'Because we need visions' article by Kees Christiaanse in TRANS 23

Ute Schneider, partner, architect and urban designer at KCAP, has been appointed as University Professor of Urban Design at the Vienna University of Technology. She is assigned to the Institute of Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design (E260) of the Faculty of Architecture and Planning of TU Vienna. Teaching and research are in the DNA of KCAP and at the centre of Ute Schneider’s work. Prior to her appointment at TU Vienna, Ute Schneider supervised design studios with integration of urban planning at the University of Liechtenstein from 2012 - 2018. In 2018, she held a visiting professorship at the TU Munich. Starting the Summer Semester 2021, Ute Schneider will bring in her expertise regarding spatial, constructional, and aesthetic development of the city and the territory at the Institute of Urban Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design at TU Vienna. Special attention is paid to the historical, cultural, social, political, and economic dimensions of urbanism. It is about comprehending the spontaneously generated and the planned urbanism and understanding how urban development can be influenced through design and action. Ute Schneider defines the theme of living together, co-existence as a focus. As she says: 'Cities should provide a place for everybody. To achieve this, a process of Co-creation and Co-operation is key to be capable of creating cities that allow diversity and the co-existence of difference.'  Ute Schneider’s mission is to create connections and active exchange between practice, research, and teaching of Urban Design. She promotes an integrative approach that attempts to generate design added value through interdisciplinary links and the simultaneous consideration of all scales. The aim is to encourage students to develop their creativity and to awaken their enthusiasm for urban planning and architecture and the integral connection between these disciplines. ‘The understanding and sensitivity of the young generations are crucial because ...

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has announced the appointment of Kees Christiaanse as Distinguished Affiliated Professor. The honorary title acknowledges the outstanding achievements of the architect and urban planner in international teaching, research and practice. The appointment also honours the long-standing networking and project-related cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture at the TUM.   Since 2007, the Technical University of Munich has awarded the honorary title 'TUM Distinguished Affiliated Professor' to internationally outstanding scientists and scholars who have developed a leading field of science and who work together with their specialist colleagues at TUM on a long-term basis. ‘Kees Christiaanse has shaped international and especially European urban planning like only few architects of his generation’, reports TUM. In his role as Professor of Architecture and Urban Development at the TU Berlin (1996-2003) and later at the ETH Zurich (2003-2018), and as the founder of our firm KCAP, he is responsible for numerous built projects and urban master plans Christiaanse is considered an expert in university campus planning, as well as in the revitalisation of former industrial, railway, and port areas, and is also a supervisor of several international urban planning projects. He is the author of various publications in his field. He has been honoured with the ‘RIBA International Fellowship 2016’ for his extraordinary contribution to architecture, the 'ARC17 Oeuvre Award' for his sustainable and innovative contribution to the improvement of the built environment, and the ‘ULI Leadership Award 2018’ for his outstanding commitment and courage in his efforts to improve the quality of life in Germany's urban centres. Throughout his career, he combined his work as an architect and urban planner with his academic research, resulting in fruitful cross-fertilisations. Many research projects have been conducted with his collaboration, such as the Future City Laboratory (FCL) at the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), which has been ...

With exciting new projects in the design stage and under construction, KCAP is enjoying a growing portfolio and a strategic development of our office structure. To accommodate this growth, we are pleased to announce the promotion of a number of our talents. Andraž Intihar is appointed associate partner. With his experience in several international award winning design projects and his team leading skills, Andraž will continue to strive for design excellence within the wide range of architecture and urban design projects of our Zurich office. Hyeri Park, appointed associate partner Korean projects, will take a principle design role in KCAP’s Korean projects and will support business development in South Korea. She works from the Rotterdam office with frequent presence in South Korea. Marijn Boterman, Kasper Hauschultz Hansen, Gabriel Kiderlen and Simon Whittle are appointed associates in our Rotterdam office. They will head the newly introduced structure of design clusters, supervise various projects and streamline working processes. Together, they will deploy their creative design skills to pursue KCAP’s ambition for design excellence in our architectural projects.   Anna Gasco, representative of KCAP in Singapore, is appointed associate. Anna will support the business development and collaborate on urban and architectural projects on multiple scales throughout the Southeast Asian region. She shares premises with G8A, a Vietnamese / Singaporean based office with Swiss origins, at TB80, a newly created place for cultural exchange in Singapore.  With their new appointments, they will collectively support KCAP’s strategic development and strengthen our level of knowledge and design expertise.     

