Mecanoo's Francine Houben on Urban Renewal, Simple Values, Being Visionary

By Julia Gamolina

Francine Houben founded Mecanoo in 1984. She has since led the firm to success in the Netherlands and abroad, amassing a portfolio of work that is wide-ranging, inspired by global challenges and with a sustainable view on society. Francine interweaves social, technical, playful and human aspects of space-making together in order to create a unique solution to each architectural challenge. She sees the team as a vibrant international “symphony orchestra’.” Approaching a project with a versatile multidisciplinary team creates the opportunity to develop new ideas and integral concepts with everyone present at the table. In her interview with Julia, Francine talks about her design process and what makes a good building, advising young architects to follow their values.

JG: Tell me about how your interest in architecture and design first began.

FH: When I was a kid, we had to move from one city to another quite often. Every time, my mom was building a new house, or refurbishing, or changing something, so I’ve always said that I was living on a construction site every three or four years [laughs]. And that always happened over the summer holidays, so we [kids] were always part of it, we enjoyed it, and we could also see that my mom did it all. She was my role model.

Then, when one of my brothers started architecture school at the University of Delft - he’s just one-and-a-half years older than me - he took me to the Faculty of Architecture, and I always remember the moment I entered the model making room. It was an amazing space. From that moment, a kind of passion came into me and it never stopped!

TU Delft Library by Ossip Architectuurfotografie

Lucky for us that it never stopped! What did you learn when you studied architecture - both about architecture and about yourself?

I studied architecture during a very exciting time, especially in the 1970s. I studied from 1974 to 1984. I started the office already in 1980, and that was the time of a big economic crisis - we were not even aware of it, to be honest. But, it was also a time when urban renewal was a big issue and a lot of architects were supporting the neighborhoods. I thought, “I want to listen to them, and I want to design for them.”

I started the office when I was still a student at the University of Delft, so we really started with the urban renewal. I also knew that I wanted to be an architect because I like a combination of social, technical, human, and aesthetic aspects - that combination is really what I like to do. If I look now to the younger generation, it’s like the ‘70s are back [laughs]! But I’ve always done this work.

Tell me more about starting Mecanoo.

We started Mecanoo when we were still students. At that time there weren’t many competitions, but there was one competition for the urban renewal of social housing. I participated with two school friends and we won, and since we had to build it, we set up an office. So we realized our first big building in the center of Rotterdam. I won another competition some years later, and I we had time to finish university and officially become an architect.

“I believe that the role of an architect, the way I want to be an architect, is to be visionary and to help society.”

What is it about Dutch design that makes it so world-class? Some of the best architecture is produced in the Netherlands - why do you think that is the case?

I don’t know - all of these Dutch architects, they are all different. To be honest, it’s not all the same. Some people say you have the “OMA School” and the “Mecanoo School” - these are two different schools. But I think what I like about the Netherlands is that we did get a chance to build as young people. I think we are a very open-minded country and architecture needs clients. It may have something to do with the clients more than the architects.

That’s interesting. You’ve run Mecanoo now for many years. In that time, how has the firm evolved and how have you evolved with it?

Often people think of architects by way of a certain style. That was not my interest. I believe that the role of an architect, the way I want to be an architect, is to be visionary and to help society. I look at what is needed in society and if you look at the work of Mecanoo - we started with social housing and urban renewal because we wanted to change those. Then I thought, “Hey, the public space is really not well done in the city,” so I started to design public space. And then I saw with educational buildings that we needed a bigger vision - so we started to design educational buildings. I came up with the big issue of mobility and became a professor. Every time, I tried to develop new things that are well-connected to what is needed in society. For me, it’s intellectually very interesting and at the same time, it’s the role I want - to be a servant to society in a visionary way.

What’s your process? How does one become “visionary”?

I really think that’s something that just happens in my brain! I learned it just from observing - I cannot help it, it never stops. My parents said that I always wanted to “cross the borders.” It’s in my DNA.

Francine presenting Mecanoo’s work. Image by Shawn Liu.

In running Mecanoo and in being a founder, what have been the biggest challenges that are specific to the practice or to building the practice?

One of the biggest issues is that it’s important that you have a creative company, but you also have to run the company in an economic way, otherwise you don’t survive. Of course, in these forty years, there have been several economic crises and now, with the coronavirus, we don’t know what will happen. As an office you often have too few or too many people to balance that. You can have some painful moments when there is a crisis.

I am the only one who has been around since the beginning. It’s interesting that new people come in as some people leave - it gives you fresh blood, in combination with changes in society.

Where are you in your career today?

