This textbook spans thirty years of the well-known urban designer and architect Kees Christiaanse’s thinking about cities. He is responsible for large urban projects such as Hamburg HafenCity, Rotterdam’s waterfront revitalization and London’s Olympic Legacy Plan. Christiaanse is one of the field’s most influential forces over the last half-century, building a career of research and teaching in combination with substantial professional practice and advisory roles.
The texts range from charting the personal influence of the bicycle on his thinking about future mobility to the examination of dominant concepts and projects in the contemporary built environment. Christiaanse’s sketches, personal notebook pages, and watercolours complement this unique collection.
Kees Christiaanse studied architecture and urban planning at TU Delft. In 1980 he joined the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and was appointed partner in 1983. In 1989 he founded his own company, now KCAP Architects&Planners, in Rotterdam. In 1990 he co-founded ASTOC Architects and Planners in Cologne and was partner until 2002. Kees focuses in his work on urban assignments in complex situations and on guiding of urban processes. He is an expert in the development of university campuses and in the revitalisation of former industrial, railway and harbour areas and is a supervisor of several international urban developments.
Throughout his career Kees has always combined teaching and research with his professional work within KCAP, which has generated fruitful cross-fertilisations. From 1996 until 2003 he held a professorship for architecture and urban planning at the Technical University of Berlin. Since 2003 he has been chair of the Urban Planning Institute of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In 2013, he was appointed Chairperson of the External Advisory Board of the Architecture and Design Department of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
In 2009, Kees was curator of the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) with the title “Open City. Designing Coexistence”. Since 2010 he has been involved in the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in Singapore and until 2015 as program leader. Kees Christiaanse is author of a multitude of books and essays about architecture and urban planning and was recently awarded with the lifetime honour ‘2016 RIBA International Fellowship’ for his particular contribution to architecture
This textbook spans thirty years of the well-known urban designer and architect Kees Christiaanse’s thinking about cities. He is responsible for large urban projects such as Hamburg HafenCity, Rotterdam’s waterfront revitalization and London’s Olympic Legacy Plan. Christiaanse is one of the field’s most influential forces over the last half-century, building a career of research and teaching in combination with substantial professional practice and advisory roles.
The texts range from charting the personal influence of the bicycle on his thinking about future mobility to the examination of dominant concepts and projects in the contemporary built environment. Christiaanse’s sketches, personal notebook pages, and watercolours complement this unique collection.
Kees Christiaanse studied architecture and urban planning at TU Delft. In 1980 he joined the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and was appointed partner in 1983. In 1989 he founded his own company, now KCAP Architects&Planners, in Rotterdam. In 1990 he co-founded ASTOC Architects and Planners in Cologne and was partner until 2002. Kees focuses in his work on urban assignments in complex situations and on guiding of urban processes. He is an expert in the development of university campuses and in the revitalisation of former industrial, railway and harbour areas and is a supervisor of several international urban developments.
Throughout his career Kees has always combined teaching and research with his professional work within KCAP, which has generated fruitful cross-fertilisations. From 1996 until 2003 he held a professorship for architecture and urban planning at the Technical University of Berlin. Since 2003 he has been chair of the Urban Planning Institute of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. In 2013, he was appointed Chairperson of the External Advisory Board of the Architecture and Design Department of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).
In 2009, Kees was curator of the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) with the title “Open City. Designing Coexistence”. Since 2010 he has been involved in the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in Singapore and until 2015 as program leader. Kees Christiaanse is author of a multitude of books and essays about architecture and urban planning and was recently awarded with the lifetime honour ‘2016 RIBA International Fellowship’ for his particular contribution to architecture
