BKFW26

the 2026 edition of bk feminist week was framed around the concept of “women in polycrisis” as a term that names the condition of living through multiple, overlapping crises simultaneously: climate breakdown, socio-political conflict, economic precarity, war, conflict, oppression, femicide and the relentless pressures of care work and professional survival. crucially, the week approached “women” not as a fixed category but through an explicitly intersectional and inclusive lens, making space for trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse people whose lives are equally shaped by gendered structures. the theme of polycrisis is not merely analytical; it is felt. it recognises that feminist struggle today cannot be siloed into single-issue campaigns but must hold together the interrelation between anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal, and decolonial thought. within bk — a faculty of architecture and design — this raised urgent and generative questions: how do spatial practice, pedagogy, and knowledge production either reproduce or resist these crises? and what does it mean to design through feminist values in a world under pressure? the week held those questions open across five days, finding that solidarity, care, and collective knowledge-building are themselves forms of practice — not just ideals to aspire to.

monday, 2 march // kick-off seminar // timeline workshop

the week opened with a kick-off seminar before moving into a timeline workshop that aimed to continue the work from the BKFW25. the seminar gathered authors such as lara scrijven, lidewij thomas, jasmine montina, sabina tanovic, and anonymous exposer who provided an intersectional understanding of the polycrisis. from the questions of female representation on academic and professional grounds, to war, oppression and struggle in precarity. from understanding that feminism is in many places a tool to engage collectively in oppression of women’s bodies. in the afternoon, we brought together reflections from BKFW25. a collective organization between nieuwe instituut (steareh noorai, stefanie korrel), catherine koekoek, alina paias, irene luque martin and marie benninghoven gathering multiple knowledge holders such as students, staff, and beyond. the session moved between objective historical facts and deeply personal reflections, mapping feminism’s history in relation to bk across four distinct analytical frameworks. the exercise proved that the timeline is not a finite document: with every iteration and every new participant, new layers of meaning emerge. the history of feminism at bk, it turned out, is richer and more diverse than any single account can hold.

tuesday, 3 march // men & feminism // BK talk: women in polycrisis

tuesday held space for two very different registers. a second session on men and feminism invited those who are uncertain, curious, or committed to engage in open and reflective dialogue building from reflections from last year event. they mapped concrete actions and plans towards what can be done in the environment of the faculty involving attendees connected to management and decision making at the faculty level. in the evening, the bk talk brought together a range of voices from journalism, theatre, dance, water governance, and architectural practice, livestreamed from the oostserre. moderated by irene luque martin, the conversation explored how feminist values manifest across disciplines — from neha mungekar’s work on reparative water governance in Indian cities, mariya kahn’s exposure of a discourse on imperial feminism, caroline newton understand planning and educational feminist pedagogies, to elise bos’s graduation project translating ecofeminist theory into spatial design and challenging the architectural patriarchal approach.

wednesday, 4 march // feminism in conflict areas // ARGUS critical evening

wednesday turned toward some of the deeper terrain of the week: feminism under and within conflict, asking how gender and power operate when societies fracture. organized by marh echtai, she brought three speakers.

the evening brought an ARGUS critical evening — a format well-known to the architecture community for its open, debate-driven format, complete with dinner. while participation from BKFW attendees was lower than hoped, those who did engage contributed to a conversation that was described as genuinely inspiring. the exchanges between students and PhD staff in particular highlighted how much is generated when people across different academic roles are in the same room. ARGUS noted they will continue to extend these evenings beyond their own community, keeping them open and free to all.

thursday, 5 march, DFV atelier // campus walk // library wall opening // feminist values in practice

thursday was the week’s most expansive day, radiating outward from the faculty into the wider campus. the designing by feminist values (DFV) atelier brought together graduates, practitioners, and researchers to move from reflection into design — though participants noted that the depth of conversation generated suggests even more time is needed for this format to fully unfold. the feminist campus walk then traced stories and initiatives across tu delft’s grounds, creating connections between faculties and disciplines. the day culminated in the opening of the tu delft feminist exhibition at the tu delft library collection wall — a landmark moment. as anika, who worked closely on the project, reflected: the exhibition showed that feminist practice exists throughout the university, not only within bk, and that values can manifest in a magnitude of forms. the display was also a testament to collective care — brought together under significant pressure by a group of colleagues and mentors who held each other up.

“the work for me is a testament of solidarity and acts of care between my colleagues and mentors. it showed me how women support each other.” — anika

friday, 6 march, timeline process // feminist leadership lunch // FSP practices // closing drinks

the final day turned inward, taking stock. a working session on the timeline brought together students and staff from bk and beyond to discuss how to substantiate and develop it further toward the 2027 BKFW exhibition — but the conversation quickly opened into something more reflective: what feminism means to each participant, how they see themselves in relation to feminist values, and how they experience life at bk. a feminist leadership lunch followed, alongside a session on feminist study programme practices. the week closed with drinks — a moment to breathe, and to acknowledge how much had been made together.

all week, library exhibition // the living room // the village

running through the entire week were three continuous presences. the tu delft library exhibition anchored the campus-wide dimension of the programme. the living room — a communal space assembled from existing furniture and given new warmth through small additions and rearrangement — offered a place to gather, rest, and connect throughout the days. megha, who helped create it, described it as an example in itself of feminist practice: taking over something that already exists, making it your own without erasing what was there, and opening it to a broader audience with care. the village, a monthly gathering for those who identify as women and want to engage with feminism at the faculty, continued its role as the quiet relational infrastructure that holds the community together between events.

reflections //

bk feminist week 2026 demonstrated with clarity that feminist practice at tu delft has moved well beyond a moment or a gesture. it is a growing body of work — pedagogical, spatial, relational, and archival — that is producing real knowledge and real community. the theme of polycrisis proved generative rather than paralyzing: rather than reducing participants to the sum of their vulnerabilities, the week found in overlapping crisis a reason to deepen solidarity and to insist on the plurality of feminist approaches. perhaps the most significant development of this edition was the crossing of the faculty boundary: the tu delft library exhibition and the campus walk signaled that what began at bk is now legible — and relevant — across the university. several faculties expressed interest in developing their own programmes, and participants left with a sense that a campus-wide feminist network is not a distant ambition but a near horizon.

the conversations that ran through every session — about knowledge-holding, about care, about who gets to speak and who is listened to — are also building something more durable: the timeline, the archive, the designing by feminist values group, and the ongoing work toward the 2027 BKFW exhibition. the week showed that with each iteration there is always more to hold, more to say, and more people willing to say it together.