘architectoniek’ that covered a project of a museum pavilion in a park that called for designing it as an architect but also being the structural engineer, the MEP engineer and also doing all the building physics. I thought it was really special to

see all these connections, how everything was related. To build a good building you need to know a huge bit of all these technical disciplines. The professors Fons Verheijen and Andy van der Dobbelsteen organised this semester and they really opened my eyes to all these connections between the disciplines.

What Master track did you choose?

For my master graduation I did the RMIT studio with Jo Coenen. In that project you had to deal with the existing building from day one. I really liked working in a historical context. It’s a privilege to continue working on existing buildings. People have been living there for many years. To then pick it up and modify it for new use is really cool. You have to deal with the parameters that are provided. What triggered me to focus on renovation was a presentation by Hugo Priemus. He already said 13 years ago, “Forget about building new stuff. It’s going to be renovation.” It’s funny how long it takes for that academic view to be shared by the market. My graduation project was an old office building to be renovated into a residential and medical function - totally not sexy. But it’s really interesting to see what you can do with an old office building. Arup doesn’t do office to residential conversions at the moment. But we did do projects like the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk museum and Mauritshuis. I’m doing one new building project but the rest of my portfolio is all renovation projects.

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Could you take us through the steps you go through with a renovation project?

It really depends on what the client wants us to do, that decides what we are doing, like making a 3D model, the detailed inventory of the system and cavities in the building like we did for the Mauritshuis. But the client needs to be willing and able to pay for these services. It’s really important that in the preliminary design you focus on what the possibilities and constraints are of the existing fabric. A lot of times a project is costing too much time and money because someone is trying to squeeze in something that does not fit in, both physically and functionally. That really goes back all the way to the concept of your design. Can we put new stuff in a building? If you didn’t analyze that thoroughly then you will have to go back to the conceptual level to get rid of all this excess stuff.

How did you get to Arup?

I met one of the guest teachers during my bachelor graduation project (Architectoniek/BT), Peter Mensinga. He was a guest teacher at the TUDelft from the Arup London office. During my

master we did a research project together on dynamic insulation. After my graduation he sent me an email in which he asked me to email him if I wanted a job. The next week I was meeting Peter and the former director of Arup and another week later I had a contract. And now I’ve been here for almost eight years. I started as a sustainability consultant together with Peter in both building projects and masterplan projects. I learned a lot about systems like BREEAM and LEED that way.

Did you get to apply a lot of things you learned at university?

No... [Bart laughs heartily] I had some serious doubts when I started working for Arup because I graduated as an architect and started to work for an engineering firm. So I wasn’t sure if I really wanted that - especially the first couple of years. Back then my detailed knowledge about things like MEP systems was very limited. Of course I knew a bit about all the engineering stuff, but when you work at an engineering office you really need to know! It’s very different from architecture also in terms of the engineer’s position in the design team. On the other hand if you graduate as an architect and you want to do a project like I’ve been doing within Arup, you have to work at relatively big offices

Mauritshuis graphic, showing how the cellar connects the old Mauritshuis to the new addition. (© Hans van Heeswijk Architecten)

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and the first couple of years you will just be a draftsman. For me, because of the company and the position of the engineer within the design team, I can actually have a lot of impact and influence on the architectural design of a complex project. That was actually my main driver to keep working for Arup. You can really see things come together in an integrated design and get to actually touch things you design when it’s finished. That’s really cool.

What do you think you could have learned at university that would have been useful now?

More emphasis on multi-disciplinary design. By yourself but also working in teams. Not just among BT guys, but also with architecture students. They need to be aware of that stuff too. With trends like innovation, sustainability and BIM, in my opinion, multi-disciplinary has become fundamental to a good building. Everybody needs to be at least aware of everything that goes in to a building.

What do you think is an important Building Technology topic at the moment?

I think we need to move towards a BIM like system in which every designer or engineer is directly providing their input in a building model. Here we have guys who used to be the draftsmen and are now BIM experts who assist the engineers with their input to the BIM model. That’s already proving really efficient and enhances the quality of the design.

