Abstract
Exhibition: Offices of the College van Bestuur, TU Delft
TU Delft is not just a university, it is a workplace. Approximately 39% of personnel at TU Delft fall into the category ‘support staff’: the people who carry out the important work of organising the administrative, financial, built and HR-related infrastructure underpinning our university. While today the gender division of this role is more balanced, historically the roles of secretaries, assistants, and clerical workers were almost exclusively occupied by women. This gendered division of the workplace was commonplace in industrialised nations throughout the twentieth century and had a profound impact on the design of the office.
This exhibition showcases the work of MSc Architecture students from the graduation studio ‘Future Bank’, investigating the development of this gendered division of labour through several key office buildings in the twentieth century. Drawing on the work of German sculptor Thomas Demand, students recreated iconic photographs of these buildings by making and photo- graphing paper models, a method that required intense scrutiny of architectural drawings, lighting, and materials. Curiously lacking the secretarial bodies that they were designed for, the photographs and models ask us to consider the experience of working in such spaces, whilst also casting them as stage sets for the performance of (gender) roles at work.
Texts:
Dr. Amy Thomas
Photos:
‘Future Bank’ graduation studio (2021–22), Interiors Buildings Cities Group,
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
TU Delft is not just a university, it is a workplace. Approximately 39% of personnel at TU Delft fall into the category ‘support staff’: the people who carry out the important work of organising the administrative, financial, built and HR-related infrastructure underpinning our university. While today the gender division of this role is more balanced, historically the roles of secretaries, assistants, and clerical workers were almost exclusively occupied by women. This gendered division of the workplace was commonplace in industrialised nations throughout the twentieth century and had a profound impact on the design of the office.
This exhibition showcases the work of MSc Architecture students from the graduation studio ‘Future Bank’, investigating the development of this gendered division of labour through several key office buildings in the twentieth century. Drawing on the work of German sculptor Thomas Demand, students recreated iconic photographs of these buildings by making and photo- graphing paper models, a method that required intense scrutiny of architectural drawings, lighting, and materials. Curiously lacking the secretarial bodies that they were designed for, the photographs and models ask us to consider the experience of working in such spaces, whilst also casting them as stage sets for the performance of (gender) roles at work.
Texts:
Dr. Amy Thomas
Photos:
‘Future Bank’ graduation studio (2021–22), Interiors Buildings Cities Group,
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | College van Bestuur, TU Delft |
| Publisher | TU Delft Academic Heritage Team |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
