Nathalie Vries

Nathalie de Vries is professor of Architectural Design. It plans to approach the theme of 'Public Building' as a collective source of knowledge, producing results for both the architectural community and the wider community. It wants to do this by increasing knowledge about the ways in which architectural design can contribute to solutions for urgent social problems.

“You have to regard practice and theory as an inseparable whole,” says De Vries. “The design projects must form a solid core for the education, but at the same time be surrounded by the totality of knowledge and experience of the different teachers, which offers diverse elements, aspects and perspectives. In this way you help to guarantee that students get a foundation, because recent developments in theory, practice and history are made accessible to them.”

During the first three months of her professorship, De Vries will focus on further defining her task as professor of Architectural Design. In doing so, she will explore a set of themes closely related to the challenges she faces in her international professional practice. These themes will be particularly relevant for further exploration in research and education. Within the theme Multiplicity , it will be investigated how buildings and construction elements can be provided with properties that make them more multifunctional, productive, transformative and robust. The Multiple as building typeis also a theme related to the mass production of buildings. It is important to examine whether the majority of these buildings can be designed in such a way that they can be better adapted over time. Within the theme 'Public Building', De Vries will also investigate how meaningful social spaces and degrees of openness of architecture can be realized in an era in which the monofunctional public building is disappearing.

Nathalie de Vries is an architect and urban planner. She graduated in 1990 from Delft University of Technology. De Vries is director and co-owner of MVRDV, a globally operating office for urban planning and architecture, which she initiated in 1993 together with Winy Maas and Jacob van Rijs. As of January 1, 2021, she will be heading the Atelier Stadsbouwmeester of the Municipality of Groningen. Nathalie de Vries has taught at various schools and institutes, including Harvard GSD, IIT Chicago, Berlage Institute, Delft University of Technology and the Academy of Architecture in Arnhem. She was also professor of Architecture at the TU in Berlin (2002-2004). From 2013 to the summer of 2018 she was a professor at the Baukunst class of the Düsseldorf Art Academy. She was also national railway architect at NS/ProRail from 2005-2008. Until 2019, she was chair of the Dutch Architectural Firms Association (BNA).

Education

• Master of Architecture (MArch) Delft University of Technology (1984 — 1990)

Companies

• Stadsbouwmeester Groningen Gemeente Groningen (2021)
• Professor Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft (2018)
• Supervisory Board Member Groninger Museum (2015)
• founding partner, architect, urbanist. MVRDV (1992)
• Chairman BNA (2015 — 2019)
• Member Of The Supervisory Board Formerly known as Witte de With, Center for Contemporary Art (2013 — 2019)
• Professor Baukunst Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (2013 — 2018)
• Member Supervisory Board The New Institute, for architecture, design and e-culture (2012 — 2014)
• Deputy Chief Railroad Architect for NSP Breda Bureau Spoorbouwmeester (2009 — 2014)

Skills

• Sustainable Design
• Interior Design
• Mixed-use

Other

Urban Regeneration, Concept Development, Sustainability, Architectures, Urban, Architectural Design, Urban Planning, Urban Design, Urbanism, Architecture