David van der Leer

David van der Leer is a forecaster, strategist, researcher, and writer. In 2018, David founded DVDL after having worked and consulted with institutions, government agencies, corporations, and individuals for 15 years. DVDL is an agency of innovators and strategists working at the intersection of cultural analysis and human behavior. DVDL develops models and concepts that bring the future of communities, public spaces, and cultural institutions into focus by creating a greater understanding of how to guide those towards people and the issues they hold dear.

From 2013 to 2018, David was the Executive Director of Van Alen Institute. This design nonprofit develops cross-disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions to make cities better. Before repositioning Van Alen Institute, David created and curated the Architecture and Urban Studies program for the Guggenheim Museum from 2008 to 2013. David developed and co-curated the highly publicized BMW Guggenheim Lab at the Guggenheim, which traveled from New York City to Berlin and Mumbai in its own building. He curated projects like stillspotting nyc and exhibitions like Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward. In 2012, he co-curated the United States Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and in 2011 he curated for the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture. In 2010, The New York Times recognized David as one of ten promising curators of the next generation.

Companies

• Lecturer: Cultural Institutions & Impact - Mental Health Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2022)
• Adjunct Assistant Professor Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (2019)
• Principal DVDL DD (2018)
• Executive Director Van Alen Institute (2013 — 2018)
• Associate Curator, Architecture and Urban Studies Guggenheim Museum (2012 — 2013)
• Curator, BMW Guggenheim Lab Guggenheim Museum (2010 — 2013)
• Assistant Curator, Architecture and Urban Studies Guggenheim Museum (2008 — 2012)
• Publications & Exhibitions Manager Steven Holl Architects (2006 — 2008)
• Public Affairs OMA (2005 — 2006)

Education

• propaedeutic graduate Willem de Kooning Academy (2003 — 2004)
• Executive Education Columbia Business School (2017 — 2017)
• Executive Education Columbia Business School (2017 — 2017)