A Room with a Different View

This contribution documents the developments, results and findings of an experimental design visualisation and presentation exercise entitled “A Different View of Delft”. The primary aim of this project was to make students aware of the potentials of the active utilisation of physical models for the sake of designerly enquiry. Furthermore the ambition was to explore new ways of using such model “environments” for the benefit of design communication and presentation. For this exercise a “game” situation with clear constraints and rules was developed beforehand. The students were to work out a proposal for a new exhibition space, as an annex to a - hypothetical - existing museum. The new space was to create a fitting “settingi for a single work of art: Johannes Vermeeris famous View of Delft. The maximum contours of the new exhibition space were given, along with clear guidelines concerning which walls and roof segments might be (partly) opened. The emphasis lay on the vieweris “approach” to the painting, its positioning and “framing” in an architectural context. A designerly search involving form and space, the choice of colours and materials and particularly the strategic use of (natural) lighting