We would like to share with you our convivial aftermovie of our KCAP meet-up in Zurich. All KCAP staff of Rotterdam, Zurich and Shanghai met for a thrilling weekend with visits to a number of inspiring projects and lots of team activities. We enjoyed getting together with all colleagues, biking through hilly Zurich and also the swimming in Zurich’s river Limmat. Take a look! During the two day excursion we visted Europaallee (KCAP), Kalkbreite (Müller Sigrist Architekten), Mehr als Wohnen (Duplex Architekten and Futurafrosch), Aeschbachquartier in Aarauand Science City Zurich (both KCAP) and enjoyed a live view of KCAP’s Swiss projects and learned a lot about area development and innovative housing concepts in Switzerland. EuropaalleeThe masterplan of the Europaallee provides for a morphology and block structure that connect the surrounding city and the area in a natural way. The flexible plan transforms the station area into a layered and dynamic urban node where traffic flows converge and functions such as living, working, shopping and entertainment co-exist. Kalkbreite and Mehr als WohnenKalkbreite is a flexible and modular space allocation plan for residential and commercial spaces on top of a tram remise. The Mehr als Wohnen residential area comprises apartments, shops, restaurants, work and artist studios, children’s day care and even guesthouses. AeschbachquartierThe Aeschbachquartier is centrally located in the vicinity of the Aarau station, a city between Zurich and Bern. Here, a mixed living and working quarter has been created on a former industrial site. KCAP was also responsible for the design of the transformation of the industrial Aeschbachhalle into a vibrant event hall with apartments, offices, conference rooms and restaurants. The existing structure was maintained to preserve the industrial character of the building. Science City Science City is the development vision for the university campus of ETH Zurich. The campus is required to act as ...

We are looking forward to being on board of the Clipper Stad Amsterdam in Hamburg on October 11th with Space&Matter, Amsterdam Trade & Innovate and the Netherlands Business Support Office Hamburg for this day program about Integrated Waterfront Transformation. How do you transform a former port area into a lively urban waterfront district? Hamburg and Amsterdam can learn a lot from each other on this subject. Get inspired during a series of content sessions with Dutch and German experts and innovators and the site visit of KCAP/ASTOC’s urban plan for HafenCity Hamburg. An area that is being transformed from former harbour into a lively urban quarter, revealing innovative and integrated concepts the field of sustainability and climate-proof urban development.  Entrepreneurs active in the field of sustainable urban development and looking for cooperation opportunities in Hamburg are cordially invited to participate in the programme. Are you interested to join the programme? Please register via the event website.  

The Grand Projet was launched today in Singapore. The 600-pages-book is a collection of four years comparative research by the Future Cities Laboratory on the making and impact of urban megaprojects in Asia and Europe. It features Marunouchi Tokyo, Lujiazui Shanghai, West Kowloon Hong Kong, Marina Bay Singapore, HafenCity Hamburg (KCAP/ASTOC), La Défense Paris, 22@ Barcelona and King’s Cross London. The bulky book is edited by Kees Christiaanse, Anna Gasco and Naomi C. Hanakata. An exhibition of the results will take place at the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority until September 11 and at ETH Zurich from September 25 until October 4.The Grand Projet can be ordered via Nai010. Read more about the exhibitions here.

