OMA Partner Reinier de Graaf, Baumeister, NAi Booksellers and Het Nieuwe Instituut are happy to invite you to Het Nieuwe Instituut for the launch of the special issue of Baumeister, guest edited by Reinier, on Wednesday, July 10.

Under the title ‘For Whom We Build’, the issue addresses the question of the beneficiary of the architect’s work in the 21st century. With contributions from professionals involved in the production of architecture such as the real estate market, the local administration, and academia, Baumeister curated by Reinier de Graaf is an architecture magazine without architects speaking to architects.

Together with Reinier, four of the contributors in the issue will be on the stage: Erion Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana, Jan Benthem, founding partner at Benthem Crouwel Architects, Jeroen van der Veer, senior adviser at the Amsterdam Federation of Housing Associations, and Patrice Derrington, director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at the Columbia GSAPP. The discussion will be moderated by Alexander Russ, editor at Baumeister.

The event starts at 19.30h and will be in English.

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Erion Veliaj was elected the 42nd Mayor of Tirana in 2015. His four years as Mayor of Tirana are marked by an urban transformation of the city, oriented towards the implementation of child-friendly policies as part of his vision of giving the city back to the citizens. Prior to his tenure, Veliaj served as a Member of Parliament of Albania and Minister of Social Welfare and Youth from 2013 through 2015. Before joining the ranks of the Socialist Party of Albania in 2011, Veliaj had a long experience as the leader and founder of the youth movement “MJAFT”, a civic organization which gained huge popularity for inspiring peaceful protest since its creation in 2003.
Veliaj has also worked with several international humanitarian organizations in the Americas, Eastern Africa and Kosovo.
Veliaj holds a Master’s degree in European Integration from the University of Sussex and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the Grand Valley State University.

Jan Benthem founded the office Benthem Crouwel Architects together with Mels Crouwel in Amsterdam in 1979. Jan has led major infrastructure and complex urban projects such as the North/South Metro Line in Amsterdam and the renewal of the public transport terminals Amsterdam Central, Rotterdam Central, Utrecht Central and The Hague Central Station. From 2008 to 2018 he was a member of the quality team for architecture and planning at the Port of Rotterdam Authority. Since 1988 Jan Benthem has been the lead architect of the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and had a decisive role in Schiphol’s growth into a an airport city. Jan Benthem is a member of the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (bna) and a honorary member of the Association of German Architects (bda).

Dr. Jeroen van der Veer is senior policy advisor at the Amsterdam Federation of Housing Associations (AFWC), the umbrella organization for nine housing associations who own around 40% of the total housing stock in Amsterdam (190,000 dwellings). Jeroen joined the AFWC in 1997. His main responsibilities are in the area of research and information. His work includes housing market research, strategic housing policy, regional housing markets, urban development, sustainability, geographical information systems (GIS) and monitoring of housing and population developments. Jeroen is a member of the editorial board of the scientific Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (HBE), which combines expertise in the field of housing, spatial planning and urban development.

With over 15 years of real estate experience, Patrice Derrington is currently the Marc Holliday Professor and Director of the Real Estate Development program at Columbia University. Patrice’s academic credentials include a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley, Harvard MBA and B. Arch, University of Queensland, in addition to teaching awards, publications, and notable contributions to research. In her industry experience on Wall Street, she worked as an investment banker, advisor, and fund manager to major individual and institutional clients such as David Rockefeller, Keybank, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Additionally, maintaining her connection to Australia, she serves as a board director of the Queensland Investment Corporation.