Claus en Kaan Architecten was a Dutch architecture firm founded in 1987 by Felix Claus and Kees Kaan, led together with partners Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio.
History
Claus was born in 1956 in Arnheim and Kaan was born in Breda, in 1961. They both graduated from Delft University of Technology in 1987.
They formed the firm of Claus en Kaan Architecten in 1987.
Claus en Kaan designed the master plan of the IJburg district of Amsterdam and later moved their offices to a building they designed in the district.
Kees Kaan and Felix Claus once stated that their ambition was to extinguish the schism between low practice and high theory, between architecture that serves its immediate objective and architecture that speaks over the heads of its users to colleagues and critics.
On 15 January 2014, the company released a statement announcing the ending of the partnership between Claus and Kaan as from 1 January 2014. After such ending, Felix Claus started a partnership with Dick van Wageningen.
Notable works
In 2004, opened the Dutch Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. The building unites Dutch design and techniques with locally sourced materials and constraints, bringing the office spaces up to a European standard, whilst still taking into consideration history and the locality of the place. The Netherlands Architecture Institute publishers said of the building: "It is an exceptional building, designed to a Dutch vision yet constructed using African materials".
In 2008, Claus en Kaan completed a crematorium in the Belgian town of Sint-Niklaas, it won the 2009 Dutch National Concrete Award, the Betonprijs and was nominated for the ESCN award in 2010. Catherine Slessor, editor of the Architectural Review called it ‘a powerful statement, evoking timelessness, elementality, and a connection with nature’.Slessor C., Heimolen Crematorium by Claus en Kaan Architecten, Sint Niklaas, Belgium, "The Architectural Review", April 1, 2009
The firm designed the House of Culture and Administration in Nijverdal.Sokol D., For a Dutch village's House of Culture and Administration, Claus en Kaan and Claudy Jongstra bridged past and present , "Interior Design", March 1, 2008
It has also designed "social housing" projects in Ypenburg, at The Hague Vinex-location under the MVRDV masterplan.Raymund R., Double Dutch; housing in Amsterdam, "The Architectural Review", February 1, 1997 The firm has completed an "upscale collection of boxy units" named Rietvelden, after the "Dutch modernist master" Gerrit Rietveld, in a suburban development in Ypenburg.Hawthorne C., The Dutch Retouch Suburbia, "The New York Times", January 15, 2004
The firm also designed Mövenpick's 408-room hotel tower that opened in 2007 in Amsterdam's harbor area. The hotel has "a 20-story exterior striped in alternating bands of glass, white concrete and green granite — not unlike an enormous Popsicle."Williams G., Mövenpick Hotel Amsterdam City Centre, "The New York Times", January 21, 2007
Selected works
2012–2014 -National Military Museum, Soesterberg, Netherlands 2012 – Supreme Court of the Netherlands, The Hague, Netherlands 2010 – Gedempte Zalmhaven, Rotterdam 2008–2012 – Central Judicial Collection Agency, Leeuwarden, Netherlands 2008–2009 -Dwelling Edmond Halleylaan, Amsterdam, Netherlands 2008 – El Prat de LLobregat, Barcelona, Spain 2007–2011 -Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, Netherlands 2006–2009 -Central Post, Rotterdam 2006–2009 -Vancouver, Rotterdam 2006–2009 -Villa Trapman, Nieuwveen, Netherlands 2006–2011 -AM Headquarters, Utrecht, Netherlands 2005–2010 -Palace of Justice, Amsterdam 2005–2008 -Local Government Office, Amsterdam 2005–2007 -CK Office, Amsterdam 2004–2010 -District Water Board Brabantse Delta on Bouvigne Estate, Breda, Netherlands 2004–2008 -Apartments Eekenhof, Enschede, Netherlands 2004–2008 -Crematorium Heimolen, Sint Niklaas, Belgium 2004–2007 -Municipal Archives 'De Bazel', Amsterdam 2004–2006 -Academy of Architecture', Amsterdam
Publications Berg J., Ibelings H., Claus en Kaan Architecten: Ideal Standard, Buildings 1988–2009, Amsterdam, Prototype Editions, 2009 Forjaz J., Gaunt R., Ibelings H., Claus en Kaan Architecten. The Royal Netherlands Embassy in Mozambique, Rotterdam, NAi Publishers, 2005 Costanzo M., Claus en Kaan. L’architettura dell’attenzione, Torino, Edilstampa, 2004 Yamamoto R., Beauftragt: Claus en Kaan Architecten, Berlin, Aedes, 2002 Ibelings H., Claus en Kaan. Building, Rotterdam/Beijing, NAi Publishers, 2001/2004 Claus F., van Dongen F., Schaap T., IJburg. Haveneiland en Reitlanden: brief design plan, Rotterdam, 010 Publishers, 2001 Claus en Kaan, Michel H., Richters C., Claus en Kaan, Amsterdam, ABC Architectuurcentrum Haarlem, 2001 Ferrater C., Claus en Kaan. New generations in the Dutch tradition, Barcelona, Editorial Gustavo Gili, 1997
Gallery
References
External links
Felix Claus Dick van Wageningen architecten website KAAN Architecten website