On June 27, Kees Christiaanse will speak about his "Textbook", published with nai010 Publishers last year. The Textbook covers 30 years of his thinking about cities. It is a collection of 21 texts that has been carefully selected and redacted in collaboration with Jessica Bridger. The subjects of the collected 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. Thursday 27 June, 20:00 Library of Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam Admission is free, but seats are limited. Please register here. As a warm up for the presentation of Kees Christiaanse's Textbook on June 27, partners at KCAP give sneak previews of the book that holds thirty years of personal notes on urban design and architecture by Kees. First comes Anouk Kuitenbrouwer. Sneak Preview Anouk Kuitenbrouwer Ute Schneider and Kees Christiaanse have worked together closely for many years. Prior to the presentation of Kees' Textbook on June 27, she reflects on the collection of experiences at KCAP and his involvement in developments on the field of urban planning and architecture in the past thirty years. Sneak Preview Ute Schneider In this short video Edward Schuurmans, partner at KCAP, shares his findings on Kees Christiaanse’s Textbook (personal notes on 30 years of urban design and architecture). He focuses on an inspirational footnote, in which Kees states that design should be equally well appreciated by a construction worker as well as by an architect. Or, as Edward puts it, David Bowie’s music liked by ordinary rock fans as well as by sophisticated music experts.Sneak Preview Edward Schuurmans Ruurd Gietema and Kees Christiaanse are long time companions as international operating urbanists and share comprehensive visions on urbanism and broad themes that affect ...

KCAP as a co-partner of the cooperation of Dutch and Polish cities, companies, knowledge institutes and NGOs , signed the Letter of Intent on European cooperation on climate adaptation in cities. The cooperation focusses on integrating climate adaptive measures in the urban development to speed up climate adaptation of European cities. Katowice, where the world currently meets for the COP24 Climate Summit, was the landing spot for the traveling Letter of Intent. This was the starting point of the Dutch and Polish cities, companies, knowledge institutes and NGO’s to share, learn and increase their knowledge and experience.  The initiative builds on the results of the Amsterdam International Water Week (AIWW) 2017 where international partnerships on climate adaptation have been established. Besides Breda, Wroclaw and Zwolle, urban planning and design offices KuiperCompagnons and KCAP, knowledge institute DELTARES, engineering consultancy ARCADIS and Polish water utility MPWiK and NGO Sendzimir are involved in the cooperation. De cooperation is facilitated and supported by the Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP).    

As of January 1st 2019, managing director Hans van Schuylenburch will be succeeded by Ernstjan Cornelis. KCAP has set a new strategic course led by Hans van Schuylenburch since his appointment in 2014 and has become more decisive and professional. With the appointment of Ernstjan Cornelis, KCAP will continue this course.  Hans van Schuylenburch: “In the past few years we have experienced a fantastic journey at KCAP. KCAP's mission to continuously strive for the creation of sustainable living environments and cities for the future that foster health, education, social inclusion and economic prosperity for future generations has been translated even more into our own organisation. An environment that offers space for many different areas of expertise and in which diversity is embraced. KCAP is a source of rich creativity and talents. I look towards the future with the utmost confidence; we have countless opportunities and ambitions and an enthusiastic team that makes the difference every day.” Ernstjan Cornelis (1963) works at Atelier Pro since 1993. In 2004, he became Director Finance and Operations and is responsible for business development. With a strong focus on construction, economics and operations he has shaped the organisation of Atelier PRO. Ernstjan Cornelis is an experienced managing director who will be able to further develop KCAP’s strategy. Hans van Schuylenburch will continue with KCAP as advisor.

Renske van der Stoep has decided to terminate her partnership with KCAP. Partially due to her recent engagement in the formation of a vision as head of Architecture for the master’s program of the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture (RAvB), Renske desires to focus more on developing her vision and to establish her own office. KCAP supports Renske in her decision to follow her own path and will work together with her in the new situation. As of September 1st, Renske will end her activities at KCAP.  

KCAP Zurich ranks as top architecture office in the German speaking region (Germany, Switzerland and Austria). This is the result of a survey of the German magazines FOCUS and Baumeister held among 10.000 architects who were asked to each recommend ten colleagues in eight categories. In total, from over 2600 recommended offices, a selection of 278 architects with the most recommendations has been defined. KCAP Zurich is listed in the category 'urban planning' with the maximum rank of 'very frequently recommended'. The special of FOCUS magazine is available since late October in the stores.  

Ingredients for a good living environment: vivid urban space architecture with identity space for interaction place for people!   Punt de Sniep in Vastgoedmarkt September 2016.  

