UNS Talks

#31 Can designers anticipate our emotional needs? by UNS talks

In this special episode, host Josine Hendriksen sits down with Ben van Berkel to reflect on an extraordinary year for UNStudio. From groundbreaking projects to exciting product launches, 2024 has been a year of milestones. Together, Josine and Ben discuss the highlights, including the competition win for the Kyklos building in Luxembourg, the unveiling of the Remode chair with Ahrend, and the comp...

#22 UNStudio Celebrates Global Collaboration by UNS talks

In this very special episode, Machteld Kors, Director Strategic Development, is sitting down with UNStudio founder and principal architect, Ben van Berkel to discuss what has happened at the studio over this past year and what observations he has made regarding architecture and design and the profession in general. Don't forget to follow UNStudio on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X and Pinterest.

To start off the new year we sat down with Frans van Vuure , a Director at UNStudio and Benjamin Davey, a researcher and consultant for the UNS Futures team. In this episode they discuss this missing layer of cognitive experience design in architecture projects, and future applications of this research - enjoy! Host. Lucie Pressl Filmed and Edited. Thomas Jones Produced. Thomas Jones and Alexis Tr...

Cristóbal Burgos (Architect) sits down with Arjan Dingsté (Partner / Senior Architect) to discuss UNStudio’s latest software development that's transforming the way our architects and designers approach their projects —the Carbon Builder. This tool allows our teams to analyse and compare numerous design options, guiding them towards choices that significantly minimise the carbon footprint of their...

Host Liva Sadovska sits down with our colleagues Marianthi Tatari and Sugandha Gupta do discuss how they experience design in the world, from early on in the bid process to seeing a design become reality. In this episode, they also get into how UNStudio takes a human-centric approach to its designs and the importance of representation in architecture. To stay up-to-date with all of our work, be su...

In this episode of UNS talks, we explore the innovative approaches UNStudio is bringing to architectural design in the hospitality sector. We have expanded the conversation to include experts from various fields who are transforming how we experience both familiar and unfamiliar cities. Discover how travel and exploration, while exciting, also bring to light critical societal challenges such as ur...

As part of our campaign exploring some of the key factors that are enabling the hospitality industry to improve the guest experience, we sat down with our colleagues from Amsterdam, Austin, Dubai, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Melbourne, and Shanghai to provide a broader perspective of what is changing globally in the world of hospitality – and what we expect in the future. Guests: Astrid Piber – Partner...

In this episode of UNS Talks, we dive into the transformative power of reimagining city spaces through greenery. Join us as Ruth van Dijken, Director of The Green Mile project and Co-founder of Blending Bricks, and Misja van Veen, Senior Project Director and Urban Designer at UNStudio, share insights on The Green Mile, an ambitious initiative to revitalize Amsterdam’s iconic Stadhouderskade with n...

Welcome to our recent episode of 'Designing Social Cities'. Join us as we delve into the fascinating realm of urban design and its impact on creating socially vibrant cities. In this episode, we are thrilled to have esteemed guests from the renowned architecture practice, UNStudio, sharing their insights and expertise on the art of designing social cities. Episode guests: Valentina Amaya (left) -...

Have you ever wondered what it's like inside an architecture modelspace? In this episode of UNS Talks, our host Lucie Pressl spoke to Stijn and Jack from UNStudio's modelspace, the lively epicenter of our studio in Amsterdam. They talk about current projects, how modelmaking projects are organised within the studio, modelmaking sustainability and much more. Watch, listen and enjoy! Filmed and Edit...

Does the architecture practice actually reflect the world’s intensified focus on the topic of inclusivity? In the latest episode of UNS Talks, our host Lucie Pressl sat down with Gakku Jumaniyasova and Eyukewe Dogo to discuss the women that inspire them, the role that gender plays in the discipline and how inclusion and diversity have become more important to design as ever. Follow us on: LinkedIn...

