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Nathalie de Vries (Appingedam, NL - 1965) is founding partner of MVRDV, an architect and urban planner and the “DV” in MVRDV. She is an Honorary Fellow of the AIA and International Fellow of the RIBA. She is currently Professor of Architectural Design and Public Building at Delft University of Technology, and from 2021 to 2023 held the role of City Architect for Groningen.
The work of De Vries focuses on the invention of new building typologies and the creation of changeable, open systems, an approach which she brings to both buildings and urban plans. Her projects are spatially varied and ground breaking, always giving particular attention to the project’s interaction with the public domain. With MVRDV, De Vries develops sustainable and innovative concepts and working methods, and showcases them through exhibitions, publications, interviews, and lectures.
As an architect, she appreciates intensive collaboration with clients and interdisciplinary design teams, but also with residents and other stakeholders. Whatever the project, there is always a lot of attention given to the design’s interaction with its surroundings, by designing inviting collective spaces and outdoor areas, among other approaches. In her urban designs, De Vries explores the combination of high-quality public spaces with functionally mixed buildings that act as catalysts for the development of an area.
Together with MVRDV, De Vries has won various awards for both individual buildings and for her entire oeuvre, such as the Amsterdamprijs, the Architizer A+ Award and Red Dot Design Award. Juries, clients, and end users alike appreciate the way she stretches the boundaries of existing typologies. Well-known designs by Nathalie include two faculties for the University of Toronto, several projects for resilient urban design in Groningen, Vancouver and San Francisco, as well as the recently finished mixed-use projects for Mission Rock (San Francisco, US) and Ascension Paysagère(Rennes, France). A number of mixed-use projects and masterplans are also currently under construction in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Boston. She has also created cultural projects for the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and the Buitenplaats Ypenburg. Older projects for MVRDV include Villa VPRO, Silodam, the transformation of a former silo building and dam into a new residential and work building, Nieuw Leyden and the Lloyd Hotel.
Other notable designs by De Vries include the library of Spijkenisse, a mountain of books incorporating many public meeting spaces; the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam, a listed building with surprising hotel rooms that functions as the living room of the neighbourhood; Concordia Design Wrocław, a co-working office in Poland with lively public functions on the ground floor and a publicly accessible roof terrace; and the entrance to the Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam.
De Vries is committed to the education of future generations of architects. She has been active as a teacher throughout her career, and previously, she taught at TU Berlin, Harvard GSD, IIT Chicago, and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, among others, and frequently provides lectures to students and young professionals on architecture and urbanism at a number of academic institutions worldwide. She has also been chair of the Royal Institute of Dutch architects and Chief Railroad Architect.
“With our clients we work together to make buildings as inclusive as possible. MVRDV develops new typologies and construction methods based on investigative design methods. We want to create a new generation of architecture and urbanism, and make buildings that support an unknown – but nevertheless limitless – future.” - Nathalie de Vries
