Nestled between Rotterdam and The Hague, the Dutch city of Delft is globally renowned for its blue pottery. Originating at the turn of the 17th century, the distinct local style of tin-glazed earthenware utilizes vivid cobalt oxide decoration — responsible for the colour now popularly known as Delft Blue — to create exceptionally intricate design details and durable ceramics. Throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries, Delftware became the city’s calling card, as well as a major export industry. Although new firing materials began to diminish international demand by the late 1700s, the local style endured, remaining a regional cultural emblem. And thanks to designers Studio RAP, a “New Delft Blue” now animates a pocket of the city’s public realm.

In a recently built master-planned urban redevelopment project aptly dubbed Nieuw Delft, Rotterdam-based designers Studio RAP have transformed a pair of outdoor stairs and passageways — which connect the residential building’s public frontage to an inner courtyard — into a whimsical and welcoming blue showpiece. Finished a rich and subtly varied hue, the curved and articulated ceramic tiles frame the expansive arched entryways spanning four metres wide, eight metres tall, and 12 metres deep.

While the intricately textured and subtly varied design is closely inspired by local ceramic traditions, the installation is also a product of new technological experimentation, made possible by a fusion of computational design, 3D printed clay fabrication and artisanal glazing techniques. Building on their expertise in 3D printed ceramics — recently demonstrated on an eye-catching residential façade in central Amsterdam — the designers utilized an algorithmic computational strategy to introduce a varied, sinuous relief pattern across the approximately 3,000 tiles used in both spaces.

Inspired by the scenes of nature and pastoral idyll common in traditional Delftware, the elevations across the tiles hint at gentle hills and valleys — an aesthetic amplified by the ingenious application of blue paint. A transparent blue runny glaze was used across the 3,000-odd tiles, with the viscous paint pooling in the “valley” crevices to create a deeper, richer hue compared to the elevated “hills.” These subtle variations draw the eye across the curved arch, while retaining a rigorous sense of aesthetic unity.

Transforming an interstitial space into an aesthetic highlight, Studio RAP’s New Delft Blue pays homage to both tradition and innovation. Set against the building’s understated buff brick frontage, the archways frame the view of the inner courtyard’s lush greenery. They stand out — and fit right in.

Fabrication and sample images courtesy of Studio RAP.

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