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DESIGN:ED Podcast: Ben van Berkel and Frans van Vuure

June 10, 2026

Ben van Berkel and Frans van Vuure of Dutch firm UNS discuss the just-completed renovation of the Jewish Museum of New York and the opening of the studio's first U.S. office in Austin.

Tall Buildings 2026

Building with a Twist: UNS Adds a Sleek Silhouette to Dubai

Dubai

Nathan Eddy

May 4, 2026

2 Comments

Wasl Tower brings design restraint to a city full of showstopping supertalls and bombastic high-rises.

The W.I.N.D House

UNStudio has designed the W.I.N.D. house in the Netherlands to nestle into its natural setting while admitting light and views to the interior.

Suzanne Stephens

November 15, 2015

2 Comments

A house by architect Ben van Berkel rarely could be described as a glass box. Instead the principal of the Amsterdam-based UNStudio avoids the rectilinear modernist approach for a more organic direction.

Ardmore Residence

High Life: UNStudio uses an inventive design for a luxe tower in Singapore

November 15, 2013

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Architect Ben van Berkel of Amsterdam-based firm UNStudio used a unique pinwheel plan to design the Ardmore Residence, creating a new architectural icon in Singapore.

House Beside a Vineyard

Let's Twist: A dynamic study in contrasts, this sculptural villa is a reflection of German tradition and style, as well as of the couple who commissioned it.

David Cohn

April 16, 2012

One Comment

There's a swirl at the center of UNStudio's House Beside a Vineyard outside Stuttgart, Germany.

Suzanne Stephens

September 16, 2010

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Ben van Berkel, principal of the Amsterdam-based architectural firm UNStudio, is known for his breathtakingly swoopy designs of sleek surfaces that never seem to end. The gleaming, aluminum-clad Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, with its double-spiral-ramped concrete structure, convincingly argues the case [RECORD, November, 2006, page 128]. After completing that nine-story-high, 270,000 square-foot building, you might think that a 5,840-square-foot (gross) residential loft would be too rinky-dink a commission. Van Berkel argues otherwise: “I’m not interested as much in the scale of a project as with the program,” he explains. In this case, he was asked to design a loft

MUMUTH Music Theater

UNStudio keeps Graz humming with its MUMUTH music building.

Victoria Newhouse

October 19, 2009

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In the daytime, unStudio’s Haus für Musik und Musiktheater (MUMUTH) is a mysterious presence among historic houses on Lichtenfelsgasse Street in Graz, Austria’s second-largest city.

Agora Theater

UNStudio shocks a quiet Dutch city to life with the crystalline form and electric colors of the Agora Theater.

David Sokol

May 19, 2008

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Imagine Ben van Berkel as a child, traveling among the theaters of the Netherlands to listen to his mother sing in the chorus of the latest musical.

VilLA NM

Joining rectilinear forms with a twist, UNStudio’s VilLA NM, in upstate New York, captures the landscape in gold reflections

Suzanne Stephens

April 1, 2007

No Comments

The client, a New York–based developer with a young family, had a clear goal: a weekend house “as exciting as anything by Neutra and Schindler.”

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU

Explore how propane-powered systems and whole-home generators can improve energy resilience, reduce electrical loads, and lower long-term residential costs.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU

Explore how hospitality-driven campus design can strengthen belonging, wellbeing, and community connection in higher education environments.