ARDIENTE

CONCLUSIONS
general knowledge. The software that we learnt how
to work with, CES, was a great tool and I’m happy that
the syllabus of the course was set in a way that we had
to practice the software. However, the Cad course was
not practical for me. The introduced software were all
interesting but it was just a glimpse. I understand that
it is the student’s duty to learn these by herself but
considering the hectic schedule that we had during
the first semester, it was very difficult to explore those
software properly. Compared to Material Science, in
Building Physics various software were introduced to
the students. However, for each one we only spent a
one-day practical which was not sufficient. Also, one of
the practicals was for a Dutch program that of course
would be only used in the Netherlands, while we could
have practiced another software in a language that is
spoken everywhere and by all the students. I would have
preferred to work with fewer software, but at a deeper
level. Besides the various software, the major problem
stated by a lot of students was that the syllabus of this
course was tightly related to another bachelor course
at the faculty, while half of the class were international
students and it was hard to follow the content of the
lectures without that background knowledge. For the
design part of Bucky Lab, I think the only issue was that
the group work demanded more time in comparison
with the individual part. Maybe putting less time on
the individual design could have been better. I have to
mention that I really enjoyed the way of communication
between the teachers and the students as they were
friendly and helped us with all of our questions.
The building weeks of Bucky Lab were definitely the
best part of the design course. We had the chance
to work in a real-life environment and experience the
atmosphere and face the obstacles that might occur in
a building process. The only downside of the building
weeks for me was the daily commute which was
extremely exhausting and its cost. I think considering
a work space in Delft with all the required facilities,
equipment and machines would be much more
convenient. During the building process, unfortunately
we lost a lot of our energy, focus and motivation due
to the inside conflicts which was clearly a result of
miscommunication and different characters. However,
we managed to finish our project on time. In general,
Bucky Lab was a memorable experience which taught
me a lot about different aspects of a project.
Tolga: Bucky Lab was one of the most comprehensive
courses that I have ever taken in my university life.
Starting with different ideas in a group, melting them
in the same pot and merging them into one concept,
developing the concept parallel to essential courses,
making a prototype out of it and making this complete
story of the whole process was a unique experience for
me. I learned a lot during every step.
Academisch Medisch Centrum (AMC) in Amsterdam
is a noticeable building in its environment due to
its size, scale and material, facing the challenge of
catching up with de rigueur energy neutral buildings.
Given the situation of the building, choosing which
problem to address was a freedom and a great
responsibility, walking hand in hand. Improving the
energy performance of the AMC was all our righteous
goal in this case.
It was great to find fellow students who were enthusiastic
about solar thermal energy and ventilation or even the
solar chimney principle as me. My concept was more
of a whole façade design rather than a product design
to be placed on an existing façade. However, the idea
of a universal design led us to work harder to make the
output as flexible as possible. Uniting with the ideas of
my group mates, we were able to design a product that
can be applied to many different buildings.
The development phase of the project was highly
intense. Disagreements happened countless times but
at the end, this work taught us that the most useful
asset in group work is the ability to state one’s own
opinion clearly and open enough to listen to what
others think. By doing so, different opinions do not rein
each other back but feed.
Construction weeks in Rotterdam was the most
physically challenging, yet fun part of the whole process.
It was fairly difficult to make 2-3 hours of a way in the
Netherlands, I had been used to that in Turkey, though.
The introduction on the first day was so helpful since
power tools are not easy and completely safe to work
with. We also had to be disciplined with timing to prevent
chaos in an environment with almost 70 people. The
time limit forced all of us to quit overthinking and get to
work immediately.
The reporting step after the prototype was complete also
very educative. I saw the importance of documenting
every small step and be well organised. This was a very
rapid and inclusive process, so it should be recorded
systematically.
All in all, Bucky Lab broadened my horizon, showing
me and making me experience a whole process from
the concept design to prototyping. Working with an
enthusiastic team for the energy improvement of an
existing building was also as exciting. The main purpose
of the course, getting our hands dirty, taught me a lot. It
was a great semester!
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