prof.dr.ir.J.M.J. Coenen

Architecture (A) | Modification, Intervention & Transformation
Chair of Restoration

Jo Coenen (born in 1949) has been a full professor of Restoration at the faculty since 2004. He defines restoration as not just returning an old window frame or mediaeval door to its original state, but rather the whole spectrum, from joints to the landscape. Present-day questions like, ‘What are we going to do with this old church?’ or ‘Should the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam stay or be demolished?’ are often about transformations of existing buildings or situations. More than ever, the design of buildings is a type of assembly. In order to emphasise this diversity, Coenen has remodelled the department ®MIT, which stands for Restoration, Modification, Intervention and Transformation. As the initiator and coordinator, he would like to transform ®MIT into a knowledge centre and a place for passing on information in the area of restoration in its broadest sense. He brings extra depth to the research that is performed under the Chair and also gives lessons in which he deals, among other things, with the culture of architecture and real-life examples of transformations or interventions. The most striking and challenging projects are those involving a blending of old and new. In order to be able to come up with good designs of that kind, knowledge of existing examples is, in his opinion, indispensable.

Much of the work he performs in his architectural practice also concerns the transformation of existing buildings. Some of his best-known projects are the Céramique Terrein in Maastricht, the Tivoli Music Hall in Utrecht and the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam. Coenen is chairman of the Het Experiment foundation and advisor and supervisor to cities in both the Netherlands and abroad. From 2000 until 2004 he was Chief Government Architect.

Secondary employment:

• Realm construction master in service of ministry of Vrom
• Director/shareholder Jo Coenen architects