As MVRDV continues to expand its presence in the United States, and North America as a whole, the company is pleased to welcome Vanessa Kassabian as the director of its New York operations.

“MVRDV is proud to add Vanessa to the team!” says MVRDV managing director Inger Kammeraat. “It’s good to have someone as versatile as Vanessa to form a bridge between the works done in Rotterdam and the communication with our clients and partners in the USA.”

Vanessa received her Masters of Architecture from the Pratt Institute in New York, and is a registered architect in New York State, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and a LEED Accredited Professional. She brings extensive experience in senior roles at a number of New York-based architecture firms: most recently, she served as a principal at DLR Group, and she previously worked as a principal of her own firm, the Brooklyn-based Condition Architecture, and director at the New York office of Snøhetta. She also has prior experience at OMA New York, REX, and Davis Brody Bond. Vanessa has also contributed more broadly to the architectural profession as a studio instructor at Parsons New School, a guest reviewer at a variety of architecture schools, a juror in a number of awards, and a speaker at many events over the past decade.

In her role as director of MVRDV’s New York operations, Vanessa will represent MVRDV to clients, institutions, and the public. She will work closely with the design studios as well as the business development and public relations teams based in MVRDV’s Rotterdam headquarters, advocating for the office and expanding its potential to realise its bold and idiosyncratic designs in the Americas.

“I am thrilled to join the designers at MVRDV and expand our presence within the Americas”, says Vanessa. “I believe that the impact the office has in reimagining programmes lends an unconventional and innovative way of looking at projects and ultimately enriching the world in which we live.”

Vanessa begins her new role just weeks before the opening of MVRDV’s first completed building in the United States, the Radio Hotel and Tower in Washington Heights, New York. The second will follow shortly after on the country’s opposite coast: The Canyon, a 23-storey mixed-use building in San Francisco’s Mission Rock neighbourhood, topped out earlier this year and is scheduled for completion in 2023.