Researchers in Residence
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We are excited to share our first Researchers in Residence: Jorge Philippe and Jasmine Ramakant Akerkar. They will both be conducting research into the architectural historical traces of Slangenburg Castle in the coming weeks.
The research is part of a new trajectory of Monumentenbezit, in which someone 'lives' in one of our monuments for a certain period as a Researcher in Residence . This allows intensive research to be done on a specific theme.
Last Monday our first researcher started. Jorge Philippe is a second-year Portuguese student at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at KU Leuven. He is following the Advanced Master in Conservation on monuments and sites , which includes a research internship. In the coming weeks he will conduct architectural historical research into the masonry of Slangenburg Castle. Based on the stones used in the castle facade, Jorge will investigate in which periods the castle was built.
Research into the facade
Jorge: “I have done research on a brick tower before and how to interpret the brickwork. Learning about the history by researching the materials. I found that interesting, so when I saw that I could do this research on the facades of Slangenburg Castle, I got excited. I am happy to start my 6-week research with Jeroen as my supervisor. I hope to find different types of materials that indicate two or three construction phases, so that I can compare them. It will be a challenge to measure some of the brickwork because of the castle moat, but that is not to be overcome!”
In his research, Jorge starts by taking pictures of the facades. The research starts with the south facade – the oldest part of the castle – where most traces can be seen. You can see that as a visitor too; where the stones have a different color – these date from the 14th century or even older! He then continues to the west facade, also one of the older parts of the castle. He records his results in a report. At the end of his research trajectory, we will hopefully know more about the early construction history of the castle; from the time before lord of the castle Van Baer.
Research with 3D Model
Next week, researcher Jasmine will also start. She is also a student at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation at KU Leuven, with the same master's degree as Jorge. Jasmine will research the castle's supporting structure and create a digital 3D model of it. The model will show, among other things, where the stone walls are and how the cellar is constructed.
Her research period is also about six weeks. It feels like we've gone back in time," she says in amazement in the article in October 2024 of De Gelderlander . Her research mainly takes place in the basement. "That's where the 1 oldest foundation is. Studying stones may seem simple, but it isn't. When there was a guest house here, all the walls were plastered white. In order to determine the building structures, I have to make good and detailed sketches, use current knowledge in archives and stare at the stones and grooves for hours. But honestly; as an architect, there's nothing I'd rather do!"
Merge results
The idea of these studies is to map all building layers and phases as completely as possible. Jeroen then compares the results with the previous studies done in the roof and coach houses .
Jeroen: “We already know that there are remains of medieval masonry, which is now being further investigated. But there is also younger material in the facade. The size of a stone and the type of material, for example, already say a lot about which period it must come from. Based on this new research, we will soon know more about the early construction phases of Slangenburg Castle. Together with the results of Jasmine's research, we will make the picture of the construction history even more complete.”