Kees Christiaanse (born 1953, Amsterdam) is an architect and urban planner from the Netherlands. After working with Rem Koolhaas, he started two firms, KCAP (Kees Christiaanse Architects & Planners, in Rotterdam) in 1989 and Architects and Planners (ASTOC, in Cologne) in 1990, where he was a partner till 2002. Christiaanse has "tackled some of the highest profile urban design schemes in the Netherlands, hosting buildings by" the finest Dutch and several international architects. [1]
Christiaanse worked with Rem Koolhaas' architecture firm, OMA, where he was made a partner in 1983 at the age of 30, [1] and worked for the firm until 1989. After OMA, he founded Kees Christiaanse Architects and Planners (KCAP, in Rotterdam, 1989) and ASTOC Architects and Planners (in Cologne, 1990); [2] he worked with ASTOC until 2002. He was also artistic director of the Dutch Building Department from 1993 to 1996. [1] From 1996 to 2003 he was a professor of architecture and urban planning at the Technical University of Berlin, and is now the Chair of Architecture and Urbanism in the Institute for Urban Design at ETH in Zürich. [3] [4]
Two monographs on Christiaanse's work have been published, and an exhibition of the work done by his firms, "The City as Loft," was held at DeSingel in Antwerp in 2003. [5] He is known for his urban planning work and "has quietly become the power behind the throne of Dutch architecture." [1] He now lives and works in Zurich.
Christiaanse was the curator of the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, and takes on large-scale projects such as the development of neglected areas for the 2012 Summer Olympics. [6] His latest project is the design of a masterplan for an "engineering campus" (or "science park") in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, a 70-acre (280,000 m2) project for which the state government (Freistaat Bayern) and the city are contributing 60 million Euros. [7] [8]
Of particular interest to Christiaanse is the modern city, especially its openness or lack thereof. His designs as well as his public statements propagate the idea of "mixed communities," as he explained in an interview, to counteract the modern move toward gated communities and to increase different kinds of interactions among citizens. Such interactions, and the social control that comes along with it, also increase security, a concern in many European lower-income neighborhoods. The buildings to be built in such new neighborhoods Christiaanse calls "socializing machines." [9] The metaphor Christiaanse often uses, of the city as a tree, is borrowed from architect and urban theorist Christopher Alexander, whose 1965 essay "A City Is Not A Tree" had suggested that cities grow like trees at their peril, with branches only connected to each other via the trunk. Alexander's fear, Christiaanse suggests, has become real, according to a keynote speech he delivered at the Holcim Forum 2007 for the Holcim Foundation, [10] which is the key to his lament that "The city becomes a tree [the urban landscape becomes a forest of trees]." [11] In a presentation given to the Urban Age South America Conference, December 2008, he gave some characteristics of the openness he wants cities to encourage in order to prevent this segmentation. Cities should be (or have):
MVRDV is a Rotterdam, Netherlands-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1993, with additional offices in Berlin, New York, Paris, and Shanghai. It is currently regarded as one of the world's finest architecture firms. MVRDV is an acronym of the founding members' surnames: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and Nathalie de Vries.
Willem Marinus Dudok was a Dutch modernist architect. He was born in Amsterdam. He became City Architect for the town of Hilversum in 1928 where he was best known for the brick Hilversum Town Hall, completed in 1931. Not only did he design the building, but also the interior including the carpets, furniture and even the mayor's meeting hammer. He also designed and built about 75 houses, public buildings and entire neighborhoods.
Mart Stam was a Dutch architect, urban planner, and furniture designer. Stam was extraordinarily well-connected, and his career intersects with important moments in the history of 20th-century European architecture, including the invention of the cantilever chair, teaching at the Bauhaus, contributions to the Weissenhof Estate, the Van Nelle Factory,, buildings for Ernst May's New Frankfurt housing estates, followed by work in the USSR with the idealistic May Brigade, to teaching positions in Amsterdam and post-war East Germany. Upon return to the Netherlands he contributed to postwar reconstruction and finally retired,, in Switzerland, where he died.
Mecanoo is an architecture firm based in Delft, Netherlands. Mecanoo was founded in 1984 by Francine Houben, Henk Döll, Roelf Steenhuis, Erick van Egeraat and Chris de Weijer.
Jo Coenen is a Dutch architect and urban planner. He studied architecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology, and later held professorships at TU Karlsruhe, Eindhoven University of Technology and Delft University of Technology.
Wilhelmus "Winy" Maas is a Dutch architect, landscape architect, professor and urbanist. In 1993 together with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries he set up MVRDV.
Jacob van Rijs Ir. FRIBA is a Dutch architect, urban planner and one of MVRDV’s three founding partners. Besides giving lectures worldwide van Rijs is also professor Entwerfen und Baukonstruktion at the Technical University of Berlin. Moreover, he regularly lectures and takes part in student juriesat universities and institutes worldwide. His teaching experience comprehends TU Munich, TU Delft, University of Wismar, ETSAM University Madrid, Royal Academy of Arts Copenhagen, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Rice University, Houston, amongst others. Within the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) he is chairman of the International Programme, creating a better support and stimulation for Dutch architects in their activities across the border worldwide. He also holds a position in the Dutch Trade and Investment Board (DTIB) from where he represents architects an international trade and investment level.
Erick van Egeraat is a Dutch architect and author. He heads the architectural practice based in Rotterdam with offices in Moscow, Budapest and Prague. He is best known for his projects of ING Group Headquarters in Budapest, Drents Museum in Assen, The Rock tower in Amsterdam, Incineration line in Roskilde, Main building and Auditorium in Leipzig University and the Corporate University of Sberbank in Moscow. He is the winner of RIBA Award 2007, Best Building Award 2011&2012 and European Property Award 2013.
West 8 is an urban planning and landscape architecture firm founded by Adriaan Geuze and Paul van Beek in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1987. It is known for its contemporary designs and innovative solutions to urban planning problems using lighting, metal structures, and color. Van Beek is no longer part of the firm.
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Hubert-Jan Henket is a Dutch architect. He is a specialist in the relations between old and new buildings, the redesign of buildings, renovation and restoration. He is the founder of DOCOMOMO international.
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ZJA is a Dutch architectural studio located in Amsterdam and founded in 1990 by Rein Jansma (1959-2023) and Moshé Zwarts (1937-2019). To date, the studio has approximately 50 staff and the partners are Ralph Kieft, Reinald Top and Rob Torsing.
Wim Quist was a Dutch architect. Part of the modernist tradition of architecture, his style was dominated by rectangular, triangular and circular forms. His buildings focussed on the relationship between the building and its surroundings, with the function of the building itself being central. He rejected the use of unnecessary decoration. He continued designing buildings from 1960 until retiring in 2003 - his architectural legacy is now visible all over the Netherlands.
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