Inspired by water

Last October the province of Zuid-Holland awarded prizes for the best ideas to improve the quality of living in the (scarce) rural areas. There were three competition categories, and they were all won by engineers from TU Delft. Apparently, water inspires Delft engineers.

Last week the graduation studio Climate Adaptation Lab organised a network event for students from the faculties of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Architecture, Industrial Design Engineering, and Technology, Policy and Management. The event offered them the chance to graduate in an interdisciplinary group working on projects aimed to cope with the consequences of climate change in the built environment. This marked the recruitment of the fourth generation of CAL students, with a fresh start every new semester.

The Climate Adaptation Lab started two years ago with projects inspired by the plan ‘Open and Closed Rijnmond’, which the governmental Commission Veerman later included in the new Deltaplan. The plan signalled the need for large moveable dams in the waterways around Rotterdam to protect the city against swollen rivers and rising seawater levels – both consequences of global warming. CAL took up the challenge to make the dams multifunctional.
Anna Dijk’s award-winning design ‘Waterslot’ illustrates the point: it uses the large volume needed for the closable dam to accommodate tourist attractions. She designed a restaurant there, terraces at varying levels, a spa and a marina. Moreover, the dam is located close to urban areas, so it doubles as a bridge for cyclists who want to tour the rural surroundings.

Later CAL generations widened their view to include sustainability, urban green and urban and regional water. Josephine van der Klauw’s (CAL.3) multifunctional neighbourhood centre is a good example: it faces the challenge of increased rainfall in the city at the same time as adding value to the neighbourhood.

Ad van der Toorn is CAL’s contact person within the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. He welcomes the input from the architecture students. “If you ask a civil engineer to construct a bridge, he’ll always put the pylon upright”, he says, while illustrating his point with a wooden model of a suspension bridge. “Apparently, you need an architect to do this.” And he draws the pylon back at an angle so that it immediately reminds one of the Erasmus Bridge. Civil engineers have little sense of the aesthetics of their creations, Van der Toorn says.

According to CAL’s coordinator, dr. Thorsten Schuetze, about twelve architecture students per year choose this interdisciplinary graduation lab, despite the fact that it requires on average six months extra study time, which is spent on excursions abroad, civil engineering courses on water management and workshops.
At the civil engineering faculty, students are much less interested, as most of them conduct their graduate projects within private companies. Van der Toorn isn’t surprised: “They get an invitation saying ‘meet us in Dubai’ with a ticket included. We cannot compete with that.”

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Dinsdag sprak het hoofd sport en cultuur anderhalf uur met Michiel Roesink. In een verklaring over zijn aftreden als voorzitter van voetbalclub Ariston’80 hekelde Roesink vorige week het functioneren van het management. Een idee dat bij veel sportclubs leeft. “Als management hebben wij begrip voor zijn actie, maar we vinden het ook jammer dat hij gestopt is”, aldus Browne. “Het is zijn manier om blijk te geven van zijn betrokkenheid bij Ariston’80.”
Roesink verweet het management gebrekkige samenwerking en weinig betrokkenheid. Browne: “Of ik het daar mee eens ben, is niet relevant. Relevant is dat een club dat zo ervaart. Het zit ‘m in de verwachtingen die er leven. De TU is formeel veranderd van beleid. Met de introductie van de TU als sponsor is iets veranderd in de relatie. Dat die verandering niet op een staande ovatie bij Ariston’80 kan rekenen, begrijp ik. Om die relatie goed te krijgen, moeten beide partijen de tijd nemen om naar het eigen functioneren te kijken. Het zit blijkbaar diep. Deze gebeurtenissen maken duidelijk dat wij kennelijk tekortschieten als TU, management en sportcentrum in het uitleggen van waarmee we bezig zijn. De clubs voelen zich op een ongemakkelijke manier afhankelijk, maar we zullen het samen moeten doen.”
Roesink is gevraagd om een actieve rol te spelen bij de fine tuning van de als opgelegd ervaren sponsorcontracten. “Als ik iets kan doen wat goed is voor Ariston en de andere voetbalclubs, draag ik mijn steentje bij”, aldus de ex-preses.
Donderdag spreekt Browne met een afvaardiging van het Delftsch Studenten Sport Overleg (DSSO) over het door DSSO opgestelde ‘Aanbevelingsrapport relatie sportverenigingen-SnC’. Vrijdag staat het rapport geagendeerd op de overlegvergadering van het college van bestuur en de studentenraad.

Last October the province of Zuid-Holland awarded prizes for the best ideas to improve the quality of living in the (scarce) rural areas. There were three competition categories, and they were all won by engineers from TU Delft. Apparently, water inspires Delft engineers.

Last week the graduation studio Climate Adaptation Lab organised a network event for students from the faculties of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Architecture, Industrial Design Engineering, and Technology, Policy and Management. The event offered them the chance to graduate in an interdisciplinary group working on projects aimed to cope with the consequences of climate change in the built environment. This marked the recruitment of the fourth generation of CAL students, with a fresh start every new semester.

The Climate Adaptation Lab started two years ago with projects inspired by the plan ‘Open and Closed Rijnmond’, which the governmental Commission Veerman later included in the new Deltaplan. The plan signalled the need for large moveable dams in the waterways around Rotterdam to protect the city against swollen rivers and rising seawater levels – both consequences of global warming. CAL took up the challenge to make the dams multifunctional.
Anna Dijk’s award-winning design ‘Waterslot’ illustrates the point: it uses the large volume needed for the closable dam to accommodate tourist attractions. She designed a restaurant there, terraces at varying levels, a spa and a marina. Moreover, the dam is located close to urban areas, so it doubles as a bridge for cyclists who want to tour the rural surroundings.

Later CAL generations widened their view to include sustainability, urban green and urban and regional water. Josephine van der Klauw’s (CAL.3) multifunctional neighbourhood centre is a good example: it faces the challenge of increased rainfall in the city at the same time as adding value to the neighbourhood.

Ad van der Toorn is CAL’s contact person within the faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. He welcomes the input from the architecture students. “If you ask a civil engineer to construct a bridge, he’ll always put the pylon upright”, he says, while illustrating his point with a wooden model of a suspension bridge. “Apparently, you need an architect to do this.” And he draws the pylon back at an angle so that it immediately reminds one of the Erasmus Bridge. Civil engineers have little sense of the aesthetics of their creations, Van der Toorn says.

According to CAL’s coordinator, dr. Thorsten Schuetze, about twelve architecture students per year choose this interdisciplinary graduation lab, despite the fact that it requires on average six months extra study time, which is spent on excursions abroad, civil engineering courses on water management and workshops.
At the civil engineering faculty, students are much less interested, as most of them conduct their graduate projects within private companies. Van der Toorn isn’t surprised: “They get an invitation saying ‘meet us in Dubai’ with a ticket included. We cannot compete with that.”