Erick van Egeraat

Early career

Erick van Egeraat graduated from the Delft University of Technology, Department of Architecture. During his last year in the university, after winning the competition to design flexible youth housing at Kruisplein, Rotterdam he co-founded Mecanoo with Henk Döll, Francine Houben, Roelf Steenhuis and Chris de Weijer. The early years of Mecanoo were characterized by projects which challenged the norms of urban renewal and social housing. Notable projects include Housing Kruisplein, Rotterdam (1980-1985), Bilderberg Parkhotel, Rotterdam (1990-1992), House 13 at the IGA Stuttgart 1993 (1990-1993), Faculty of Economics and Management, Utrecht (1991-1995) and the Library at Delft University of Technology (1992-1998).

Later career

In 1995 Erick van Egeraat left Mecanoo and established his own company Erick van Egeraat associated architects (EEA) with offices in Rotterdam, London, Budapest, Prague and Moscow. A milestone project which expressed his new architectural approach was the Headquarters of ING Bank and NNH Insurance company in Budapest (1992-1994). In his own words, “It may be considered one of the first buildings to juxtapose an uncompromising modernism with intuitive organic shapes to achieve what might be called Modern Baroque”. The new vision found its articulation in a variety of projects, such as Municipal Art Gallery in Cork, Ireland (1996-2000), Pop-stage Mezz in Breda, the Netherlands (1996-2002), Mauritskade building in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (1996-2002), City Hall in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands (1997-2002) and Visual Art Center in Middlesbrough, England (2007) for which the architect received the RIBA award.

This period was marked by a greater diversity of work, from product design (door handle Erick, 2008) to master-planning (Oosterdokseiland in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, (1998-2001) and increasing focus on Central and Eastern Europe where he built the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Warsaw, Poland (1999-2004), ING Group Headquarters in Budapest, Hungary (1999-2004), Hotel Kempinski in Bratislava, Slovakia (2004-2008) and other projects. Erick van Egeraat was particularly interested to work in historical context, as shown in his projects of Liget Center (2000-2002) and Deak Palace (2003-2004) in Budapest, Hungary as well as master-plan of New Holland Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia (competition 2006). Working with historical buildings or in historical ambience, he aimed for “continuity and memory rather than rupture and rejection”.

In 2000s Erick van Egeraat started to work actively in Russia. The thrill of work in a new architectural environment made him design his "most spectacular, pure architecture project" Russian Avant-Garde in Moscow (2001) which made him "one of the most flamboyant architects in the Netherlands", according to the critics. Russian Avant-Garde and Federation Island in Sochi (2007) caused a stir and started a public discourse, but did not reach the stage of realization. The others were successfully built, among them: Capital City in Moscow (2002-2010) and Trade and Entertainment Center Vershina in Surgut (2005-2010).

In 2009 Erick van Egeraat restructured his company into (designed by) Erick van Egeraat with offices in Rotterdam, Moscow, Budapest and Prague. Despite the world crisis, his focus on complexity and quality steadily grew. In Europe he completed the projects of Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands (2008-2011), Incineration Line in Roskilde, Denmark (2008-2013), Main building and Auditorium in Leipzig University, Germany (2004-2015) and Erasmus University College in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2012-2014). In Russia he built Chess Academy in Khanty-Mansiysk (2008-2010), Corporate University of Sberbank in Moscow region (2010-2013) and completed Mercury City Tower in Moscow (2011-2013). His interest in working in historical context is manifest in his high-profile design of the new Dynamo stadium (winner of the competition, 2010) and master-planning, design and consultancy works for development of the territory of the former Red October chocolate factory (since 2007).

Portfolio of Erick van Egeraat includes over 100 projects in more than 10 countries, including the Middle East where he created the master-plan for the city center of Unaizah (2014).

Writings and design philosophy

Erick van Egeraat authored several books. In Six Ideas about Architecture written in collaboration with Deyan Sudjic he takes us to the world of a person who, just like the hero of The Fountainhead “loves this earth, but doesn’t like the shape of things on this earth and wants to change them.” His definition of sustainable architecture marries beauty with quality: "We need to reintroduce architecture which once again captivates us. Beauty, strength and a focus on qualitative materials are essential elements from which a truly sustainable architecture can emerge.

His later book 10 years Erick van Egeraat: Realized Works co-authored by Philip Jodidio, presents a comprehensive sweep of his oeuvre of the period 1995-2005, from the first post-Mecanoo years when he was trying to make a difference convinced that the future proof architecture needs to show "more than bare essentials". to the full architectural maturity, both loyal to long-established standards of beauty and decidedly contemporary: “I believe that all architecture of historic significance was modern at the time it was built, emerging from its time and culture.”

His most recent book Life without Beauty elaborates on importance of beauty in architecture which in the 20th century lost a battle to budget: “In Holland, the budget was the only subject. Many architects didn’t like the word “beauty”. He claims that ultimate measure for society or human being is not ability to make money, but its achievements and the beauty it has produced.

Selected projects

Awards and recognition

Erick van Egeraat is the professor of the International Academy of Architecture in Sofia, Bulgaria. He travels the world not only to work on his projects, but also to give lectures, workshops and master classes.

Publications