by Alexandra den Heijer
Today exactly 5 years ago – on May 13, 2008 – our Architecture faculty building went up in flames, after we had been evacuated safely. It destroyed the home base of more than 3000 students and 800 employees and – judged by all the reactions we received – a place full of memories for so many more alumni and former employees. It was a traumatic day for many… all academics lost their physical archives.
Our Architecture faculty building (1970-2008), Berlageweg 1, Delft, Netherlands (source: TU Delft)
Nonetheless, we used this crisis to (re-)build “BK city” at Julianalaan 134 in Delft and received compliments from all over the world for both the process (just months: BK city timeline and project organisation) and the result (new life for old academic heritage). It is amazing to realize how a disaster for the faculty could also bring so much success for the same faculty. As a BK city project team we are still very proud of what we achieved after the fire.
BK city = our Architecture faculty building (from September 2008), Julianalaan 134, Delft, Netherlands (source: TU Delft, photo: Rob ‘t Hart)
Since the fire I have given more than 80 lectures about the making of BK city – at least 40 with facility manager Dennis Cruyen – to groups from all over the world and on many stages world-wide. Of all the presentations since 2011 hand-outs can be found under DOWNLOADS. Since 2011 – when I published my book/dissertation “Managing the university campus” – presentations were usually a combination of theory and practice. Indeed, at BK city we have tried to practice what we preach. What we preach can be read in my dissertation/book and scientific publications, what we practiced can be found in the list of publications below.
Interview in newspaper AD – published last week – with TU Delft president Dirk Jan van den Berg and professor Hans Wamelink, who both had leading roles in the making of BK city.
PUBLICATIONS ABOUT BK CITY FROM 2008 TO 2013:
BOOK
Den Heijer, Alexandra (2011), Managing the university campus – information to support real estate decisions, Delft: Eburon Academic Publishers. DOWNLOAD Appendix VI “Project BK city – background, facts & figures” (black & white free downloadable version): Managing the university campus (appendix VI BK city – black & white)
BOOKLET (DESIGN GUIDE)
Patijn, Wytze en Dennis Cruyen, Alexandra den Heijer (tekst en redactie), BK City Guide, Delft: TU Delft, mei 2009. [Link to DOWNLOAD]
BOOK (in Dutch)
Den Heijer, Alexandra en Hans Dalmeijer, Etty van der Leij, Dennis Cruyen (2009), The Making of BK City, Bouwkunde, een jaar na de brand, Delft: TU Delft, december 2009. [Link to MORE INFO]
ARTICLES
Den Heijer, Alexandra (2009), “The Making of BK City, the ultimate laboratory for a faculty of achitecture” in The Architecture Annual 2007/2008, article, Rotterdam, 010 Publishers, released June, 2009, p. 20-25. DOWNLOAD: BK after the fire – article Architecture Annual + figures 1 and 3 separately: FIG-1 (Timeline) and FIG-3 (Project organisation)
Den Heijer, Alexandra (2012), “Managing the university campus: exploring models for the future and supporting today’s decisions” in CELE Exchange 2012/2, Paris, OECD, July 2012. DOWNLOAD: CELE Exchange 2012-02 article Alexandra den Heijer
VIDEOS
TU Delft’s 3-minute “The Making of BK city” video can be found on YouTube:
The HEDQF film below – released at a UK conference (AUDE 2012) – shows new academic places to work and learn (United Kingdom: University of Greenwich, Ravensbourne College, Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, Napier University Business School, Loughborough University, Finland: Aalto University, Netherlands: TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture / BK city):
SERIES ABOUT BK CITY (all in Dutch)
1. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “De opdracht: herhuisvest de faculteit in drie dagen, Faculteit Bouwkunde doet naam eer aan” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 161, juni 2008, p. 17-19. DOWNLOAD: FMM 161 AdH-DC — (1) Faculteit Bouwkunde doet naam eer aan
2. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “De opbouw van faculteit Bouwkunde van de TU Delft, Een effectievere faculteit op één locatie” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 162, augustus 2008, p. 60-61. DOWNLOAD: FMM 162 AdH-DC — (2) Een effectievere faculteit op 1 locatie
3. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “De bouwplaats als ultieme werkplek” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 163, september 2008, p. 65-66. DOWNLOAD: FMM 163 AdH-DC — (3) De bouwplaats als ultieme werkplek
4. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “Minister Plasterk lanceert ideeënprijsvraag in Venetië, Het universiteitsgebouw van de toekomst” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 164, oktober 2008, p. 66-67. DOWNLOAD: FMM 164 AdH-DC — (4) Het universiteitsgebouw van de toekomst
5. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “Academische werkplek heroverwogen” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 165, november 2008, p. 48-49. DOWNLOAD: FMM 165 AdH-DC — (5) Academische werkplek heroverwogen
6. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “Bouwkunde weer thuis, BK-city ontworpen voor ontmoetingen” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 166, december 2008, p. 56-58. DOWNLOAD: FMM 166 AdH-DC — (6) BK-city ontworpen voor ontmoetingen
7. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2009), “BK-city gezamenlijke facilitaire verantwoordelijkheid: nieuwe producten en dienstverlening” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 167, februari 2009, p. 44-45. DOWNLOAD: FMM 167 AdH-DC — (7) BK city gezamenlijke facilitaire verantwoordelijkheid
8. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2009), “Design rules @ BK-city: speeltuin voor ontwerpers” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 168, maart 2009, p. 53-55. DOWNLOAD: FMM 168 AdH-DC — (8) Design rules at BK city, speeltuin voor ontwerpers
9. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2009), “Reversed briefing, bewoners BK-city aan zet” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 169, april 2009, p. 44-46. DOWNLOAD: FMM 169 AdH-DC — (9) Reversed briefing, Bewoners BK city aan zet
10. Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2009), “Bouwkunde in Delft, een jaar na de brand: toegevoegde waarde huisvesting en FM bewezen” in Facility Management Magazine, nr. 170, mei 2009, p. 48-49. DOWNLOAD: FMM 170 AdH-DC — (10) Bouwkunde in Delft, een jaar na de brand
–> om de 10 publicaties hierboven in 1 keer te downloaden: lage resolutie (2MB) FMM 161-170 AdH-DC alle artikelen gebundeld (lage resolutie) of hoge resolutie (13MB) FMM 161-170 AdH-DC alle artikelen gebundeld (hoge resolutie)
VAKPUBLICATIES, GESCHREVEN OVER BOUWKUNDE, ENKELE WEKEN VOOR DE BRAND
(01) Heijer, Alexandra den (2008), “Mooi is ook functioneel op toekomstige campus” in Schooldomein nr. 4, maart 2008, p.16-17. DOWNLOAD: SD4 – Mooi is ook functioneel (Den Heijer)
(02) Heijer, Alexandra den en Dennis Cruyen (2008), “Motto voor de huisvesting van de Delftse Bouwkundefaculteit: Practice what you preach” in Schooldomein nr. 5, april 2008, p.16-19. DOWNLOAD: SD5 – Practice what you preach (Den Heijer – Cruyen)
For more information: see page CASE BK CITY and website Architecture / TU Delft.
Managing the university campus 