What advice would you give current students?

I think it’s very important to become either a specialist in a subject with a lot of awareness and fun in knowing the other disciplines. Or become a manager who is able to tie all things together. That appears to be exotic, someone who is strong in finance, time management, but also in content- but not too much into content, because then you can get tunnel vision.

Mauritshuis model that was used to plan the placement of the air treatment units and ducts in between the old roof structure. (© Arup)

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Source: www.unstudio.com

Photo’s by Marc Nicolaï

The future of modellingThe BEMNext lab is a (virtual) lab at Delft University of Technology, the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at the Department of Building and Structural Engineering.

By Marc Nicolaï

Recently BEM Next lab held another colloquium, this time at the faculty of Architecture. In their words:

BEMNext stands for the next generation of Built Environment Modelling (BEM). Built Environment Modelling deals with all forms of computation, modelling, analysis, simulation, optimisation of the built environment in its broadest form during the entire lifecycle. We would like to come to integrated systems for the complete lifecycle of objects in the built environment. Key for us is that they will serve the user’s processes in the best way possible.

Gijs Derks from Hendriks Bouw told us how they’ve been able to develop a fully integrated BIM workflow into their collaborative efforts. After a 1 year trial period they’re very happy with it and are saving a lot of time and money. Marc Hopperman, Senior Architect at UN studio told about how their organisational structure is divided into different knowledge platforms that overlap and collaborate on projects.

Currently the BEMNext lab is only for Civil Engineering students which is a shame because Architecture should be more involved with this development as well. At the moment our education is severely lacking in preparing us for a BIM/BEM work environment.

Visit www.bemnext.org for more information.

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GRADUATION PROJECT: Vertical Farming

In this interview with Luuk Graamans, by Lefteris Siamopoulous, he tells about his experience graduating in an unusual subject that went well beyond the usual bounds of the building technology.

What was the subject of your Master thesis?

For my master thesis I decided to focus on implementing vertical farming in existing building structures, in an attempt to bridge the perceived gap between high- tech agricultural production and building sciences and to address the concept of urban vertical farming in a cohesive and academic manner. The modern architectural field is flooded with images of greenery and agricultural production placed in buildings, arguably without any comprehension of the energetic and spatial requirements, consequences and feasibility. By 2050 we will have 9 billion people living on earth, mainly in cities. These expanding cities no longer derive their food supply from their hinterlands but rely on the global food trade. Given the limited availability of land, water and nutrients, however, the sustainability of these networks is questionable. Perspectives for a robust urban agricultural system might lie in the development of local high-density production systems in the numerous structurally vacant buildings. In my thesis I addressed the requirements, design and energetic performances of vertical farming in existing structures. Its main thrust is the optimisation of the production area, interior climate and energetic expenditure. The study had three aims. The first was to analyse agricultural production techniques and determine the optimal climate conditions for plant production, specifying their associated energy fluxes. The second was to formulate design guidelines for re-developing existing buildings

into vertical farms. The third was to assess the potential for such re-development in light of the performance of two case studies; one in the Netherlands and one in Hong Kong. These two prospective performance analyses gave an insight into the influence of location, climate and building design on the energy performance.

What were the results of your performance analysis?

In the Netherlands we have so many greenhouses so I thought it would be easy to gather information about the production requirements and energetic expenditures. I was not able to compare vertical farming to existing agriculture in a cohesive manner with regards to energy. I was only able to compare it in terms of space used, production space and footprint. We can assume that the energy expenditure is considerably higher in comparison with greenhouse production. This considerable energy expenditure is to be expected in high density, artificial production. However, at this energetic expenditure the vertical farm allows for an unrivaled production capacity in relation to footprint. In order to illustrate the production capacity of the vertical farm compared to controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and traditional open field agriculture we can compare the various footprints required for the same production output; 5,200,000 m2 for open field agriculture, 222,075 m2 for standard CEA and 2,180 m2 for the

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Total production area (CEA) Traditional open field agricultureFootprint of Central Plaza

222,075 m2 ~ 5,200,000 m22,180 m2

vertical farm design [see Fig. 1]. Space optimization might be the key factor in the potential and viability of vertical farming.

