Speaker
Position:Architect / Partner
Employer:Kraaijvanger Architects
Country:Netherlands

Dirk Jan Postel (1957) was educated at Delft University of Technology and has been a partner of Kraaijvanger architects since 1992. His work is appreciated for its sober, minimalist idiom with a sense of perfection. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough knowledge of materials (particularly glass) he has realized various projects like museums, town halls, offices, schools, a glass pavilion, a theater, a traffic center and an ambassador's residence. Transparency, sustainability, spatial relationships and a high level of comfort are essential elements in his design attitude. Postel is a guest lecturer at various universities, worldwide, and leads a yearly masterclass in sustainability at Riseba (LV). As early as 1994 Postel conceived the concept of 'zero-energy' with Ecotopia. His own house became an example in 2008, converted from label F to A++. In 2016 he finished his first autarktic house near Alicante, Spain. Today Kraaijvanger architects work on severel zero-on-the-meter (ZOM) and even autarktic projects, both large scale housing and offices, with clever combinations of solar, wind and biobased energy and the newest generation of high power batteries.