Past Present Future: KCAP

Kees Christiaanse founded KCAP in 1989 and has grown it to nearly 100 employees in Rotterdam, Zurich, and Shanghai. Watch the short videos for insight on the past, present, and future of his firm or visit the "Past, Present, Future" website to read a transcript of Itinerant Office's interview with Christiaanse.

In PAST, Christiaanse recounts his almost biblical decision to attend architecture school in Delft, Netherlands, where he met Rem Koolhaas and helped him set up the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam. Christiaanse spent eight years at OMA, after which he set up his own office, also in Rotterdam. In the short film, Christiaanse also recalls a strange dream that involved Koolhaas and explains his early thoughts on urban design.

In PRESENT, Christiaanse talks about the "family" atmosphere that permeates the fairly large office (about 100 employees in three locations) and how that makes it appealing for women, who make up half of his employees. He also talks about the types of work that KCAP tackles and why.

Christiaanse's FUTURE comments focus upon mobility and the diversity of transportation that will coexist in twenty years time --not a homogenous, electric-vehicle future that some thinkers foresee. The constant movement of people in the corridor where Christiaanse sits seems to inadvertantly reinforce the importance of mobility in society now and in the future.

"Past, Present, Future" is a project curated by Gianpiero Venturini, founder of Itinerant Office, with the support of the Creative Industries Fund NL and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Rome. World-Architects is proud to be a media partner of the project.