Opening renovated FEB: ‘Duisenberg Building’ and work of art ‘Sun College’

On 4 June, at the festive opening of the renovated FEB buildings, the building was given a new name and a work of art was unveiled. The faculty building will from now on be called the Duisenberg Building. With this name, the faculty honours Wim Duisenberg (1935-2005), an FEB alumnus. The work of art in the garden represents the theme ‘the human focus’.

Duisenberg Building

The Faculty of Economics and Business honours its famous alumnus Wim Duisenberg, who died in 2005, with a new name for the building but also with the special Duisenberg chair founded last year. (See: " Directeur onderzoek ECB, prof. Smets, op nieuwe Duisenbergleerstoel ") Duisenberg is considered the driving force behind the foundation of the European monetary union and the introduction of the common European currency. Wim Duisenberg was Minister of Finance in the Den Uyl government (1973-1977), director of the Bank of the Netherlands (1982-1997) and the first director of the European Central Bank (1998-2003).

Work of art

The work of art ‘ SunCollege’ by Jeroen Doorenweerd is the fourteenth sculpture within the framework of the Sculpture project of the University of Groningen. With ‘Sun College’ Doorenweerd represents the theme of ‘the human focus’, proposed by the Faculty of Economics and Business, housed in the Duisenberg Building and Pavilion together with the Faculty of Spatial Sciences.  

With this work of art, FEB pays tribute to the ideas of professor Luchien Karsten . According to Karsten, a person moves in three domains: the domain of the large institutions, the domain of the organization and the domestic domain. Everybody needs to find a way of balancing these three spheres; an optimal arrangement of time for labour and time for care. Doorenweerd’s lounge benches help students and staff members to make the transition and harmonization of the various domain as smooth as possible.

Renovation

The accommodation of FEB and the Faculty of Spatial Sciences has been thoroughly renovated in the last few years: offices, library and lecture halls were modernized. The building now has a central plaza and a pavilion on the side of the pond. Staff members, students and alumni of the faculties celebrated the completion of the renovation with a big

'housewarming festival' on 4 June.