Category Archives: research

April 13, 2012 · 23:49

Film “Out of the Box”

by Alexandra den Heijer

At the AUDE conference in Loughborough last week, a 9-minute film “Out of the Box” was released, produced by the Higher Education Design Quality Forum (HEDQF): “A short film showcasing some European universities and how they are distinguishing themselves with radical architecture, design and branding. To achieve their ambition, many have reinvented the academic workplace.” (text from youtube.com) The film by Rod McAllister and William Pine includes TU Delft’s case BK city and my ’15 seconds of fame’ … (starting at 2:30 with the sad memories of our unforgettable fire and continuing at 5:50 and 7:50)

The film 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). It also states that “The last year research has shown that 36% of British students rejected a university due to the quality of its estate”. Voice-over and producer Rod McAllister adds: “Perhaps we should give the box more credit…”. Rod McAllister works for architecture practice Sheppard Robson in London (www.sheppardrobson.com). More information about the activities of HEDQF (www.hedqf.com, which redirects to architecture.com). More about case BK city: CASE BK CITY.

BK city's facility manager Dennis Cruyen

BK city - home of TU Delft's Faculty of Architecture

"my 15 seconds of fame" about BK city's brief and concepts

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Filed under international network, research

Tagged as academic workplace, AUDE, BK city, HEDQF, Loughborough University, United Kingdom

April 2, 2012 · 16:28

“Leading the way” AUDE conference 2012

by Alexandra den Heijer

On April 2, 2012 I was invited to speak at Loughborough University for the AUDE conference (the UK Association of University Directors of Estates). The hand-out of the presentation can be found under DOWNLOADS after my presentation. The 3-minute movie “The making of BK city” can be found with a link to YouTube under CASE BK CITY.

European Univer-cities in the top 150 worldwide - figure from Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel's research

Lessons so far:
-1- the importance of ‘managing expectations’ – engaging both students and staff in the strategic, financial and physical context (and challenges) to put their functional demands into perspective, which also is a key factor in their satisfaction;
-2- the relation between the physical campus and regional knowledge economy (‘town gown’ – univer-city) – see figure Knowledge cities in Europe, representing universities in the global top 150, source QS Times Higher Education ranking 2011, edited by PhD researcher Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel, see BOOK DESIGN for her background and résumé;
-3- balancing the strategy of ‘creating a community and home base’ and sharing space and collaborating with partners in higher education, business or industry;
-4- considering students as long-term stakeholders and not as customers; when students become alumni the value of their diploma will be associated with the quality of the institution for life and alumni could (and do) also play an important role in education and research, in the primary processes (giving lectures) and in branding their ‘alma mater’ in practice. This could be a basis for alumni funding.

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Tagged as AUDE, BK city, Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel, Loughborough University, United Kingdom, univer-cities

March 4, 2012 · 16:16

Exactly one year ago…

by Alexandra den Heijer

One year ago – on Friday March 4, 2011 – I defended my PhD research and launched my book… When people asked me then: what’s next? I would reply “something international” or “European knowledge network”, but frankly… I did not have a plan. After March 4 I just started to send copies of my book to academic friends and professional colleagues abroad. And that must have worked given the number of invitation I received to publish and speak (see DOWNLOADS and TOUR). My European network is actually a fact after a year.

Coincidentally - today March 4, 2012 - the ebook and the second edition of the physical book are nr. 1+2 in my publisher's top seller top 5 again!

My ‘tour schedule’ (see TOUR) also protected me from the overload of educational activities in the past year. Of course I understand that education is an important part of my job – and I love it – but organising education for 210 students (fall semester) and 320 students (spring semester) also tends to keep you from concentrating on research. Travelling forced me to focus on (the next step in) my research: the European campus. Three months after my defence I was invited to speak at the annual conference of the European University Association (EUA), which is in three weeks: March 23, 2012. In the past year my preliminary conclusions about ‘opportunities and threats of the European campus’ have been confirmed by campus managers, directors of estate and representatives of ministries of Education & Science. Check out ‘TOUR’ to see which countries I visited (or who visited me in Delft/Rotterdam/Utrecht) in the past year.

In the next 6 weeks I am looking at 5 more lectures for international audiences and 2 at national events, which sometimes makes me think that I am overdoing it a little… even though I am enjoying every lecture. Next to me on the photo of the PhD defence is one of two paranimphs Flavia Curvelo Magdaniel. She helped me with the graphic design of the book (see BOOK DESIGN) and is now working at TU Delft as a PhD candidate herself. Her research subject is closely related to mine: the knowledge city. With her and with my European network I will take my research to the next phase in the next year, and keep you informed about the results.

Laudatio of prof. dr. ir. Hugo Priemus after my PhD defence EXACTLY one year ago today

P.S. Coincidentally – today March 4, 2012 – the ebook and the second edition of the physical book are nr. 1+2 in my publisher’s top seller top 5 again! It is interesting that my book is still referred to as ‘new’… because it is the recently published second edition.

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April 28, 2011 · 00:39

Publicity… also for BK city

In the past weeks I have written two columns, an article (in Dutch) and a paper (in English). The newest column can be found by clicking this link nieuwbrief gebiedsontwikkeling.nu. I will upload the PDFs of all publications as soon as I receive them from the publishers – see DOWNLOADS.
In the meantime our project BK city received new awards and nominations in the past weeks. I am very proud of the EU price (Europa Nostra) for Cultural Heritage, both as a member of the BK city project team and as a user of the building – see CASE BK CITY for more information.

Alexandra den Heijer

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Filed under project BK city, research

Tagged as BK city, gebiedsontwikkeling.nu, publications

April 11, 2011 · 23:38

Sharing knowledge

At least two more events this week to share knowledge with other specialists (expert meeting on Monday, April 11) and with decision makers (Friday, April 15). Below some photos of the expert meeting with Spanish guest Pablo Campos. For presentations Pablo and Alexandra, see DOWNLOADS.