Is vertical farming financially feasible?

For my research I decided to mainly focus on the optimization of production and energy expenditure, because financial viability required too many variables outside of my expertise. Moreover, energy allows us to combine transport, embodied energy of the structure, radiation, heating, cooling, etcetera in a single value. The financial analysis would naturally be able to combine all these influences in terms of costs. In terms of energy, I originally assumed that cooling would require most energy. Through simulations, it became clear that theartificial (LED) lighting actually formed the largest energy expenditure. The main problem with LED’s is that it does not just require energy to generate photons, but also to locally cool the system. In conclusion, the aim of my research was not a financial analysis, but a prospective study, which has been simulated and calculated in terms of energy expenditure. The requirement for production is relatively high, but there are perspectives to improve the concept. What added value could generate for the higher energy expenditure and costs? For me, added value could already entail local food production, instead of seeing vacant office buildings with signs that read “for lease”.

What are the advantages of integrating the entire production process into a single building?

Agriculture is generally very spread out with production taking place in long rows. You would have a system that has to linearly move significant distances to harvest all the produce. In the case of vertical farming you have to continuously switch floors, which results in a lower efficiency in that respect. However, a vertical layout does offer perspective for localized harvesting, especially if you can actually harvest close to the structural core. Harvesting is directly linked to transport, processing and short-term storage. Moreover, you have to have the same production climate for each production floor, so vertical energetic exchange is minimal. As a result, we have less heat exchange with the environment in vertical farms, whereas in the case of greenhouses we (needlessly) radiate our energy into the atmosphere.

Fig. 1 Production capacity comparison

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Why did you choose a graduation topic that is on the borders of the building technology discipline? Did this cause any problems?

The SWAT studio formed the basis for my selection of this topic. To be honest, I was never interested in vertical farming, or implementing excessive greenery in architecture for that matter. For the Delft SWAT studio we were asked to re-develop existing buildings, utilizing building technology in order to ensure an impact on a broader scale. In the standard design process of going back and forth between ideas I finally saw merit in the redevelopment of the Torenhove into a food factory. The short timespan allowed for a conceptual design, but not for great technological depth. However, it showed me that vertical farming was of interest to the architectural community, that it had not yielded any proper research. The fact that it was new ground and that the proposal was met with enthusiasm from the department inspired me to continue with this subject. In order to make it more fun for myself, I decided to also implement the principle in Hong Kong. I have been to HK multiple times and as in any large city, it had various problems. A key problem in my perspective it that hardly anything is produced locally anymore; especially when it comes to food, everything is imported. As for the question whether this caused any problems, I would have to say that it did require more extensive research. The production of food and everything it entails is not our faculty’s expertise. In order to avoid disaster, it was recommended to for instance leave the influence of the plants out of the energetic expenditure and to focus more on what we already know from an architectural point of view. However, I felt that the key to this research would lie in an interdisciplinary approach – in between architecture and controlled environment agriculture. This meant that I had to go through a crash course to at least understand the basics. This was one of the most frustrating, but also most rewarding aspects throughout the graduation process. The agricultural field was much more daunting than I had anticipated at first;I found cast amounts of research, but all papers were on incredibly specific topics. You would have to skim perhaps 500 to find 100 useful papers, of which you can

then only use half for your research. The entire graduation process may be tedious and frustrating, but on the other hand the freedom to really push yourself is remarkable. In the end it is most useful to approach the subject with a blank mindset, truly listen to people without your own predispositions and to keep an attitude of “I am going to learn as much as possible”.

Do you propose to students doing their master thesis to go with a blank mindset? Did this offer you an advantage in the end?

