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Tulip mania
Thesis Research project, TU Delft
January 2021

This research took place in parallel to the exploration of timber construction mechanisms in architecture. In order to fully render our built environment sustainable for the decades to come, we have to look into every aspect of it, every layer and every element used into it. The focus lens shifts from the biggest elements of the construction to the final finishes.

One such thing is the coating, which comes at play as the outermost skin of buildings. The layer that is visible to the user, the vanguard against the weather, and an important agent of meaning and symbolism for architecture. This research experiments with colour coating for timber, as a carrier of these messages, and goes on to explore the possibilities of extracting pigments from natural sources to use in production.
 Colour pigment extracted from natural sources is not a new or revolutionary practice. It has been happening since the beginning of time, and many times on the expense of the environment. In this case the target is a raw material that doesn’t put more load on it. The Netherlands is globally famous for its tulip and bulb market. Each year, apart from the flowers, tons of bulbs are being cultivated and exported. Similar quantities of tulip petals are being cut and thrown away, in order for the bulbs to grow the strongest. This presents us with a by-product, whose potential is yet to be fully tackled.

The project uses different methods of distillation and binding to produce colour pigments that potentially can lead to sustainable colour coatings which tap into circularity in a realistic manner.
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