In PA Talks 67, we talked with Winy Mass, the founding partner, principal architect, urban planner, and landscape designer at the award-winning Dutch practice MVRDV. Since 1993, Winy led MVRDV alongside Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, crafting groundbreaking projects that earned global recognition. Beyond architecture, Winy served as a Professor of Urbanism and Architecture at Delft University of Technology and drove The Why Factory, a think tank dedicated to exploring future cities.
In this episode, we delved into MVRDV’s creative challenges, Winy’s vision for the future of architecture and urbanism, and his advice for the next generation of architects. It was a must-watch for anyone passionate about the evolving world of architecture.
Here are ten innovative and unconventional works of MVRDV.
Selected Projects
The Imprint
Location: South Korea
Year: 2018
MVRDV’s The Imprint is a dual-structured entertainment facility in Seoul, South Korea, featuring the Wonderbox and Nightclub. The buildings share an architectural language and are designed to echo their surroundings. The Nightclub entrance is marked by a golden spot floating over the building. The façade is made of glass-fiber reinforced concrete panels to achieve the desired ‘imprint’ of the surrounding buildings.
Valley
Location: Netherlands
Year: 2022
The Valley, located in Amsterdam’s Zuidas neighborhood, is a geology-inspired, plant-covered building with three towers of 67, 81, and 100 meters. It was named the best new skyscraper in the world in the 2021 Emporis Skyscraper Awards. The building stands out for combining offices, shops, catering, cultural facilities, and apartments in one building. Its unique design features a green valley that winds between the towers on the fourth and fifth floors, accessible to everyone via two external stone staircases. Each of the 200 apartments has a unique floorplan tailored by Heyligers Architects.
The Pyramid of Tirana
Location: Albania
Year: 2023
The Pyramid of Tirana, once a museum dedicated to Enver Hoxha, has been transformed into a cultural hub. It now hosts colorful boxes serving as cafés, studios, and classrooms where Albanian youth can learn technology for free. Steps have been added to the building’s façades, allowing people to walk over the former dictator’s showpiece.
The Canyon
Location: United States
Year: 2023
The 23-storey mixed-use residential complex on San Francisco’s waterfront is part of a masterplan creating the new neighborhood “Mission Rock” overlooking San Francisco Bay. The Canyon includes housing for middle-income residents, offices, shops, and restaurants, evoking California’s dramatic geology and ensuring vibrancy throughout the day and night.
