NOW: Rem Koolhaas

The Netherlands’ most famous architect has come a long way. Rem Koolhaas won competitions for years, but commissions failed to materialise. A paper architect. The breakthrough came when Koolhaas designed Rotterdam’s Kunsthal (1992), after which he won prize after prize in the international arena. Today, Koolhaas is a hugely influential world-renowned architect. He designed the Seattle public library, the Dutch embassy in Berlin and the Chinese state television (CCTV) head office in Beijing, part of which recently went up in flames. Dubai also has two towers by him. But Koolhaas is not the only Dutchman whose work the emirate admires: Architectural firm Royal Haskoning and Zwarts & Jansma Architects have both won a competition in Dubai. 

THEN: Dutch classicism

During the Golden Age a wealthy Haarlemmer put the Netherlands in the spotlight with Dutch classicism. Travelling at his own expense, Jacob van Campen went to study architecture in Italy. There he developed his own style, later becoming the most distinguished exponent of Dutch classicism, the internationally influential movement of the day.
No easy-going designer, Van Campen was critical about the commissions he accepted. The Paleis Noordeinde and the Mauritshuis (both in The Hague) met his strict criteria, as did the design for the Amsterdam town hall (the present palace on the Dam).