The Crown Was Fallen

If you have never been to TU Delft's Faculty of Architecture before, it's too late for you to come- forever.

This morning I got a phone call from Carolyn around 9:30, and she said "oh, take your time, there is a fire alarm in BK, we're coming out now." Usually I got calls because of being late (sorry I always sleep late and never be in time for the studio), and if anything delay and reschedule was announced, someone will inform me. Because Carolyn's voice was so easy... I thought just someone did some stupid thing to activate the alarm by accident. Maybe one or two hours later we can go in back again. Anyway... I left my room and took my bike. On my way to school, I met Victor (another guy in our studio, he was going home) on the bridge. I noticed that the smoke from the campus was heavier than I supposed. I kept cycling. When I arrived, I was so stunned by the scene in front of me. Cordons were set around the area already and flames and smoke kept coming out from the southern part of our faculty. Fire started from the 6th floor and spread quickly. In two hours, half of the building was brunt down.

Studio guys met each others on the main road and went to Aula (congress center beside the central library) to listen to the Dean of Faculty. There, I met one of my tutor, Lidy, in rMIT last semester. She was quite sad about this terrible thing. I really can't imagine how many things we lose! All books, all computers, all research data since the faculty was founded, all design projects in progress... everything was gone in hours! Especially for teachers, all their academic efforts- for years or even for all their lives- can't be get back anymore. Dutch architecture would be damaged and become backward so much... TU Delft is such an important institute in Europe, but now all valuable resources was lost. I don't know how we can continue our school till the end of this semester... not to mention that where I should start my final project for next year. When we had lunch on the roof of the library, keeping eyes on BK... the other half part of the building was in fire as well... 13th floor, where our studio was in, was brunt out and turned black.

15hrs, they sent a email saying that the fire at the Faculty of Architecture is not yet under control. Around 5pm, when I was with Guner in her room, Ryan (Canadian guy in our studio) messaged her and said that our 13th floor started to collapse. We went out to the corridor and looked towards the campus. The fire and smoke was still on. Our 13th floor was totally destroyed by fire- no more Green Dreams, no more World Wonders, no more red carpet. The crown of DSD+T?F was fallen. (At the beginning, when Winy Maas conceived the idea of our studio, 13th floor was on the top of BK, looking down to the whole campus.) Now even in Rotterdam you can see the smoke all over the sky of Delft. I don't want to say it's destiny but everyone here knows how bad lucky the timing was. Water pipes got some problems this early morning and they just turned off the water spray systems. A coffee machine was broken then. And then just hours, the whole building was lost. I am also feeling lost now...