It really depends on the type of person you are. If by a blank mindset you mean that you choose to focus on something out of the norm, you will have to be quite independent. If nobody in the faculty has any experience in your subject, the only option left is to immerse yourself and become the expert. On the other hand, there is an extensive infrastructure already in place for in-depth research of existing, but pressing subjects. I strived to conceptualise an original solution as opposed to expand an existing one. This offered the advantage that the various complications, setbacks and errors were less frustrating, as they were to be expected with this type of research. Going through existing research and combining it in order to reach a new conclusion simply did not seem as appealing. My project still required a literature review, but it was different in the aspect that I had to combine three different disciplines, as opposed to focusing in depth on one. However, other students might prefer to examine a subject into extraordinary depth and contribute to the scientific community in this sense. It all comes down to your own ambitions and how you would like to challenge yourself. What would be the next steps for this type of project? For you and for the topic itself?

That is a difficult one... Eventhough I am very interested in the topic, I do not see myself as a born researcher. I feel like I have achieved my goals with the graduation project so the question

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is whether I would have the proper mindset to achieve even more in extending this research. I will let you know next time!With regards to the topic itself, collaboration between Wageningen University and TU Delft is paramount, because we each separately have the necessary expertise. Reaching out to Wageningen University has not always gone as smoothly as I would have hoped; I tried throughout the year on numerous occasions, but was repeatedly shown the door, or had the door slammed in my face. Finally, I found an expert in the field who introduced me to her faculty and helped me achieve the technical depth. We now know the basics of how to implement vertical farming in the city. Key topics of discussion for the Delft-Wageningen collaboration would be the position of a vertical farm facility in the broader urban fabric and how it would interact socially and energetically, a more in depth optimization of the production requirements and the interior climate, attempting to

close recycle production loops and the production of the required energy. Finally, an extensive financial analysis should be made, because money makes the world go round.

How could this research be continued?

I believe the key step in our field would be to integrate the principle of vertical farming into the existing networks of cities. At the moment large cities represent a single point in the global network of food trade. So what would happen if we were to scale this global network down to an urban network and what would the position of thevertical farming be in that scenario? Additionally, research is needed on the potential exchange of energy with surrounding buildings and functions. The vertical farm has to be assessed as an integral part of the city, not as an isolated element. We should not focus on a single building but on the city as a whole.

Photo of Hong Kong Central Plaza Visualization of Central Plaza with vertical farm.

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GRADUATION PROJECT: Bio-based FRP structures: A pedestrian bridge in Shiphol Logistics Park

A short project summary by Rafail Gkaidatzis, who graduated in Building Technology in the spring semester of 2015; interview by Rutger Oor

Advanced plastics are increasingly preferred by the building industry because of their high future potentials. However, the high environmental impact of such fuel-based plastics makes their replacement from more eco-friendly plastics with similar properties necessary. In that sense, the goal of this graduation project was to prove that the utilization of composite polymers based on natural and renewable raw materials for lightweight load-bearing applications is feasible. Taken this into account it was decided to investigate the introduction and establishment of such plastics in bridge construction. The selected site for designing the bridge is located in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. Adjacent to the west border of the municipality at the south side of Schiphol Airport, the area is currently developed into a logistics park by Schiphol Area Development Company. Schiphol Logistics Park is 45 hectares in size and comprises a western section (24 hectare) and an eastern section (21 hectare). The eastern section is separated into two subareas as a small ditch runs the entire length of the area. From the one side of the ditch the area is programmed to become the business location offered for development and investment while the other smaller area is designed as a public park. The role of this almost 7 hectare green park, Ringdijkpark, is to stand as a buffer zone between the logistics area and a housing linear zone across Aalsmeerderdijk which is adjacent to the area. Thus, Ringdijkpark, will work as a refreshing intermediate zone

