PORTRAITS is a significant publication that offers a unique perspective on fifteen major built works by the Dutch firm to date. These selected projects are portrayed as distinct characters with distinctive physiognomies, yet they belong to the same family and share similar features, hence the book’s title.

The volume explores the studio’s work using multiple lenses. On the one hand, it retraces and unfolds the projects’ narrative, focusing on single pieces of a complex puzzle: a fragment of an image, a citation from an article, a detail. On the other hand, it simply holds up a mirror to the projects, reflecting them as they are, with no additional interpretation.

Beyond being a project overview, PORTRAITS is a culmination of a research process aimed at interpreting a complex genealogy that reveals the 15 buildings not as autonomous entities but as parts of a shared vision.

 
KAAN Architecten is a Dutch architectural firm with over 30 years of experience in context-specific, timeless designs spanning a broad range of scales and typologies. Founded and led by Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio, the office promotes Dutch building traditions of sustainability, welfare, pragmatism, and quality through a collaborative and analytical design approach.

Links

KAAN Architecten

Park Books

Never Stop Reading

gta – Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture