TU Delft library by Mecanoo.

The conference will take place at the TU Delft campus. The venue of the conference, for three days of plenary and workshop sessions, will be the Aula Congress Centre, in front of the well-known TU library (design by Mecanoo). Arrival, reception and a welcome will be at the faculty of Architecture. Hotel accommodation is available in Delft, Rotterdam and The Hague.
Aula Congress Centre can arrange hotel bookings for guests, for more information contact register@sasbe2009.com.

Established 1842 by King Willem II, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) has a rich tradition reaching back more than 160 years. Initially, the university focused predominantly on civil engineering but today there are eight faculties offering fifteen BSc and twenty-nine MSc programmes. With approximately 13,000 students and an academic staff of 2,100 (including 200 professors), TU Delft is the largest and most comprehensive university of engineering sciences in the Netherlands.

TU Delft is an entrepreneurial state university at the forefront of technological development in the interests of society. It conducts cutting edge research and provides first class education. In addition to national accreditation, many of TU Delft's educational programmes have also been acknowledged by international organisations such as the American Board of Engineering & Technology (ABET).

TU Delft's research portfolio is clustered around thirteen interdisciplinary technological themes. Research is conducted within the faculties, research institutes and research schools. Each year, the University's cumulative research results in an average of almost 200 PhD dissertations, and over 4,000 publications in scientific journals. Research and education are interrelated. This is most notable in the MSc programmes which are research driven and challenge students to make their own contributions.

For more information about TU Delft and a Virtual Campus Tour, please visit www.tudelft.nl.

The historic Oostpoort was built around 1400 and served as an entrance to the city.

Hugo de Groot, born in Delft in 1583, laid the foundations for international law.

Delft is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, which was already established as early as 1246. Delft is nicknamed ‘de Prinsenstad' (the Princes' City), because William of Orange, the first in the Dutch royal line, held court in Delft in the 16^th century. Other famous historical figures who once lived and worked in Delft are the painter Johannes Vermeer and the inventor of the microscope, Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek.

Delft has a pleasant, well-preserved, lively historical centre, with characteristic canals, ancient merchant houses, old churches and the splendid city hall, making it valued by tourists throughout the year. Visitors can choose from a variety of good-quality accommodations.

Delft has approximately 96,000 inhabitants, including a significant share of students and employees of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). The university has attracted a large number of technology-oriented companies.

For more information about the city, please visit www.delft.nl.

Delft lies only ten kilometres from The Hague; it is only fifteen kilometres away from the global port and architectural epicentre of Rotterdam and seventy kilometres from Amsterdam. There are good public-transport connections to these cities and with Schiphol Amsterdam airport. Rotterdam airport is only 10 kilometres from Delft.

Delft is situated in the 'Randstad', close to the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam.

The Netherlands is a small country in Western Europe with over 16 million inhabitants.

There also is excellent public transport within Delft, including a tramway connection to the popular beach at Scheveningen. By the end of 2008 there will be a brand new tramway connecting the redeveloped TU Delft campus site with the railway station of Delft and The Hague.

Nevertheless, for the real Dutch experience one should of course rent a bike! This is the fastest way of transport in the city.

The Netherlands is a rather small but densely populated country with over 16 million inhabitants. It consists of 41,526 km² of land, almost half of which is below sea level. It borders on the North Sea in the northwest, Belgium in the south and Germany in the east. The western region ('Randstad') of the country is particularly densely populated. This is where the major cities Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht are located. The country's popular capital is Amsterdam, whereas The Hague is the seat of the government.

The Netherlands is a member of the European Union. It is a constitutional monarchy, with the Prime Minister at the head of the government. The official head of state, Queen Beatrix, does not take a direct role in government. Members of the Dutch parliament are directly elected by the people.

The national language is Dutch. Most adults in the Netherlands also speak English and understand German. The Netherlands is a tolerant open society where many nationalities and different cultures live together.

For more background information about The Netherlands you can for example visit www.holland.com or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: www.minbuza.nl/en/home.

The Dutch climate is temperate, with warm summers and soft winters that occasionally allow ice-skating on the country's many lakes, rivers and canals. Also under the influence of climate change this however occurs less frequently. The transitional seasons can be both tempestuous and calm, producing the characteristic skyscapes that inspired the famous Dutch painters.

Daytime temperature varies between zero and ten degrees Centigrade in winter, between five and twenty degrees in the spring and autumn, and between fifteen and thirty degrees during the summer. Average rainfall accounts are 750 mm annually.