BAU | A Blue Orange Hall

The first rays of sunlight fall gently into the Orange Hall. White tables and high seats reflect into the aqueous light. The silence in the Orange Hall is remarkable, there are no students studying here today. Gigantic blue balloons are standing there forlorn. However, the empty hall is slowly filling with the smell of freshly made coffee. It was the calm before the storm, that would come this day. On this day the business fair of BAU will take place. This is the day on which 500 sandwiches will fly over the counter, business cards will be exchanged as if they were marbles, and cups of coffee will be drank like they are water.

This day started eight months before in the heads of seven committee members and one QQ in a small holiday house in Centre Parks. The water slides and raccoons of which this group could never get enough, symbolized the dedication with which they would work for BAU the coming months.

After hours of calling, meetings and beers, the month of BAU was finally there. A month overloaded with events that will prepare the students of our faculty for the final event; the business market. In the CV-check, given by Enginear, the students learn what a good resume looks like. MVRDV visited our faculty to give some tips and tricks on creating a portfolio. During the workshop ‘how-to speed-date’ students were given some handles on how to start a conversation with a company. During BAU those were useful in the speed dates where the students could talk to a company one on one. The six different cases gave an insight in the daily pursuits of a company and during the intern panel four students shared their experiences on the internship they did at an architecture firm. V8 Architects came to give a lunch lecture about their design for the Dutch Paviljon in the World Expo in Dubai in 2020. Daan Zandbelt, chief government architect and partner of De Zwarte Hond, came to BK-city to talk about the future of architecture. The last lunch lecture was given by Nanne de Ru, founding partner of Powerhouse Company, and he came to tell more about the vision of the company.

The silence that was here this morning, on March 26 2019, disappeared within a blink of an eye. No less than 35 different companies had turned this peaceful space into a paradise. A turning wheel, impressive renders, models and VR-glasses were the stage for the hundreds of students who came to have a talk and get to know the companies. It was a day to let you think about the future, your future.

The last rays of sunlight are disappearing from the Orange Hall. The space is empty again: almost like nothing ever happened..