Francine Houben

Francine Houben found Mecanoo Architecten in Delft, The Netherlands, in 1984. She has written a number of articles and books on architecture and design and has taught extensively. She has taken part in juries for many prestigious international design competitions.

Mecanoo have designed projects in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Albania, China, Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia. Francine’s portfolio includes the Library for the Technical University Delft (1998), Montevideo in Rotterdam (2006), FiftyTwoDegrees in Nijmegen (2007), La Llotja Theatre and Congress Centre in Lleida, Spain (2009), and the Palace of Justice in Córdoba, Spain (to be completed in 2011). In 2007 Mecanoo won the competition for the Wei-Wu-Ying Center for the Performing Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and in 2008 the commission to design the Library of Birmingham in the U.K., the largest library in Europe.

In 1999 Francine Houben became Professor in Architecture, Chair Aesthetics of Mobility, at the University of Technology in Delft, The Netherlands, where she still teaches. In 2000-01, she was professor at the Universitá della Svizzera Italiana, Accademia di architettura, in Mendrisio, Switzerland. From 2002 to 2006, she was designated City Architect of Almere. In 2003, she became director of the First International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam. She was a member of the International Design Committee of London between 2003 and 2005. In 2007, she was appointed visiting professor at Harvard University.

Francine received honorary fellowships from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2001 and from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the American Institute of Architects in 2007. In 2008, she was awarded the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award.