Max Risselada: ‘I couldn’t possibly leave’

When Max Risselada received an automated letter from HR in 2003 informing him that his contract was coming to an end, it came as quite a surprise. “I couldn’t possibly leave. We were just planning to collaborate more closely with the NAI (Netherlands Architecture Institute) in Rotterdam, so we could present the research we were doing at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment.”

An exhibition on Peter and Alison Smithson was the first example. Next came one on Team 10. “That was a group of architects from the 1970s who wanted to break with the entrenched post-war reconstruction principles. Jo van den Broek was something of the group’s godfather, and others included Jaap Bakema and Aldo van Eyck. I grew up in that group and saw how they hung their designs on the wall to discuss the social context behind them.” Together with Dirk van den Heuvel, Risselada made what he calls ‘his bible’ about them: the colossal book Team 10. 1953–1981 (in Dutch).

Traumatic

And so Risselada continued to be involved in exhibitions and collections at the Faculty. In the spring of 2008, he, Robert Nottrot and Tessa Wijtman worked on the layout and presentation of Architectural Collections — the vast collection of models, chairs, exhibitions and photographs built up over the years. “The exhibition was due to open on Friday, 13 May 2008. The Tuesday before, much of the material had already been moved from the basement of the Architecture building to the rear hall on the ground floor.”

‘The Architecture fire was a major disaster for me’

But on that Tuesday, 10 May 2008, the great fire broke out at the Architecture and Built Environment Faculty, destroying the entire building. “The items that had already been brought upstairs were dragged outside by the fire brigade. But for me, it was a huge disaster, because much of the collection – largely my own material – was still in the basement. We couldn’t get to it. We weren’t allowed to.”

After the fire, an extensive search began to recover the collection. It was often unclear where the rescued items had ended up – sometimes as far away as Zoetermeer. “I knew exactly what was in the collection so I teamed up with Tessa (Wijtman-Berkman) to track down as much material as we could.” That effort laid the foundation for today’s Architectural Collections and Productions (ACAP).

My home

Risselada finally bid farewell to TU Delft in 2014 – but on his own terms. “I absolutely didn’t want to stand in the Aula in a black gown and be given a speech. I found my own way of having conversations with the different generations of architects I’d worked with.” He got permission for a farewell exhibition: Patient (Re)search.

Even after that, he often returned to the faculty. “Because it’s been my home for so long. But I felt less and less at home there.” He saw the learning becoming more formal and individualised. Students were absorbed in their screens. The kind of discussions that used to happen around wall-mounted drawings – à la Team 10 – had disappeared.