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given both to the employees of the logistic companies and the permanent inhabitants. The ditch separating the Schiphol logistic park and the Ringdijkpark is the site that was chosen for designing the natural fibre-reinforced polymer bridge of this graduation. The width of the dike is 7 meters including the slopes from both sides while the ground from the side of the Ringdijkpark is 75cm lower than the other side. The final design is a bridge with a bended deck. The bridge retains the elliptical shape on the top view that creates a feeling of surrounding space to someone that stands in the middle of the bridge and gives the sense of an entrance to someone entering the space from the two edges. The bridge keeps a curved increase of the width which reaches 3 meters maximum width and 2 meters minimum, while the span has a length of 8.2 meters. After performing the structural calculation, the thickness of the structure resulted to be 7 millimeters. The maximum height of the bend is 0.7 meters. Due to manufacturing limitations as well as reasons linked to functionality the deck could only slightly bended having a radius of 30 meters. The parapets here follow the bended character of the design and avoid having straight linear folds and geometry shifts. They have a continuous height of 1 meter for most of the length of the bridge apart from the point where it smoothly turns downwards. At that point the height of the parapet is approximately 1.3 meters. Finally the parapets are placed with an inclination of 30° on the deck, while the deck-parapet connecting edges have a smooth turn. The bridge was chosen to be painted with two different colors, one from the outer surface and one from the inner. For the outer side a warm dark chestnut brown was chosen, while for the inside surface, light beige-grey.

“Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) are composite materials composed of a polymer matrix which is reinforced with fibers. The fibers can be out of glass, carbon, basalt or aramid, although other fibers such as paper, wood or asbestos have been also used. The polymer is usually an epoxy, vinylester or polyester thermosetting plastic, while phenol formaldehyde resins are still in use. Both fibers and the polymer matrix exhibit significant different physical and chemical properties but when combined together they create strong and rigid composite materials.”

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Why did you choose to design a bridge?

My initial interest was to research and focus into FRP materials and molded techniques, but I hadn’t decided yet if it -would be for a façade or a structural element. During discussions I had with my main tutor, Joris Smits, over my graduation topic, he informed me about the plans of SADC (Schiphol Area Development Company) to build a small footbridge out of FRP. That -offer besides being really interesting - could also increase my knowledge over FRP materials and - improve significantly my CV. Plus, I would have the opportunity to see my graduation project being built. So I decided to continue with that topic.

Is it common for a professor to propose an actual project to a student?

I wouldn’t say that that’s the case. At least from the graduation generation of my year I was the only student that had such an opportunity. But TU Delft is generally supporting innovative ideas and their actual implementation so it is possible. Of course it is also depending on the mentor and whether he is interested into getting projects built and has the right contacts to achieve that or not. So it’s good that during the first year of the Master’s studies you meet many professors through all different courses and you can see who could be a possible mentor for your graduation.

What was your first move after selecting the topic of you graduation project?

In the beginning I had constant meetings with the client in order to understand their requirements and present my design research. The next step after a few months was to look for a manufacturer and evaluate the feasibility of my different design suggestions. When it comes to FRP there are only a few companies in Netherlands that are specialized in this so it was

an easy job. Finally, after visiting some FRP manufacturing companies we decided to continue with Fiber Core Europe, a company in Rotterdam that specialize in building bridges out of fibre-reinforced plastics.

How did you start your internship in Royal Haskoning DHV?

When I reached the phase of the structural analysis of the design, I realized – actually, I expected it- this would be a part that would exceed my knowledge, as I was a student in architecture. For that reason I thought to find a firm that could help me calculate the structure of the bridge and so I approached Royal Haskoning DHV and we agreed on a six-month internship over my graduation project. Although this meant that I would have to extend my studies for one semester, I would also have the opportunity to consult specialists and to finalize my design. The internship started in July of 2014 and I graduated - in November of the same year.

The internship was beneficial for you?

Judging from the experience that I gained during the internship, I can say that it was knowledge comparable with that of the first year of the master. Of course it was knowledge specialized on the field of structures, bridge design and fibre-reinforced plastics, while Building Technology covers a wider spectrum of fields, including for instance also façade and climate. - I really believe that it was a unique experience.

