‘In 1991 I graduated from the Delft University
of Technology. I worked in the Netherlands
for a short while, but it was horrible. The
country felt so small, and Dutch life was like
being squeezed into a corset. Everyone had
to behave according to the same standards.
There was little room for experimentation.
I wanted out.’‘London attracted me the most, but my
graduation coincided with a major economic
downturn in the UK. During that time, most
of London’s architects were getting by on
what they could earn as waiters. Jobs in
architecture were nonexistent. Ultimately,
my destination was Berlin, which had just
undergone a turning point: what Germans
call the Wende. Germany’s reunification
afforded architects an intriguing playground,
so we all went to Berlin. It was the only place
in Europe with work for architects.’‘I left for Berlin without having a job wait-
ing for me. I packed three bags and just
took off. To begin with, I worked for a local
firm on a building for a private bank with
much too much money. The project proved
to be good for me at the time. I then had a
short stint at Léon Wohlhage, a company
associated with modern architecture, which
was right up my alley. I stayed in Berlin and
joined Foster and Partners, where I worked
for six years on the Reichstag.’‘I’d always wanted to work with Foster, not
because I was a big fan of his architecture
but because he ran the most well-oiled, most
professional machine imaginable. He didn’t
hide his success under a barrel – not then
and not now. I was eager to see it with my
own eyes. I had planned to stay only a year
or so, but being engrossed in such a fascinat-
ing project, I wanted to persevere. It was an
interesting experience that taught me thebest way for a big architecture firm made up
of diverse teams to organize a process that
yields a good product.’‘Before the Reichstag was completed, I was
both pregnant and homesick for the Neth-
erlands. Don’t ask me why, but going back
was a deep desire. When you’re pregnant,
you make emotional decisions that are not
necessarily rational.’‘Initially, as a student, I wasn’t overly
impressed by Rem and his work, but when he
gave a talk about his competition design for
the library in Paris, I was blown away by the
conceptual approach. The effect of his speech
stayed with me. Even so, I’m glad I didn’t
join OMA immediately after graduation. The
experience I gathered before arriving here
probably made it easier for me than for peo-
ple who come straight from university.’ »ELLEN VAN LOON: ‘I grew up on the water.
I lived in a barge for the first seven years
of my life. My parents transported freight
between Rotterdam and other European
ports – like Basel, for instance. As a child,
I spent a lot of time in and around harbour
areas. I know the port of Rotterdam like the
back of my hand. Its harsh atmosphere made
an enormous impression on me as a child.
That port is so huge. If you set off seawards
from Rotterdam, through Europoort, you
pass ocean-going vessels whose steel sides
rise straight into the air, some 20 or 30 m
from the water line. The port was our play-
ground. We sailed to uninhabited islands
with our toy boats. That was our life.’‘In the Netherlands, bargees’ children go to
boarding school at the age of seven, and
I was no exception. I attended a boarding
school in Rotterdam until I was 17. There are
relatively few Dutch boarding schools, espe-
cially in comparison with England, where
they’re much more common. I’m currently
working on the design of a private school in
Brighton. I understand how the children will
live together there.’
‘As a child of seven, it was emotionally
difficult to live away from my parents, but
children are relatively flexible. You make the
most of your circumstances. It’s that simple.
I learned a lot at that school, partly owing
to the lack of privacy. Eight to ten children
slept in one dormitory room. A clothes closet
was the only place I could call my own. As
a result, I don’t need much privacy now. I
have my own room here at the office, but I’m
hardly ever there. I’d rather be in the studio,
surrounded by my colleagues. Noise never
bothers me. As a girl, I learned to create a pri-
vate space in my mind, no matter where I was.
Privacy is my self-made mental sanctuary.’
‘One of my brothers is a skipper, but that’s
no life for me. You’re very secluded on a ship.
You make contact with others every once in a
while, but only for a short time and always in
a different place. That’s why I decided rather
early on to do something else. My childhood
experiences have had an impact, of course,
on the person I’ve become. The fact that my
work involves quite a bit of travel – and thus
contact with other cultures – is perhaps an
outcome of my youth.’
‘As a child, I was always tinkering, sewing,
sketching. I liked to design clothes and to
turn my mother’s interior upside down. At
first I wanted to go to the art academy, but
at school I was drawn to the more technical
subjects. My favourite was maths. In the
end, I chose architecture, which is technical
and creative. I was interested in the com-
plexity that goes with the combination of
the two variables, but I might just as easily
have picked another discipline – industrial
design or fashion design would have been
equally exciting. A creative spirit can go in
all sorts of directions.’
ELLEN
‘As a
student,
I wasn’t
overly
impressed
by Rem and
his work’
WHAT I’VE LEARNED 51