In the first years in primary school, teachers had a hard time telling if I was a good student or not. I could occasionally be very bright in some areas, but sometimes I would fail at the same subject. That changed when I went to grade 7, the year that I had teachers that I absolutely adored. My grades went up significantly in every area. You, my readers, can probably tell similar stories about times where a teacher made all the difference for you.

Katarzyna and Ecaterina graduated from the Architecture department of TU Delft a couple of years ago. Soon, they hit a wall - not because of the economic crises but because of the ignorance of the industry. Nonetheless, the problems started earlier, they believe. In the following talk, they discuss greenwashing, misunderstood concepts of sustainability and reuse in academia and the industry. The topic of Taboo inspired their few-hours-long conversation. Below, you can find its most important ideas.

This is a Bnieuws article, and you are reading it. I wrote this article because I’m being paid to and because I have obligations to the editorial board to do so; because it’s my job. The world is not often discussed in this way, because it’s not usually a very comforting outlook on the world. It can at times, as shown in my opening sentences, bleed the colours out of everything even remotely interesting. This article aims to do exactly this: ‘call architecture like it is’. But is architecture a defined thing- or can it be what you want to make of it?

If a gender – specifically women – is portrayed invisible, it can have consequences for the next generation. A visible person, like a role model,  would help that next generation. A generation with women in architecture seems the most normal thing. However, women who have experience in the male profession of architecture intimidate, and sometimes surprise the other gender. Women in architecture aren’t much of a role model. Why do people often think of a male role model, when they hear the word architect?

Bnieuws has always been a print-based magazine. It’s our tradition, our sacred way of connecting with the students and staff of the Faculty of Architecture. That made the idea of going digital a taboo, something we were often thinking but never dared saying, and now that’s exactly what we’ve done. Here’s why.

For many international students, there is a moment in their first months at BK when they are surprised by how the skills, motivation, and sense of responsibility of many of their Dutch colleagues is not as high as theirs. After a while, they learn that, academically, their Dutch peers are a crucial and unpredictable factor that has the power to define the outcome of any group assignment, for better or worse. But, why is this “Dutch factor” so determinant?

Taking advantage of the international and multicultural community of TU Delft, we collected national traditions or beliefs that only make sense in given communities. We might not understand why they exist, but this is what makes it special. Let’s respect each other and enjoy the beautiful mixture of traditions and taboos all around the world! Enjoy.

If there is a type of space that we could easily call resilient, that is the cinema.

Based on the late-nineteenth-century parlor game, made fabulous by answers from Marcel Proust, The Berlage Questionnaire is a series of questions posed to guests after their public online lecture about their lives, thoughts, values, and experiences to reveal their wit, character, and personality.

This story begins in Zaandam. I went there to visit the Inntel Hotel, a building that I find to be hilarious. Its façade consists of a bunch of traditional wooden houses stacked on top of each other in the least traditional of arrangements. The comical effect was even stronger as I considered how architects usually despise humour in architecture. While standing in front of it, I couldn’t help but ask: what was going through the mind of the architect?

I went to Wilfried van Winden, the author of this colossus, to try get an answer to this and other questions I had about his work.

By the time Gordon Matta-Clark completed his architecture degree at Cornell University, he was determined to pursue art as a career.

‘Artefact’ is a recurring two-page spread, which features a beloved object presented by one of the BK City staff members. Every month, the author passes the ‘Artefact’ contributorship to the next. Last month, Amber Leeuwenburg nominated teacher and researcher Ulf Hackauf, who works on the relation of urban metabolism and urban morphology at the section of environmental technology and design.