How much did you compromise your original design?

A lot. It is quite often that architecture students are attracted by conceptual and complex designs without taking into account the production method, the cost, the environmental impact or other parameters. So also in my case, before consulting

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the manufacturer I had ideas that I had to compromise later in order to achieve a realistic design. It was a good lesson that brought closer to the real world of construction.

In which stage is right now the design of the bridge?

At the moment we are at the final stage before the construction. In about 1-2 months the bridge will be constructed and then installed on site. I ‘m really looking forward to it!

Did the courses of BT prepare you for such a thesis project?

Throughout the courses of BT you get an important basic knowledge on structural mechanics which is generally sufficient. Of course, by choosing a structural topic for your graduation project, you may have to dive a bit deeper into structural analysis and calculations. However, I would advise BT students not to be afraid of that field. No one will expect big reports full of calculations. We are in the faculty of Architecture. Architects have their own input when it comes to structures. They can design them.

As a graduate from BT do you think that you are an architect with more detailing skills or actually an engineer?

Definitelly I feel an architect, but as you correctly said it, with more knowledge on detailing. I gained of course more knowledge on the topic of my graduation project, since that was almost half of the two years of my Master’s studies. Certainly I couldn’t say I feel a civil or a structural engineer, but I am better in detailing and more familiar with technical aspects now. And I think this is something important when you want to target other fields of employment than just architectural firms

and offices. For instance, in my opinion a consulting-engineering company would be more interested into a structural, climate or façade designer. However, my case is probably different as I had already a Master’s degree in Architecture from my studies in Greece and so Building Technology was just added above the title of the architect.

Besides your graduation project you won the Karitaat Bridge design competition, is that right?

That’s right! The competition was another success and big surprise for me and has nothing to do with the bridge of the graduation project. It was an open architectural competition, held among students, organized by Recreatieschap Midden Delfland, the Municipality of Delft and TU Delft. The subject of the competition was about a 40-meter span bridge, while the winner’s design was to be constructed. This project is under development and if everything goes according to the plan, by the end of 2016 or beginning of next year it will be built.

Can you tell as more about the bridge of the competition?

My first idea, when I saw the invitation poster for participating in the competition, was to apply the knowledge I had

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already taken through graduation and design again a structure out of fibre-reinforced plastics. However, with a second thought, the span of 40m prohibited me to go for a pure FRP structure – although now I know that it is feasible- so I ended up in a steel truss structure that carries a non-load bearing FRP deck. The Symbio Bridge, as I named my design, tries to translate and incorporate the conflicting characteristics of the area that is located, the urban surroundings of the Science Park Technopolis from the one side and the rural environment of the polders of Midden Delfland from the other side. So, nature is reflected on the bright red steel truss structure, which follows an organic forms while the innovative character of the Science Park, is translated through the fibre-reinforced plastic deck of the bridge.

What do you think about the future of FRP materials?

Fibre-reinforced plastics have a quite promising future. Not only is their strength and exceptional durability that is competing conventional materials such as steel and concrete, but their low environmental impact as well which makes them a sustainable solution. Low maintance is another strong advantage, while various molding techniques allow for great freedom in forms. I believe that in the coming years we will see fibre-reinforced plastic replacing successfully conventional materials in several structural and non-structural applications.

Do you see yourself designing bridges in the future, even though generally it is the field of structural engineer?

Yes, because I believe that bridges should be a result of architectural design as well. A bridge can be an urban element which similarly to a building, it influences its surrounding environment and its users. A bridge can offer nice views or comfortable sitting areas. It should be considered as a living space. So next to structural engineers we should also have structural designers and one of the advantages of Building Technology Master’s Track is that it gives the opportunity to the students to become familiar also with designing different types of structures, such as domes, stadia or bridges.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the initiator of this project, my main mentor, Joris Smits. This unique project would never have started and ended successfully without his valuable contribution.”