#2 DKV from typological to time-based

From its inception, DKV architects has been founded in a firmly established working method and practice. Typological analysis is key to the office’s working method, wherein typology is implemented to create freedom. DKV’s sphere of activity spans everything from residential and urban building projects to diverse forms of non-residential building. An analytical approach centred in model-based thinking enables the office to maximise the potential of otherwise restrictive preconditions, and to identify unexpected solutions as a result. DVK architecten is based in Rotterdam and led by partners Roel Bosch, Herman de Kovel, Wilco Valk and Paul de Vroom. The office is active both within the Netherlands and far beyond.

DKV’s work is characterised by a simplicity that speaks for itself, with designs that make an impact through their organisational clarity and physical form. DKV seeks to identify the essence of any given project and to devise a targeted answer and an original design – a design that is innovative, yet at the same time surprisingly self-evident. The main theme of the design is systematically integrated at every level of scale, from urban planning down to the technical details. Since design processes today are in a constant state of flux and to a large extent unpredictable, DKV’s work has come to emphasise, more and more, the establishment of the necessary preconditions for change (or flexibility, as DKV calls it) as a specific design theme.

DKV stands for the initials of its three co-founders, Dolf Dobbelaar, Herman de Kovel and Paul de Vroom, who set up the office in 1984. All three completed their studies at TU Delft and, prior to founding DKV, worked at OMA on designing the urban development plan for the IJ-plein (IJ square) in the urban district of Amsterdam-Noord.

Three elements define DKV’s work:
1 model studies
2 typological approach (leading from model studies)
3 flexibility and "shell thinking”

Content #2

introduction
DKV from typological tot ime-based
Dr. ir. Bernard Leupen

Australië Boston
DKV architecten
Dolf Dobbelaar, Herman de Kovel en Paul de Vroom

Nieuwe Millinxbuurt, Rotterdam
architect
DKV architecten
Dolf Dobbelaar, Herman de Kovel, Paul de Vroom

Kop van Havendiep, Lelystad
architect
DKV architecten
Dolf Dobbelaar, Herman de Kovel, Paul de Vroom

Schutterstoren Meer en Oever, Amsterdam
architect
DKV architecten
Roel Bosch, Herman de Kovel, Wico Valk, Paul de Vroom

Insula College, Dordrecht
architect
DKV rchitecten
Roel Bosch, Herman de Kovel, Wico Valk, Paul de Vroom