How do we help reshape communities, the theme of the 2025 Ontario Association of Architects Conference?

On 14 and 15 May respectively, Partner Jan Knikker and Head of MVRDV NEXT Sanne van der Burgh will present at the conference. Opening the event, Jan will discuss how MVRDV transforms communities through a participative design process. The stereotype of the architect as a solitary artistic genius is being replaced by the image of the architect as the central figure or conductor in an orchestra of various stakeholders, from the construction team to neighbours - and even their pets! Illustrated by a range of projects including a masterplan for Glasgow's city centre, and the demographic transformation of the "new town" Almere in the Netherlands, Jan will share how MVRDV approaches its projects through a participatory process, and how this additional effort leads to more meaningful results. 

The following day, Sanne will explain our work on transformations and embodied carbon strategies. In an era where cities like Toronto impose carbon caps on new construction, and with the global impact of the EU taxonomy on the construction industry, building transformations are becoming increasingly important to achieve environmental goals while making projects more economically viable. Sanne will showcase industry best practices, including the transformation of a skyscraper in Shenzhen, China that preserved 85% of its concrete structure and became a vibrant, social space. Sanne will also explore how a concrete factory was repurposed into a performance academy and rock museum, how a 1990s office building was meticulously restored and extended, and how a rundown shopping centre was transformed into a tropical lagoon.

Jan Knikker joined MVRDV in 2008. Prior to this, Knikker shaped OMA’s public image for nearly a decade, after having first began his career as a journalist. As Partner and Director of Strategy at MVRDV, Knikker drives Business Development and Public Relations efforts, spearheading a large and dynamic studio that also includes the office’s visualization capacity. He further leads the office’s branding efforts, and MVRDV’s expansion into new regions and typologies, by supporting the office’s ambition to generate solutions to global challenges through a multifaceted approach to architecture, urbanism, and computing.

Sanne van der Burgh leads multiple teams within MVRDV, realizing projects of various scales, phases, and across several continents. Sanne played an integral role in high-profile MVRDV projects including the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the refurbishment of the Lyon Part Dieu shopping center, and a visionary project for revitalizing New Delhi’s sanitation and infrastructure: Barapullah Springs. Sanne is a versatile architect with demonstrated design achievements. In 2019, Architizer named her as one of 25 young architects to watch. In 2021, she was the winner of the Female Frontier Awards, organized by World Architecture News, winning the category “Innovation in Architecture”. Sanne regularly appears in lectures and juries worldwide.

• Date & time: 14 May, 08:30 EDT (Jan Knikker), 15 May, 08:30 EDT (Sanne van der Burgh)
• Location: The Westin Ottawa,

  11 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON K1N 9J1, Canada

• More information on the conference can be found here