Renske van der Stoep will reinforce the team of KCAP Architects&Planners as associate Renske van der Stoep is an architect with 18 years of experience at MVRDV, Inbo and Ector Hoogstad Architecten. Starting on May 30th, Renske joins the team of KCAP Rotterdam where she will focus on upcoming markets and architectural projects in the Netherlands and on international level. We are looking forward to a good cooperation. Do you want to meet Renske? This is already possible during Provada 2016 in Amsterdam on June 7th, 8th  and 9th.   Renske and the team of KCAP will be  happy to welcome you at Transformatieplein. Get in touch via email r.vanderstoep@kcap.eu or just drop by in hall 9.    

KCAP celebrated its 25th anniversary. On December 12th the passage of the Red Apple in Rotterdam was transformed into a fantastic space to host 250 guests of KCAP's 25th anniversary. The celebration started with a mini symposium with speeches by former Rotterdam alderman Herman Meijer, former KCAP colleague, architect and TU Berlin professor Ralf Pasel and KCAP founder and partner Kees Christiaanse. The symposium was moderated by Patrick van der Klooster, director of AIR and led to many nice conversations during the drinks afterwards where everyone was inspired to look back but also ahead towards the next 25 years. View some images of the event on our facebook page.    

Irma van Oort and Mark Dekker are delegates of the economic mission with Amsterdam's mayor Eberhard van der Laan to Vietnam, from December 7 to 11.  

Last week, Aynav Ziv was one of the multidisciplinary jury members in the Deerns Innovation Competition. This internal competition for Deerns employees was organised for the first time. Various teams of 1-3 people submitted proposals for technical or process oriented innovations and the 5 shortlisted teams presented their proposals to the jury. The first prize was awarded to the team that developed an application for lazer scanning techniques and Building Information Modelling (BIM) which can be used for building inventarisation, renovation and Facility Management. Congratulations!

Kees Christiaanse together with Benedikt Boucsein and Christian Salewski are the authors of an article within the topic 'Station and airport in the city' of S+RO 2014/05. [[file:sro201405]]

'Care for everyday life' is the title of the interview with Ruurd Gietema published in VNO-NCW magazine Forum. Click here to read the article (in Dutch).

Up from November 4th, the ETH exposes watercolour paintings of Kees Christiaanse. Location: Maria Hil F 46, ETH Zurich, Hönggerberg Exhibition: 4 - 28 November, Monday - Friday, 8 am - 8 pm Vernissage: 3 November, 6 pm - opening and conversation with Kees Christiaanse, Laurent Stalder and Karin Sander  

Ruurd Gietema is jurylid in the International Competition Waterfront Park masterplan of the Busan North Port, Korea. The competition site is part of the Busan North Port Redevelopment Project District, Jung-gu and Dong-gu, Busan. Click here for more information.      

Growth and landscape conservation, urban habitats and rural nostalgia – spatial and urban planners have their hands full. Wilhelm Natrup, Director of the Zurich Cantonal Office of Spatial Planning, and Professors Kees Christiaanse and Christian Schmid from the ETH Department of Architecture talk about how to handle these contradictions. Click here to read the interview in the latest issue of Globe magazine of ETH Zurich about New Urban Models.

KCAP participated Saturday September 13 in the Rotterdam architects' soccer tournament Archicup 2014! They did not make it to the half finals but showed great enthousiasm and sports energy. Great job, Team KCAP!

Students of the Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design interviewed Kees Christiaanse about the furture of urbanisation. Click here to read the interview.

Recently, the Italian magazine Costruire in Laterizio released an entire issue with works of KCAP. In total 7 of our built brick projects are featured. Take here a look at the online version of the magazine.

The Swiss magazine Hochparterre publishes a special about 'Planning Cities' related to the symposium 'Strategies and Planning Instruments for Polycentric City Regions' which took place on April 4th in Zurich. The magazine was edited in collaboration with Kees Christiaanse and his Chair for architecture and urban planning at ETH Zurich. 'Amsterdam and Zurich are metropolitan regions under pressure of growth. How could their spatial development be guided in a useful and efficient way? This edition provides answers to this question based on theory and practice of city planning. For the first time, two diagrams of ETH Zurich give an overview of the planning systems of those two regions. Examples illustrate how strategies and instruments of urban planning are applied and further developed. Reports and interviews explore the completely different planning cultures of both regions.'

