Welcome to the opening exhibition of the BK Treasury. In a Faculty building whose corridors are habitually flooded with exhibitions showcasing current research and student work, this space will serve as a showcase for the treasures hidden in collection depots, both from TU Delft and other Institutions. The heritage of 160 years of our University’s existence, contributions from outside institutions, and partnerships will surprise and delight visitors. Moreover, it will form a point of departure for new developments at our faculty.

The Rietveld Chairs
This first exhibition at the BK Treasury shows some of the most extraordinary items in the collections: three of the six chairs that Gerrit Rietveld donated in 1964, on the occasion of receiving an honorary doctorate. Rietveld carefully selected these six chairs, that would support the Chair Collection’s mission in educating young designers.

All seven chairs are constructed from different materials or using different techniques, making them exceptionally well-suited to the Chair Collection’s purpose. Together, the chairs illustrate Rietveld’s experimental approach to furniture design. In more recent years, others have generously donated more Rietveld chairs, increasing our collection to a total of eleven original chairs and four replicas. @en

The Why Factory’s research design studio operates on the exchange of collective work and individual project. Implementing from the studio’s common framework, The Blockmaker, the studio’s research explores the notion of what makes a housing block? Through data to design approach and parametric software thinking, the Blockmaker is a research software that allows one to generate multiple design solutions by transforming mass, reconfiguration of programs, accessibilities, porosity and generating options for façade and structure responsively to a climate condition.

My research question speculates on a scenario where a housing block would be self-sufficient with solar energy. How would it look like? How would it performs for power generation and at the same time generate better housing qualities for views, daylight and terraces? Can it create better qualities for a dwelling? In this studio, we add one parameter to observe the changes in our design intervention. In my case, for a block to be self-sufficient with solar panels, a parameter of energy demands with solar panel surfaces would be a primary aspect to consider. However, to make a housing block, it requires multiple parameters of housing qualities to finalise an optimised design decision.

As obesity levels increase out cities need to be able to adapt to this. What if we would live in a city that promotes living in a calorie intensive environment? This research and design investigates the possibility of combining dwelling and calorie burning. By means of changing access, the dwelling and adding a sports programme a housing block is transformed into a sportsblock.