As part of our report on technology in the Built Environment, our host Mira Stanic sits down with Ren Yee, Head of Innovation Strategy, and Strategic Designer, Huey Chan, to discuss technical innovations for end-users. From how technology and data can be put to use after a design is realised to how these innovations impact the environment, they explore how we can utilise these transformative tools...

How did a Branding Manual help get the Doha Metro Network designed and built in just seven years? In our latest UNS Talks podcast, we explore this metro project, and go in-depth into how one crucial design tool – the Branding Manual - helped get the network operational in such a rapid timeframe, while assuring its unified identity. In this episode, hear from UNStudio’s founder and principal archit...

The world of work is changing. It's clear that we need to re-imagine the workplace to become flexible and future-focused, but also reconsider how the role of the architect will develop over the coming years... Framed by these questions, we hosted a discussion between UNStudio architects Ben van Berkel, Marianthi Tatari and Harlen Miller.

For this episode of UNS Talks, we discussed our recently published article "The Responsive Technologies of Social Health" with article authors, Ben van Berkel, Filippo Lodi and Wael Batal. In their discussion, Ben, Filippo and Wael dissect parts of the article, such as the fourth industrial revolution and its impact on the built environment, media architecture and responsive design, smart cities v...

What is a circular construction strategy? How can digital solutions help the transition to a circular economy? What does a circular city really look like? For this podcast, we were very happy to host Joke Duformont and Ben Kubbinga from the Cities and Built Environment Programmes of Circle Economy: an Amsterdam based social enterprise that accelerates circular economic initiatives. The Cities Prog...

As part of our ongoing research into playgrounds, we were very happy to host Denisa Kollarova, author of Aldo van Eyck: Seventeen Playgrounds, at the UNStudio office in Amsterdam, to discuss the contents of her study. Of Aldo van Eyck's original 700 playgrounds built across Amsterdam, only 17 remain. What can we learn from van Eyck about designing for social cohesion and imagination?

Review Architecture is an online journal of architecture books, founded and curated by UNStudio Architect Ayax Abreu Garcia. Its goal is to sift through architectural literature, find the gems, dissect their content, create a spark in people’s minds, and help people become more interested in architectural literature. Recently Ayax held an interview with Ben van Berkel to discussed UNStudio written...

Every few months we like to host a breakfast open to everyone in our office to discuss the issue of Gender in design in an informal way. This time around, we invited Afaina de Jong to join us. Afaina is an architect, an academic and a cultural entrepreneur who works on the boundary of art and architecture. Having taught in both TU Delft and the Sandberg Institute, Afaina founded AFARAI in 2005: an...

UNS Talks about the Future of Mobility: The Cable Car This is the second of two special edition podcast episodes of UNS Talks, in which we discuss the future of mobility, looking at three projects we are currently working on across two alternative forms of public transport. To discuss these themes, we've brought in the people who are behind the designs: Ben van Berkel, the founder of UNStudio and...

UNS Talks about the Future of Mobility: the Hardt Hyperloop Hub This is the first of two special edition podcast episodes in which we discuss the future of mobility, looking at three projects we are currently working on across two alternative forms of public transport. To discuss these themes, we've brought in the people who are behind the designs: Ben van Berkel, the founder of UNStudio and UNSen...

UNS Talks with Mariana Pestana and Rory Hyde, Curators of Architecture at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. "The Future Starts Here" is a blockbuster exhibition currently on show at the V&A Museum in London, exploring the power of design in shaping the world of tomorrow. Design is, of course, always about the future. Curators Rory Hyde and Mariana Pestana discuss the key technologies appearing...

For our fifth podcast, we asked Doma to speak at our annual UNStudio Summer Conference, held in Mediamatic in Amsterdam. Doma is a non-profit housing cooperative that attempts to address and overcome issues relating the housing crisis, and the gap between home ownership and rental. Unlike other housing cooperatives however, Doma has developed an equitable housing platform, turning its users into h...