The consortium around KCAP Architects&Planners is selected as one of 3 finalists in the competition for the International Financial Center (IFC) in Moscow. IFC is a 460 ha mixed-use development project located in Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye and includes the construction of offices, housing and hotels, as well as commercial and social infrastructure. The competition was held in two stages over the course of eight months. In the next and final stage, the client will hold further negotiations with the finalists to discuss further participation in the implementation of the project. In total 8 international consortia competed at stage.The complete consortium: KCAP, Buro Happold, Karres en Brands Landscape Architects, De Architecten Cie, MLab, Fakton and Prosperity Project Management. 

High quality of life, high pressure of growth: the population density in Central Switzerland - where two-thirds of the Swiss population lives - is the same as in the Netherlands, the most densely populated country in Europe. Amsterdam and Zurich not only share their importance as regional and national economic engine, but also the polycentric location and spatial, social and economic integration How can spatial development processes of these large urban areas be successfully controlled? What are strategies and planning instruments?The institute of Architecture and Urban Planning at ETH, chaired by Kees Christiaanse, organises in close cooperation with the City and Canton Zurich , SIA, FSU, VLP - ASPAN, RZU and the city of Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam on 4 April 2014 an all-day symposium with keynotes and workshops in which the exchange of experiences between Amsterdam and Zurich will be the focus. Click here for more information on the program and registration.     

Today, the special 'Building on the Future' has been distributed together with Dutch daily Telegraaf with as main feature a 2 page interview with Kees Christiaanse. [[file:telegraaf140127]]

Kees Christiaanse with Stephen Cairns, Christophe Girot and Gerhard Schmitt, all leading experts of ETH Zurich and Future Cities Laboratory Singapore, will discuss 'What breakthrough innovations in urban architecture and engineering will transform city life?' within an IdeasLab debate at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum 2014 in Davos. Already in 2013, Kees Christiaanse has participated in the WEF in Dalian, China. Idea 1: A new view of architectureIdea 2: Developing intelligent design through artificial intelligenceIdea 3: Future of the coastal metropolisIdea 4: Designing coexistence for open citiesLocation: Congress Centre - Flüela IdeasLabTime: 4:15 pm - 5:30 pm Click here for more program information (p. 71).

On Monday, the Swiss papers Berner Zeitung and the Tagesanzeiger published an interview with Kees Christiaanse about growth and densification of cities, looking at the Swiss context with views to the Singapore and the Netherlands. Click here to read the article (in German).

KCAP is part of the consortium led by De Architecten Cie. which has been selected as one of 5 international competitors for the Serp & Molot (hammer and sickle) competition in Moscow. Aim of the competition is the creation of a multifunctional city unit with a well-developed infrastructure, integrated into the city pattern and meeting the requirements of environmentally sustainable developments.The consortium consists of: de Architecten Cie.KCAP Architects&PlannersKarres en Brands Landscape ArchitectsMLabProsperity Project Management Click here for the official website of Serp & Molot and here for images of the area and the press conference.

In his article 'Because we need visions' (Weil wir Visionen brauchen) Kees Christiaanse talks about his visions in urban design. [[file:trans23]]

KCAP as lead of a multidiscipinary consortium has been selected as one of 8 international participants for the competition for the International Financial Center in Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye. The IFC is a 460 ha mixed-use development project located in 'New Moscow'. The project involves the construction of offices, housing and hotels, as well as commercial and social infrastructure. Team KCAP consists of: de Architecten Cie.Buro HappoldKarres en Brands Landscape ArchitectsMLabFaktonProsperity Project Management Click here for the competition website of IFC. Find here more information about the selection of participants.

KCAP Zurich together with Blue Architects hosted on October 18th the first salon event 'Choreographing [urban] space', an open discussion event about the collective space and its activation beyond functionality. Speakers were Robin Winogrond  (www.winogrond.com) and Alicia Velázquez (www.in-transition.net).