It’s a funny question - this is the year that I will turn 65 and it should be the time that you stop working - although now I think it’s 67. This is a special year, with the opening of three of our libraries - Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in New York City, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., and the Tainan Public Library in Taiwan. Hygiene in public buildings has always been an issue so, in a way, these buildings are ahead of their time – they are prepared for social distancing.

“A good building is spacious, and has beautiful daylighting, ventilation, very good acoustics - people often forget about the acoustics.”

What is a good building for you?

A good building is spacious, and has beautiful daylighting, ventilation, very good acoustics - people often forget about the acoustics - it has a good atmosphere with colors and light, and you can see that the building is loved by users and has a timeless quality. At Mecanoo, we also have very good technical support, so the buildings are well detailed - of course the contractor makes the building, not us - but it is very important that we can control the outcome in-house.

We talked a little bit about challenges in building a practice, an architectural office. What have been some challenges for you in your career?

I often get asked how it is to be a female architect!

I bet. That question is tired!

It’s more complicated. I never wanted to talk about being a female architect, because I can’t help it - I was born like this! But at the same time, in my generation, it was not normal to work as hard as I did. When I brought my kids to school, the other moms were sort of looking at me....it was not totally socially accepted. I think I’ve been a good mom, but of course I’ve been different from other moms.

Different how?

My kids are very much aware that I’m a creative person and have a passion for my work - I also have a passion for my kids, they’re grown up now. I had to balance it of course. Also, it’s different in every culture. I don’t know how it is in New York, but in my time, it was not normal to have an au pair, or to bring your children to work. Each generation has better facilities for both parents to take care of their children, so that’s good.

Villa Vught Ossip Architectuurfotografie

National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts by Andrés Gallardo Albajar

Who are you admiring right now? Who’s out there in the world doing things that you want others to know about or that you’re looking to yourself?

If I look to work, it’s mostly architects, but they’re not alive anymore. I really did like Ray [and Charles] Eames and the body of their work - that’s more on an architectural level. They have been important to me. The painter David Hockney has always been a person for inspiration because he’s always finding new techniques, new research, optimistic, beautiful colors, a great artist. I admire people who keep this energy.

We talked about this a little before when we spoke about Mecanoo, but what is your mission in the world? What is the impact that you want to leave the world with?

To create a better world. For me, it’s very important because we’re now working at Trinity College in Toronto. It’s extremely interesting what we are doing for them - they want to be the greenest and most sustainable college in Canada. But we are doing it not only in building technology, using cross laminated timber and sustainable energy, but we are also focusing on food production and the education of the students. How can we inspire them with the new building and with how we eat and produce food? There will be food production on the roof and in the basement, and the building is meant to be connected with the nature around and the agriculture there.

It’s important to me because I live in Rotterdam, but I have a farm house one hour outside the city. I keep connected to the seasons because I’ve been traveling a lot in my life, and you can get lost without the seasons. What is so beautiful, if you’re connected to the different seasons and what is growing, then that keeps you connected to the earth. People often ask, “What do you do when you have time off?” I produce jams and jellies from my own garden. I’m still connected to the earth - I think that’s extremely important. The future is looking toward basic values. Also, with the coronavirus crisis, I think you can see the needs of people. They’re very simple needs that we, as architects and urbanists, can provide in the public space - walkable cities, bikeable cities, being connected to food, connected to each other, and creating community.

“The future is looking toward basic values. I think also with the coronavirus crisis, you can see the needs of people, they’re very simple needs that we as architects and urbanists can provide in the public space - walkable cities, bikeable cities, being connected to food, connected to each other, and creating community.”

Those are great things to aspire to. What is your advice for those who are just starting their careers in architecture?

I always make the joke to my children, never become an architect because it’s such a tough job. It’s nonstop, it’s always on your mind, but I love it, it’s also inspirational. There are a lot of difficult things but, at the same time, I totally enjoy it. I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been working for forty years - of course with ups and downs - in a successful way. But maybe I just wanted to protect my children [laughs].

There are many ways of being an architect and doing architecture, so you should follow your own values and passion. I think the whole thing with having “star architects” - when people say, “She’s a star architect, but doesn’t behave like a star architect,” that’s a big compliment. Many students think that they have to become a star architect - it should be more about a collaborative way of working with others and with your team. Also, it’s extremely interesting to work with clients on social issues, sustainability issues, food production - it’s creative to bring all of these basic needs together as an architect. It’s hard work.

What is it about architecture that makes it such a difficult profession?

I think it’s a combination of having to be creative and having to take care of the economics because it’s also a business. I often make the joke that people think we have such a nice job sometimes they think they don’t have to pay you. But that’s impossible; we all have to pay the bills. It’s a kind of culture, we should not accept that. I think it’s a very important profession - and important to be involved with social issues. If we do it well, we can have an impact in a very positive and important way.