The graduation project of Benjamin Bomben introduces a flexible kit-of-parts system that can help to develop housing and academic spaces on underused locations of existing parking lots at the campus of the Technische Universiteit Delft, and easily adapt parts specific to future needs.
An exterior view showcasing the extreme use of the developed kit of parts system. The system then becomes the expression of the project, highlighting its hybrid functionality throughtout.
Can you explain your choice of subject?
I chose the Architecture Engineering studio because I wanted to explore the possibilities of a kit of parts system and take inspiration from other industries for their ease of assembly, repairability, disassembly, and apply this to architecture.
What or who are your sources of inspiration and can you explain this?
I became fascinated with Archigram and the Metabolist movement, realizing that these ideas came from similar issues we still face today such as housing shortage, affordability and lack of adaptability. As a result of researching these ideas, I came across the Loblolly House by Kieran Timberlake and Kristian Gullichsen and Juhani Pallasmaa’s Moduli 225. Two amazing projects for those looking to explore architectural kit of parts development or smart methods of modularization in architectural design.
The entire project is composed of 54 parts. Making it significantly more efficent to generate multiple iterations that are already technically resolved. Saving time throughout the development of the project.
Describe the key moment in your graduation project
A key moment came when I started to physically model the parts I was developing and realized the opportunity they provided in terms of rapid design iterations with already solved details as well as their ability to address a variety of different scales in a variety of different contexts. It made generating a final design much faster than any other project I have ever worked on.
Using a select combination of parts, one can create a site specific response to transform any parking lot on campus. In the case of this example, the use of 1D and 2D parts can create a public workspace that bring life to an otherwise mundane space on campus.
Can you explain what design(ing) means to you?
Design is a functionally artful intervention that acts a benefit to the context it is situated in.
What do you hope to achieve as a designer in the near and / or the distant future?
I hope to one day achieve an objectively good design.
Beneath the building, the parking lot remains functional during the week. However, it provides students and staff the oppourtunity to transform the space into a living lab.
Project description
Through combining 1D, 2D, and 3D prefabricated timber systems, the project developed its own kit of parts that can quickly transform parking lots, creating new oppourtunities at various scales throughout campus.
The built environment is unable to easily adapt to future social, environmental and economic contexts. Producing a significant amount of waste to try and upgrade the past, rather than trying to design for the future. In parallel, there is a need to provide more housing and academic spaces throughout TU Delft Campus. The project develops a prefabricated timber kit of parts system, combining 1D, 2D, and 3D systems to quickly transform underused locations of existing parking lots throughout TU Delft Campus.
The public space runs throughout the building, connecting multiple floors together through the use of double height space. The 1D and 2D systems are expressed through their joinery, promoting the idea of assembly and disassembly.
The kit of parts are able to be reconfigured to address a variety of scales and generate site specific responses. The system itself allows for parts to be easily exchanged, added, removed or redesigned. Offering a new way to quickly generate a new circular built environment that is not confined to the date it was constructed but rather allows the built environment to easily evolve alongside TU Delft’s innovations.
The kit of parts can then be applied to any parking lot throughout campus, addressing a variety of scales and needs. The campus then acts as a type of material bank, allowing it to adapt and transfer parts around as needed throughout campus.
Naam
Benjamin Boomen
e-mail
Start graduation
2021
End graduation
2023
Opleiding
Technische Universiteit Delft
