Kees Kaan
Dutch architect and academic
Kees Kaan (born 8 June 1961) is a Dutch architect and professor of architectural design at the Delft University of Technology. He co-founded Claus en Kaan Architecten and, since 2014, is founding partner of KAAN Architecten in Rotterdam. Kaan argues that architecture is not an autonomous art form but a discipline grounded in social, financial, and spatial conditions.
Biography
Kaan graduated in architecture from Delft University of Technology in 1987. He worked with Rudy Uytenhaak before founding Claus en Kaan Architecten with Felix Claus in 1987. In 2014 he established KAAN Architecten together with Dikkie Scipio and Vincent Panhuysen.
He has been professor at TU Delft since 2006, first holding the Chair of Materialisation (2006–2012) and later the Chair of Complex Projects (2012–present). From 2019 to 2025 he served as head of the Architecture Department.
Selected projects
Netherlands Forensic Institute, The Hague (2004)
Embassy of the Netherlands, Maputo, Mozambique (2004)
Education Center, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam (2013)
Supreme Court of the Netherlands, The Hague (2015)
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium (renovation, 2022)
Paleis Het Loo, Apeldoorn (underground extension, 2023)
Amsterdam Courthouse (2020)
New Terminal Schiphol Airport (ongoing)
Academic roles
Professor of Materialisation, TU Delft (2006–2012)
Professor of Complex Projects, TU Delft (2012–present)
Head of the Department of Architecture, TU Delft (2019–2025)
Principal Investigator, AMS Institute (2016–present)
Selected awards and recognition
Lensvelt De Architect Interior Prize – Netherlands Forensic Institute (2005)
Betonprijs – Crematorium Heimolen (2009)
Betonprijs – AM Headquarters, Utrecht (2011)
Rotterdam Architecture Prize – Education Center Erasmus MC (2013)
ARC16 Architecture Award – Supreme Court of the Netherlands (2016)
Nominations for the Mies van der Rohe Award (2015)
Nominations for the Abe Bonnema Prize (2019)
BNA Award – Paleis Het Loo (2024)
KAAN Architecten also initiated the video series MINUTES (2017–2022), which won the Dezeen Awards 2022.
Kaan is a member of the Académie d'Architecture in Paris.
The public source identifies “Kees Kaan” as dutch architect and academic. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kees, Kaan and Dutch.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q26932951. VIAF identifies the subject as 25521334. The Library of Congress control number is n2004008038. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961, 2014, 1987 and 2006.
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