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dr. Iris Burgers

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Art and Culture, History, Antiquity

Personal information

Iris Burgers is an assistant professor of Architectural History at the Department of Art & Culture, History, and Antiquity. In 2021, she defended her thesis entitled Imagination, Visualization and Architecture: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol from 1919 until 2006 at Vrije Universiteit. She also teaches for the bachelor of Media, Art, Design and Architecture (MADA), the master Architecture, Cities, Landscapes: History & Heritage. She focuses specifically on architectural history and theory of the twentieth century.

Iris is a board member of the Environmental Humanities Center Amsterdam and a series editor of the Routledge Landscape and Heritage Studies Series.

Since April 2024 Iris is a member of the Adviescommissie Cultuurhistorie Leiden.

Research

Her current research project entitled “The architecture of gas: the spatial implications of gas as an energy source in the Netherlands (1810-2023)”, aims to create insight into one of the most impactful modern energy transitions, namely the Dutch transition to gas. The research specifically focuses on the spatial implications that this has had on the Dutch living environment. The Dutch gas history has not been extensively researched, but a foundation has been laid, mostly by historians of technology and economy. The spatial implications of the introduction of gas are not to be underestimated. From the establishment of gas factories in Dutch cities and the introduction of gas into the home, to the discovery of a natural gas field in Slochteren in 1959. The latter has had considerable spatial, economic, social, and political effects, as detailed in the recent report by the parliamentary committee of inquiry into natural gas extraction in Groningen (2023). The impact of gas is traceable on every scale level, from urban planning to housing and design.

Ancillary activities