Bailey Bestul is an architect, spending his Fulbright year at TU Delft’s department of Management in the Built Environment. He received his Master’s of Architecture from Woodbury University School of Architecture last spring. This year, Bailey will both explore the supply chain for salvaged components that creates circular building materials, a common architectural feature in the Netherlands, and also engage with the aesthetics of this reuse to see what design opportunities this presents to structures.

“I think there is a real emphasis on design [in the Netherlands] in terms of even basic public infrastructure,” Bailey says. “There’s this sensibility of, if we’re going to build it, we might as well build it beautifully. And so you’ll see, we were at, this national park in the south of the Netherlands and even the pump houses had these amazing rooftop decks that you could go up on and look at the landscape around you.”

Before applying for a Fulbright award, Bailey knew he wanted to seriously explore this topic in order to bring this passion back to the United States for a career in architecture.

Jierui Fang is an American designer, currently a visiting researcher at TU Delft. There, she researches biomaterials as assistive wearables. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s in Art and Design, and a master’s from Stanford University in Design Impact Engineering, Jierui approaches her work as a way to improve the quality of life for others.

At TU Delft, Jierui researches mycelium biomaterials. “Mycelium is the assimilative body of fungi, not necessarily like the fruiting structure, like mushrooms, but, this underground, almost root-like structure. And it’s actually one of the largest living organisms in the world.” Jierui’s work is at the intersection of biology and design, where mycelium could be harvested into wearables for people with dexterity-affected diseases, such as arthritis. Wearables include compressive splits, casts, and compressive gloves. Using mycelium in this design means they are more sustainable, fire resistant, hydrophobic, and can better conform to the body. Ultimately, they can decompose.

“Art and design, depending on where you are in the spectrum, it’s about more softer changes, like thinking about cultural change and how to kind of shape people’s more emotional, qualitative experiences or even shift mindsets in a way. Whereas I feel like science is a bit more methodical, a bit more process driven.”

In particular, Jierui was drawn to the Netherlands because of their sustainability and biodesign scene. She is interested in having her own design studio one day to work on a range of projects, from medical device design to art installations. When asked about her year at Delft with the Fulbright award, she says, “This Fulbright year has given me a really wonderful opportunity to pursue something that I’ve been curious and wanted to explore for a long time, but didn’t see as super feasible. Here in the Netherlands, there’s such a rich, supportive culture around [design] and so many people to talk about it with.”

Izzy Ramos is a Dutch interdisciplinary artist who is currently working towards a master’s degree in Fiction and Entertainment from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC). Previously, she received her BFA in Photography from Willem de Kooning Art Academy and an International Bachelor of Arts & Culture from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Izzy explores the space of dreaming, interviewing people of the African diaspora as well as neuroscientists to understand how people navigate their dream beliefs and how she can take this and visualize it within film. By the end of her program, she will have created a film that takes into account these perspectives from a creative and technological standpoint.

In addition to learning about 3D software and world building, Izzy has enjoyed the guest lectures in her program, such as that of a consultant for NASA’s creative hub about speculative thinking and working on wicked problems, which are complex problems that society cannot easily solve. Izzy admits herself that she finds it difficult to frame herself as an artist, but the opportunities she has been given with this Fulbright award will greatly assist her as she moves throughout her career.