Recently, the book 'megastructure Schiphol' has been released. It contains an interview with Kees Christiaanse in his role as supervisor architecture and urbanism for Schiphol 2008 - 2013. [[file:megastructureschiphol]]

KCAP Architects&Planners would like to meet you at Expo Real 2013 in Munich! The team of KCAP is pleased to welcome you between 7th and 9th of October at Holland Property Plaza, stand 320, hall A-2. Special highlights this year: - presentation ‘Mobility and Spaces of Transition’, 7 October, 4 pm; - presentation ‘Noordelijk Havenhoofd Scheveningen’, 8 October, 2 pm - presentation ‘Urban Transformation’, 8 October 4 pm at Holland Property Plaza!   Will you join this year’s Expo Real? We would be happy to welcome you for the lectures, a meeting or for an informal conversation at Holland Property Plaza. Do you want to make an appointment? Please contact KCAP Public Relations via telephone: 0031 (0)10 7890 300 or email: exporeal@kcap.eu. Looking forward to meeting you on 7th , 8th  or 9th of October! KCAPArchitects&Planners

Kees Christiaanse, together with Ma Yansong, MAD Architects, China and Wolf D. Prix, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Austria will join a panel on September 13 during the 3 day World Economic Forum in Dalian, China. The title of the panel discussion is Thinking like an architect. Date: September 13 Time: 12:00 am - 1:00 pm Click here for program information.

KCAP Architects&Planners, New Industry Development, Hunter Douglas and IMD Raadgevende ingenieurs have - apart from the fact that we are all located at Piekstraat Rotterdam - one thing in common: we share the vision and ambition to contribute to the sustainable city and project development of Rotterdam Zuid's quarter Feijenoord.Therefore we organise an inspiring street event which will offer a unique view behind the curtains of our companies at Piekstraat. Come and see how and where we work and get inspired by the lectures and discussions which all deal with the topics of sustainable building en development, living and working.On September 18th, in the framework of the Dutch Green Building Week, we will show how we proactively contribute our local forces to the sustainable development of this beautiful part of the city at the river.For registration and more information about the program, please contact Mandy Kloeg via m.kloeg@hde.nl.

Kees Christiaanse is looking back on five years supervision for Schiphol Airport. In 2008, he was appointed as the supervisor for architecture and urban design, succeeding Prof. Hubert-Jan Henket. In this function he was responsible for the overall design quality of the developments of Schiphol Airport ranging from urban design and public space to architecture and interior design.As a supervisor for Schiphol Airport, Kees Christiaanse contributed to the urban development vision of the airport area. He supervised the production of masterplans for Schiphol’s five development areas and consolidated the relationship with the surrounding municipalities. He participated in the selection of architects for Schiphol’s architectural projects and coached architects and interior designers in the elaboration of projects. He worked closely together with Maurits Schaafsma, urban planner at Schiphol Group, the terminal architect Jan Benthem (Benthem Crouwel Architects) and the landscape architect Adriaan Geuze (West 8 Urban Design & Landscape Architecture). Kees Christiaanse has built up considerable experience in airport developments in the last decade. He is responsible for the urbanistic and architectural design of the terminal and hotel of Eindhoven Airport. He designed studies for Linate Milan and Zürich Airport; and for Schiphol Airport, KCAP worked on the new parking concept Transfer City, the office building ‘the Comet’ and the competition for Martin Air headquarters. Recently, KCAP received the commission to design the Geneva airport region and the airport city of Dublin Airport. In the field of research, Kees Christiaanse investigates the urbanisation patterns of international airport regions within the platform ‘Airports and Cities’, which he founded 2010 within the Chair of Architecture and Urban Design at ETH Zurich, in collaboration with TU Munich and TU Delft. ‘What is crucial for the development of airports is flexibility, the possibility for expansion and avoiding that greater interventions effect one another,’ says Kees Christiaanse. ‘This creates ...

