The Bacinol building is (the place to be in Delft for entrepreneurs, many of them TU Delft graduates. The former factory building has been converted into offices and an expositions space.
A new exposition ’32x5x4 Poptahof’ presents Delft’s Poptahof neighbourhood as a cultural, architectural and civic renovation project.
The Bacinol building has been transformed into a breeding ground of creative industry. The former factory’s rooms now serve as offices and ateliers for a range of professionals, including architects, industrial, visual and graphic designers, photographers and artists.
The Bacinol expositions are both a forum for the resident professionals to display their skills and an open-house for the building. The expositions are organised by Bacinol Expo, an independent foundation that aims to further expand its activities and networks in the fields of architecture and urban development, industrial design, sculpture, and all that spans these disciplines.
The organisers hope to promote the Bacinol building not only as a new and exciting exposition space in Delft, but also as a part of a local industrial history that stretches back to the end of the 19th century, when a Dutch engineer named Van Marken developed an important process for producing yeast. The next step in the historical development was the successful production of methylated spirits (spiritus in Dutch), which led to the founding of Delft’s ‘Yeast & Spirits’ factories and eventually a company called DSM-Gist.
During World War II, DSM-Gist began experiments aimed at producing penicillin. At the time, Holland was occupied by Nazi Germany. DSM-Gist’s penicillin producing experiments were kept secret from the German occupiers . ‘Bacinol’ was the secret code name for penicillin.
In 2001, Delft city council decided that this old DSM-Gist factory, which was built in 1951, should become a city monument. Today, the Bacinol building is fermenting with creativity, energy and entrepreneurial spirit. The Bacinol exhibitions offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience this energy up close and personal.
This month photojournalist Hans Stakelbeek, of the FMAX agency, presents a prize-winning photo exhibition on ‘Project 32x5x4 Poptahof’ as part of the Delft municipality cultural programme ‘Kunst in de Wijken‘ (‘Art in the Neighbourhoods’). The exposition is also an insight into the wide diversity of cultures residing in the Delft neighbourhood Poptahof, a phenomenon that Stakelbeek has successfully captured with his camera. 32 living rooms, 5 meters by 4, with each family having its own special story framing the photograph, altogether giving a face-lift to the appearance of Poptahof, which Stakelbeek makes sure does not go unnoticed.
Beside the photo exhibition there is a scale model of the new Poptahof, as seen by architects, along with the original plans dating back to the 1960s. The neighbourhood has been undergoing a series of renovations to improve the residents’ quality of life. By keeping the park as the social centre of the neighbourhood, the municipality and the residents, many of whom either work or study at the TU, hope to preserve the feeling of solidarity that strongly characterizes this unique area of Delft.
The Bacinol building, Wateringsevest 38, is located opposite the Tram 1 stop, ‘Wateringsevest’. The exhibition ‘Project 32x5x4 Poptahof’ is free and open Thursday to Sunday, 12:00-17:00, until June 19.
The Bacinol building has been transformed into a breeding ground of creative industry. The former factory’s rooms now serve as offices and ateliers for a range of professionals, including architects, industrial, visual and graphic designers, photographers and artists.
The Bacinol expositions are both a forum for the resident professionals to display their skills and an open-house for the building. The expositions are organised by Bacinol Expo, an independent foundation that aims to further expand its activities and networks in the fields of architecture and urban development, industrial design, sculpture, and all that spans these disciplines.
The organisers hope to promote the Bacinol building not only as a new and exciting exposition space in Delft, but also as a part of a local industrial history that stretches back to the end of the 19th century, when a Dutch engineer named Van Marken developed an important process for producing yeast. The next step in the historical development was the successful production of methylated spirits (spiritus in Dutch), which led to the founding of Delft’s ‘Yeast & Spirits’ factories and eventually a company called DSM-Gist.
During World War II, DSM-Gist began experiments aimed at producing penicillin. At the time, Holland was occupied by Nazi Germany. DSM-Gist’s penicillin producing experiments were kept secret from the German occupiers . ‘Bacinol’ was the secret code name for penicillin.
In 2001, Delft city council decided that this old DSM-Gist factory, which was built in 1951, should become a city monument. Today, the Bacinol building is fermenting with creativity, energy and entrepreneurial spirit. The Bacinol exhibitions offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience this energy up close and personal.
This month photojournalist Hans Stakelbeek, of the FMAX agency, presents a prize-winning photo exhibition on ‘Project 32x5x4 Poptahof’ as part of the Delft municipality cultural programme ‘Kunst in de Wijken‘ (‘Art in the Neighbourhoods’). The exposition is also an insight into the wide diversity of cultures residing in the Delft neighbourhood Poptahof, a phenomenon that Stakelbeek has successfully captured with his camera. 32 living rooms, 5 meters by 4, with each family having its own special story framing the photograph, altogether giving a face-lift to the appearance of Poptahof, which Stakelbeek makes sure does not go unnoticed.
Beside the photo exhibition there is a scale model of the new Poptahof, as seen by architects, along with the original plans dating back to the 1960s. The neighbourhood has been undergoing a series of renovations to improve the residents’ quality of life. By keeping the park as the social centre of the neighbourhood, the municipality and the residents, many of whom either work or study at the TU, hope to preserve the feeling of solidarity that strongly characterizes this unique area of Delft.
The Bacinol building, Wateringsevest 38, is located opposite the Tram 1 stop, ‘Wateringsevest’. The exhibition ‘Project 32x5x4 Poptahof’ is free and open Thursday to Sunday, 12:00-17:00, until June 19.
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