DutchNews.nl - Delft University fire burns all night

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Friday: Sunny spells and max 19 º with showers possible in far north. A sunny, dry weekend

Delft University fire burns all night

Wednesday 14 May 2008

The fire which ripped through Delft University’s architecture faculty continued to burn all night under fire brigade supervision, according to early newspaper reports.

The fire, which broke out after a short circuit in a coffee machine on the sixth floor early on Tuesday morning, quickly spread upwards through the 13-storey building. Later the blaze moved down to the lower floors. One wing collapsed late on Tuesday afternoon.

‘We are watching the building fall apart in front of our eyes,’ a fire brigade spokesman told the Volkskrant.

Some 185 fire officers and 50 fire engines were at the scene of the blaze, which had been cordoned off to hundreds of onlookers.

The faculty, which had a library of some 40,000 books, drawings, models and furniture, was preparing a new exhibition of drawings by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and others.

The collection, described by TU information specialist AD Bercht in the Volkskrant as ‘the most important architectural collection in the country’, has been destroyed, the paper said.

No-one was injured in the blaze.

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Readers' comments

None of us could ever imagine such a sad piece of news. Today all the lovers of Architecture, those who have a special feeling for Dutch Architecture and centuries of wisdom are at a loss.
What is solidarity at this moment but a speck of dust? You all have our sympathy, mixed with helplessness. If we can aid in any way, please, do not hesitate to let us know.

By Antonio Millan-Gomez | May 14, 2008 3:32 PM

Years ago I was for twice at Delft Architecture Faculty as town planning reasearcher with prof. Paul Drewe as tutor and Haans Gaantvoort as collegue: I was working in his office.
All they, as well as the full staff of the before existing OSPA Institue i.e. Van Taken, Van de Graaf, were very kind.
I could appreciate the faculty and the efficency of the nehtherlands society.
I hope that everything can be restored.
For everything I can do please contact me.
My other email address is: stefano.aragona@uniroma1.it

Best wishes,

Stefano Aragona

By Stefano Aragona | May 24, 2008 1:05 PM