KAAN Architecten

KAAN Architecten is a Dutch architectural firm based in Rotterdam, São Paulo, and Paris, with over 30 years of experience in a wide range of scales and typologies.

Through a collaborative and analytical design approach, KAAN Architecten promotes quality, pragmatism, and the Dutch building traditions of sustainability and welfare. This is further refined by merging practical and academic expertise, which supports their response to the increasingly challenging complexities and contradictions of the built environment.

Led by Kees Kaan, Vincent Panhuysen and Dikkie Scipio, the firm comprises an international team of architects, landscape architects, urban planners, engineers, and graphic designers. KAAN Architecten believes that cross-pollination between projects and disciplines fosters the essential critical discourse within the firm.

Since its establishment, KAAN Architecten has engaged in a diverse array of projects within both the public and private sectors. Over time, project teams have evolved to become progressively multidisciplinary and dynamic. Their unwavering focus is on fostering a culture of continual evolution, recognising this paramount approach in a profession that undergoes rapid transformation.

At the heart of KAAN Architecten’s philosophy is the belief that all projects acquire distinctive character through an architecturally curated layered dialogue involving all stakeholders. This approach extends to developing enduring relationships with clients, consultants, and partners. In this collaborative journey, each project becomes an opportunity for meaningful engagement, achieving architectural solutions that resonate with the diverse voices and perspectives involved.

From interiors to urban planning, retail spaces to museums, educational buildings to highly complex research facilities, KAAN Architecten approaches each project honestly and with sobriety in concept and materialisation, resulting in a powerful simplicity.