Auditorium

The Auditorium building was opened in 1966 and immediately became the beating educational heart of the campus. It features eight small and eight large halls, where thousands of students at once can attend lectures. In addition, there is the Blauwe Zaal which seats a maximum of some four hundred people. In that large hall many thousands of speakers have told their stories since 1966. Renowned researchers with Nobel Prizes to their names, as well as well-known politicians such as Joop den Uyl, Jan Marijnissen and Jan Peter Balkenende. The large hall in front of the Blauwe Zaal houses a grand organ boasting 3713 pipes, manufactured by organ builders Pels and Van Leeuwen.

In 1995 a great fire broke out in the Auditorium that devastated the whole interior, which was then renewed. The first layout of the building had a red and a blue side, which is still visible in the floors and in the Blauwe Zaal. The design of the new floor was based on a printed circuit board.

Due to the construction of the Auditorium the river Dommel was rerouted. Initially the THE was denied permission to add a large hall like the one inside the Auditorium to the teaching rooms. Architect Sam van Embden then came up with a well-substantiated argumentation. He calculated how much space students need to change halls within fifteen minutes. This calculation resulted in 1.3 square meter per student. He multiplied that number by the expected number of students and compared it with the total corridor surface plus the central room. On the basis of that sum, the final proposal for the big central hall was accepted.