G. van Drecht, Oude Hoofdgebouw, TU Delft, 1923, the new temporary home of the Delft Faculty of Architecture. Originally built as a laboratory building for the chemistry department (but never used for this purpose), it served as the university’s main building for many years beginning in the 1950s. The Hoofdgebouw now has monument status and will be transformed into an apartment building when the school of architecture moves out in a few years.
Photograph: TU Delft, Multimedia Services

Fire at Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft: The Aftermath

A tragic fire destroyed the Faculty of Architecture building at the TU Delft on 13 May, as previously reported in a letter circulated to the EAHN membership with the June newsletter. The building housed not only the EAHN secretariat in the ®MIT research institute, but also the offices of three EAHN committee members, our Dutch correspondent, and many EAHN members. No one was injured in the fire, but the material loss to faculty and students is devastating. Discovery of a few fortunate survivals amidst the ruins provided some much-needed cheer in the aftermath of the catastrophe: the entire library collection remained unscathed, as did some archival material stored in the basement.

Soon after the fire, EAHN administrative assistant Isabel van der Zande reported that within four days almost everybody was back to work in temporary quarters scattered across campus. “I’ve lost some data, but that’s it, just time lost. Other people have lost much more,” she said. During September and October, all the departments of the Faculty of Architecture - including ®MIT and the EAHN secretariat - will be moving into longer-term temporary offices, classrooms and studios in the former main building of the university; incoming and continuing students will receive priority during the move in order to provide them with a stable learning environment from the beginning of the new semester. Dean Wytze Patijn expects that a new home for the school of architecture will be ready in three to four years, with an idea competition to be launched at the architecture Biennale in Venice this fall as a starting point for a newly designed Faculty of Architecture building.