Jakarta Vertical Kampung is an event focusing on the creative design exploration of the ‘Vertical Kampung’ concept for Jakarta. The full event is running from June 25 to July 14 and embodies a master class, followed by a conference and exhibition. It is hosted by the Erasmus Huis in Jakarta and arranged by SHAU. Kees Christiaanse answers a few questions about the conference topic prior to the conference in a short interview. 

The interview with Kees Christiaanse about his work, urban planning in Switzerland and about 'Desakota', the urban phenomenon of city landscape, that was previously published in the Swiss Komplex magazine, is now available in the blog of interview Thomas Stadelmann.Click here to read the interview (in German).

KCAP Architects&Planners celebrates the second anniversary of KCAP Shanghai.In May 2011 KCAP Shanghai was officially opened as the second branch office next to Zurich (CH) and KCAP’s headquarters in Rotterdam (NL). In its second year KCAP Shanghai managed to intensify the personal relationships with our clients and collaborators and continued successfully its inspiring work in China and other parts of Asia. Throughout the year KCAP worked on a variety of urban planning and architectural projects, some of which are already under construction, such as the 'Rotterdam Gardens' mixed-use project in  Shenyang. In the various projects, KCAP pursued its work on urban regeneration processes. In Shenzhen KCAP, together with local partner Shenzhen Lay-out Planning Consultants Ltd, was selected for the international consultation on the overall Urban Design Guidelines for the regeneration of the Sungang and Quingshuihe areas, as well as for the planning of subunits 1, 13 and 15. In December 2012, in a two-weeks design workshop in Shenzhen Luohu District, the concept was further developed. The workshop was a collaboration of KCAP with more than 30 local developers, the Urban Planning, Land and Resources Commission of Shenzhen Municipality and our client Luohu District Land Reform Authority. The approved result is expected in the early third quarter of 2013. It will serve as the statutory document for the urban regeneration of the area.With projects in Qindao and Shanghai, KCAP focused on the planning of knowledge hubs as catalyst areas in city development. The 30 ha masterplan in Qindao’s district Chenyang targets with its core 'creative village' the advertising, media and film industry and enables connecting the site to its surroundings in order to profit from the existing qualities. Next to the urban scheme, KCAP is also responsible for the architecture of the nine buildings of the first phase of the development for which the construction ...

Ute Schneider has been interviewed for an article in the eMagazin of swiss-architects. The article appeared in the category 'getroffen' (visited) which introduces various Swiss offices. Click here for the article (in German).

Han van den Born has been interviewed by Russian online medium ART1 in St. Petersburg about KCAP's view on cities, architecture and urban planning. Click here to view the publication (in Russian).

After presenting the ideas and concepts of 'City as Loft' in Switzerland and the Netherlands, Kees Christiaanse and Martina Baum will also present the book in the US. 8 April: Princeton University School of Architecture 9 April: Swissnex, Boston 10 April: Columbia University, New York

Experts at the Immobilien Forum West yesterday in Innsbruck, Austria, demand more compact cities.The 'future of the inner cities' was the focus of the 5th Real Estate Forum West in Innsbruck. 'The city of tomorrow needs to be compact and have a high quality public transport system,' said keynote speaker Kees Christiaanse. 'Monofunctional neighborhoods are to be avoided.'In Europe, a trend is to be seen in which a city guiding culture replaces rigid building codes. 'Cities do not release fixed, legislative building and zoning regulations anymore in which everything will be determined and prescribed. Instead, all relies on more global structural visions which are based on political consensus." Read the full article here (in German).

The free Hong Kong magazine Metro Pop has published a 2 page feature about KCAP in the category 'Life Style Architecture'. Click here to view the magazine. To find the article, choose 'Architecture' in the menu at the bottom.

