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Executive Director
Michelle Provoost

Dr. Michelle Provoost is an architectural historian specialised in urban planning history, postwar architecture and contemporary urban development.

She co-founded the office of Crimson Architectural Historians in 1994, which has subsequently been engaged in a large number of research and design projects in the fields of urban planning, architecture and art. Since 2008 Dr. Provoost has served as Director of the International New Town Institute (INTI) in Almere, the Netherlands. Under her direction, INTI has grown into an internationally known center for education and research relating to New Towns. 
Dr. Provoost is the head editor of the INTI publications. She teaches at various universities in the Netherlands and abroad and continues to be in great demand as a public speaker. She lectures regularly throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States, and has been involved in many municipal, national and private committees and juries.

contact: m.provoost@newtowninstitute.org




Managing Director
Simone Rots

Simone Rots is an architectural historian and partner of Crimson Architectural Historians, an office that takes the contemporary city as its point of departure.

From 2006 to 2013, Simone was the director of Hofbogen BV. Holding this position, she was responsible for the transformation of the Hofbogen: a nineteenth century monumental train viaduct, close to the centre of Rotterdam. She advises on creative ways of organizing and financing the redevelopment of cultural heritage and has experience in developing (cultural) events in the field of architecture and urban design. Throughout her career, Simone has been projectmanager of various events like WiMBY!, an urban renewal project in Rotterdam/Hoogvliet, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and Rotterdam 2001, Cultural Capital of Europe. She is member of different boards and advisory committees. Currently, Simone is working on her PhD “The Squatted New Town, Modernism Meets Informality, Venezuelan Cases” at the Technical University of Delft on the subject of modernism and urban informality. Since the beginning of 2014 Simone is involved in INTI as managing director.

contact: s.rots@newtowninstitute.org




Project manager
JaapJan Berg

JaapJan Berg (1965) is independent curator, organisator, moderator and journalist regarding architecture, urbanism and design.

He is working as a project manager for INTI regarding research of the Dutch New Towns and education. His latest INTI program is ’Oog op de Buurt. JaapJan has done work for de Academie Bouwkunst Amsterdam, AIR, BNA, CASLa, Claus en Kaan Architecten, Gemeente Almere, H+N+S Landschapsarchitecten, INTI, Kossmann De Jong, Kunst & Cultuur Overijssel and Rijkswaterstaat.

His articles have been published by Archined, Bauwelt, Blauwe Kamer, LucasX, OASE, MARK, Stadscahiers and Stedenbouw & Ruimtelijke Ordening.

contactl:j.berg@newtowninstitute.org




Program director China and India
Linda Vlassenrood

Linda Vlassenrood is an independent curator, writer and consultant on architecture, urban planning and design.

Linda worked as a curator at the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) from 2000, serving as chief curator from 2008 to 2011. The NAI used to be one of the largest architecture centers in the world. Her department worked successfully on a rich and diverse program of exhibitions, lectures and debates, events and educational programs for professionals as well as broader audiences. Linda has curated a significant number of noteworthy exhibitions and events on architecture in its broadest sense. She curated exhibitions on landscape and urban planning, such as "Hybrid Landscapes" (the Dutch contribution to the International Architecture Biennale in Venice in 2004). Crossovers between architecture and design were examined in shows such as “Reality Machines” and “Tangible Traces” (Dutch contribution to the International Architecture Biennale in Sao Paulo in 2007). With the exhibition "China Contemporary" she placed Chinese architecture on the international map in 2006.

At INTI, Linda set up and runs the international research program "New New Towns. Why we need to rethink the city of tomorrow today" in Shenzhen (China) since 2012. She is currently also Program Manager at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam for which she curates a multiyear cultural program (2015-2017) with the City of Eindhoven on its twofold ambition of being a smart city in a participatory society. Linda regularly lectures and publishes internationally and has been involved in municipal and national juries.

contact: l.vlassenrood@newtowninstitute.org




Project leader Nairobi
Naomi Hoogervorst

Naomi Hoogervorst studied Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences at the Technical University of Delft (NL).

During her work at renowned architectural offices and at an innovative construction company, she acquired knowledge about the complex relationships in architectural and urban design. In 2008 she set up her own practice ‘FREEM Open Architecture’ that works collaboratively on local and international projects. Combining her strong skills in engaging local partners in design, she co-founded Placemakers; an interdisciplinary organisation that involves communities in public spaces as an entry point for sustainable urban development. Since 2 years, she is based in Nairobi, Kenya, working on various urban projects for The International New Town Institute, Placemakers, DASUDA and UN-Habitat in Kenya and abroad.

She is organising the international exchange and research program ’Feeding the City’ within the New New Towns programme in Nairobi. Together with Dutch and Kenyan students and professionals the themes agriculture and urban development are being studied by mapping the metabolism of the metropolitan region of Nairobi. After that a testing-ground will be developed in region Nairobi to learn-by-doing during the implementation phase, aiming at finding local solutions for global problems in the urban context.

Contact: n.hoogervorst@newtowninstitute.org




Project Leader Curitiba
Jorn Konijn

Jorn Konijn is an architecture & design curator and writer based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

He curated several exhibitions, such as the official Dutch pavilion for the International Architecture Biennale of Sao Paulo (Brazil) on Unsolicited Architecture, the award winning Housing with a Mission exhibition for the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism Architecture 2011 and the exhibition Lelé – architect of health and happiness for the Netherlands Architecture Institute in 2012. In 2013 he was curator for the overall Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism Architecture. In 2014 he was curator of the 5th Bienal Brasileira de Design, Florianopolis, May 2015. He is an advisor of the Dutch Council for Culture, the legal adviser of the Dutch government in the fields of the arts, culture and media, and regularly teaches and publicizes about architecture, design and urbanism.

Contact:j.konijn@newtowninstitute.org




Project Manager
Viviana Rubbo

Viviana is an Italian architect. With a background in Architecture and a Master degree in urban regeneration she started her professional life as an architect engaged in social planning and urban regeneration programs at the neighbourhood and city level and coordinator of community-based development projects.

In the last 5 years she developed a worldwide network, first at INTA – the Paris-based international urban development association, then at IFHP - the International Federation for Housing and Planning, in Copenhagen. She has organized international exchanges and debates all over Europe, Asia and Latin America, aimed at seeking new understandings of today’s urban processes, questioning urban policies around the world, at the different scales, and benchmarking diverse and composite approaches to city making.

With experience on urban and metropolitan issues, she has collaborated with Torino Strategica, the association in charge of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan for Torino 2025. In the role of international antenna her task was to bring to the association a wide perspective on the European metropolitan dynamics in place.

She has recently joined INTI for which she is organizing the International New Town Day.

Contact:info@newtowninstitute.org




Scientific Advisor
Wouter Vanstiphout

Wouter Vanstiphout is professor of Design & Politics at the Technical University of Delft.

He is an architectural historian and a founding member of Crimson Architectural Historians (Rotterdam) and has written extensively on urbanism, specializing in the urban renewal of post war cities. As a practitioner he has directed the renewal of the Dutch industrial satellite town of Rotterdam: Hoogvliet and advises municipalities, the national government, housing corporations and Project Developers on matters relating to urban renewal, cultural heritage and spatial and urban politics. Since 2012 he is member of the national advisory council on the environment and infrastructure (RLI).

contact: w.vanstiphout@crimsonweb.org