Piet Vollaard
Architect and Critic, the Netherlands
Function
This new faculty of Architecture building will have to be able to function for at least 50 years, if not much longer. In this period thoughts and methods on architectural teaching and practice will change most certainly more than once. On the other hand the core of teaching architectural design (and practice) has remained the same for more than a century. Either formally of informally, open or closed, it followed the master-pupil concept and/or Beaux Arts teaching.
So to take whichever teaching method (of the past, the present or the future) as a starting point for the design would be a mistake. Ideally any teaching method should be accommodated by the building, however free, however closed, knowing that there will always be demand for some sort of collective working space, places for formal and for informal gathering and knowledge exchange, individual study space and back office/administrative spaces. The same goes for current fads and trends like digitization, internationalization, office concepts, et cetera.
The new building should enable as many functions, as many educational concepts and as many differences in ideas as possible.
Form
Form follow function, at least that is what some architects used to believe. In fact in everyday practice it is the other way around. Over time function follows form. Changes in use are either allowed by the building or not. The more outspoken, closed and static the form (or ‘architecture’), the less open it will be for future change. So a certain restraint as to form and architecture, a certain neutrality and everyday presence, even some ordinariness may be needed. This does not mean that the building should be without character, on the contrary; modesty, openness, a certain sloppiness and yes, even some Dutch cosiness, may be the real character to be looked for.
Architecture should enable both the ordinary and the extraordinary, but most of al it should enable users to think the unthinkable.
Campus
As for the relationship between faculty, campus and city. Of course students and staff should exchange knowledge with other faculties, for this proximity (stay within the campus) is sufficient. On the other hand a certain autonomy for the faculty is needed, if only because the character of architecture and its teaching is somewhat ‘softer’ than the hardcore science elsewhere on campus. It would therefore be silly, un-productive, even arrogant to dissolve the faculty of architecture in the whole of the campus. Just as silly and arrogant it would be to give the new architecture building a prominent or monumental position within the campus lay-out. Here also modesty is a necessity.
City
When the old architecture faculty moved from the historic centre of the city to the outskirts of the current campus, many believed the faculty would lose touch with ‘the city’. Of course this was not the case (although the proximity of good café’s was a problem). At this moment the city of Delft has grown towards campus. But in actual fact Delft itself has become part of a much larger ‘city’, the Zuidflank of Randstad (trio of cities The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam) . In this new city the position of the old Bouwkunde building is in the exact geographical centre, right between the main boulevard (A13) and the main railwayline. So the city is already there, what is lacking is a city atmosphere and liveliness.
Open 24/7
40 years ago the architect of the old building hoped that the faculty would be open 24/7. This has never been the case. In the digitized and individualized era, the opportunity to meet and work with fellow students whenever the occasion calls for it, will be more needed than ever. So it would be great if the new building could accommodate this open-for-all-any-time dream.
Sustainability
No question, the building should be as sustainable as possible in any and all definitions thinkable, for now and for the future.
Afterthought
The ideal architecture school is primarily a social construct in an accommodating architectural environment; the happy and optimal combination of involved and inspiring teachers and eager, intelligent students, operating within an architecture that enables all kinds of teaching, study and experiment, fully equipped with services ranging from excellent libraries and databanks to workshops and meeting places like a good café (crucial).