KCAP wishes everyone a successful, positive and healthy 2013! 2012 has not been an easy year. But we are happy to have ended it well with new projects, several buildings under construction and awards for our work. 2013 will certainly be as well a challenging year. We start it with new energy and positive prospects. It will be a year in which creativity, quality and entrepreneurship stronger than ever will play a role. We approach this challenge with confidence.We would like to thank all of you for your engagement, trust and fruitful collaboration in the last year and are looking forward to working with you in 2013. KCAP Architects&Planners Wijnhaven Hotel Rotterdam [NL]Start construction: 139 bedroom ibis hotel and ‘Dock21’ apartment building         Quartier Gare TGV Montpellier [FR]Commissioned: 350 ha masterplan for mixed-use urban district around future TGV station of Montpellier Hogekwartier Amersfoort [NL]Start construction: urban redevelopment of postwar neighborhoods in Amersfoort Happy to Work!, Shanghai [CN]Competition won and commissioned: masterplan and architectural design for office park             Peter Stuyvesant Building Rotterdam [NL]Study assignment: 50.000 m2 tower for living and working on Wilhelminapier Rotterdam                 Qian Hai Shenzhen [CN]Selected: sub-unit design within new ‘Water City’ at the Eastern coast of Shenzhen     Student accommodation Delft [NL]Realised: Student accommodation in new building and renovated monumental villa   Nieuwe Park Rozenburgschool Rotterdam [NL]Under construction: Elementary school with 21 classrooms as extension to existing historical school building                P+R De Uithof Utrecht [NL]Under construction: P+R facilities with 2.000 parking spaces on university campus De UithofAwarded: 3D design awarded with Tekla GLOBAL BIM Awards 2012 in category ‘concrete’   IAK Luxemburg [LU]Under construction: ensemble of 4 office buildings with restaurant, kindergarten, a learning center, conference facilities and underground parking facilities                Diana & Vesta Amsterdam [NL]Realised: 26.000 m2 office complex on Amstel III business area   Qingdao Advertisment&Culture Industry Park, Qingdao [CN]Competition won and commissioned: masterplan and architectural design for mixed-use area in Qingdao  Noorderhaven Zutphen ...

KCAP joined from November 19 - 23 the Dutch economic trade mission to Brazil. Within the program for the delegates of the disciplines architecture and design a mini symposium at Studio X in Rio de Janeiro took place. This day was dedicated to new developments in Dutch architecture and new developments in Dutch housing. Irma van Oort joined the panel of the second session about housing. Click here to view more images of the event.

Today is the Dutch launch of the new release: 'City as Loft', edited by Martina Baum and Kees Christiaanse. 'City as Loft. Adaptive Reuse as a Resource for Sustainable Urban Development' Published by gta Verlag, 2012 ISBN 978-3-85676-302-2

The European bulletin of French 'Le Moniteur' features an interview with Kees Christiaanse about his view on urban planning and architecture. Click here to view the article (in French). 

Last Saturday, the weekend supplement of Dutch TROUW published an interview with Kees Christiaanse in the colum 'leven & lezen' (living & reading). There Kees talks about his favourite books and interest in literature. Read the [[file:trouw120421]] here (in Dutch).

Bernd Upmeyer and Beatriz Ramo spoke with Kees Christiaanse about the rural, the non urban, the country side… in the current issue of MONU with the topic 'Non-Urbanism'. Click here to preview the magazine.

KCAP is now also on Facebook. Join us via: www.facebook.com/KCAP.eu

KCAP has been longlisted for the WAN 21 for 21 Award 2012. The award aims to highlight 21 architects who could be the leading lights of architecture in the 21st Century; outstanding, forward-thinking people and organisations who have the demonstrable potential to be the next 'big thing' in the architectural world.See all longlisted offices

On invitation of AetA Society, Kees Christiaanse compiled his findings about Rotterdam in a book. This publication is the third in the FORUM series of AetA, after Amsterdam of Ton Schaap and The Hague of Maarten Schmitt. The book will be officially launched on Monday, March 12 at 20:00 pm in the Dependance in Rotterdam. The evening is a collaboration between AetA , AIR and O1O Publisher.Registration via AIR Foundation.

Public Polish TV will broadcast a documentary about waterfront developments. The main focus is on the Polish city Gdynia and makes reference to the cities of Hamburg and Rotterdam. A few experts are interviewed in the documentary, among which KCAP urban planners Frank Werner and Jeroen Dirckx.View the trailer here.  

Today, Dutch Profiles: KCAP Architects&Planners has been released. The film portrait is part of the Dutch Profiles series produced by DutchDFA.View the film here.