Francine Houben Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Francine Houben
Francine Houben, 2015.
Born	Francine Marie Jeanne Houben (1955-07-02) 2 July 1955 (age 69) Sittard, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Alma mater	Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology
Occupation	Architect

Practice	Mecanoo
Buildings	Library of Birmingham, Delft University of Technology Library, Revitalisation Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Amsterdam University College, Delft Railway Station and Municipal Offices, HOME Arts Centre, La Llotja de Lleida, Montevideo Residential Tower, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts.
Projects	1st Edition International Architecture Biennal Rotterdam

Francine Marie Jeanne Houben, born on July 2, 1955, is a famous Dutch architect. She studied at the Delft University of Technology and graduated with high honors. Francine is a founder and the creative leader of a big architecture firm called Mecanoo architecten, located in Delft, Netherlands.

What Francine Houben Does
- Designing Amazing Libraries
- Teaching and Recognition
Key Projects by Francine Houben
Gallery
Awards and Honours
See also

What Francine Houben Does

Francine Houben designs many different types of buildings. Her work includes universities, libraries, theaters, homes, museums, and hotels. She combines three important areas: architecture (designing buildings), urban planning (designing cities), and landscape architecture (designing outdoor spaces).

Francine believes that good architecture should appeal to all your senses. She says it's not just about how a building looks. It's about how it feels, sounds, and even smells. She aims to create spaces that combine social, technical, and human elements. This way, each building is a unique solution to its design challenge. She wants her buildings to feel welcoming and inspiring to everyone.

Designing Amazing Libraries

Francine's firm is especially known for designing libraries. One of her first big library projects was the Delft University of Technology library, finished in 1997. This led to other major library designs, like the Library of Birmingham in 2013. Her firm is also working on updating the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., and the New York Public Library in New York.

Francine often talks about how important libraries are. She believes they are some of the most important public buildings, just like cathedrals were long ago. Her work has received praise around the world. The Library of Birmingham was even nominated for the Stirling Prize in 2014, a big award for architecture. When she was named "Woman Architect of the Year" in 2014, Francine said that designing the Library of Birmingham was a great honor. She also mentioned that architecture is a team effort, and women are especially good at working together and having a vision.

Teaching and Recognition

Francine Houben has taught architecture at universities in the Netherlands and other countries. In 2007, she was a visiting professor at Harvard University. She also served as the City Architect of Almere from 2002 to 2006.

In 2001, she wrote an important book about architecture called 'Composition, Contrast, Complexity'. She also helped organize the first International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam in 2003, where she highlighted the beauty of how things move in cities. In 2010, she became a lifelong member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. In 2015, the Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Máxima, gave her the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize for all her amazing work. Francine has written many books and given lectures at universities, sharing her ideas about design. She describes her approach to architecture with four words: "People, place, purpose, poetry."

Key Projects by Francine Houben

Here are some of the important buildings and projects Francine Houben and her firm, Mecanoo, have designed:

Faculty of Economics and Management, Utrecht (1995)
TU Delft Library, Delft (1997)
Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem (2000)
Westergasfabriek Terrain, Amsterdam (2001)
Masterplan Delft University of Technology (2002)
Montevideo Residential Tower, Rotterdam (2005)
FiftyTwoDegrees, Nijmegen (2007)
La Llotja Theatre and Congress Centre, Lleida (2008)
Amphion Theatre, Doetinchem (2009)
Kaap Skil, Maritime and Beachcombers Museum, Texel (2012)
Amsterdam University College, Amsterdam (2012)
Library of Birmingham integrated with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham (2013)
HOME Arts Centre, Manchester (2015)
Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, Boston (2015)
Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam (2015)
Taekwang Country Club Cafe, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (2015)
Municipal Offices and Train Station, Delft, The Netherlands (2015/2017)
Keukenhof, Lisse, The Netherlands (2017)
Namdaemun Office Building, Seoul, South Korea (2017)
Eurojust (EU agency), The Hague, Netherlands (2017)
Palace of Justice, Córdoba, Spain (2017)
National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Kaohsiung (2018)
Three Cultural Centers & One Book Mall, Shenzhen (2018)
Manchester Engineering Campus Development, Manchester (ongoing)
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library renovation, Washington, D.C. (ongoing)
European Investment Bank, Luxembourg (ongoing)
Kaohsiung Station, Kaohsiung (ongoing)
New York Public Library Midtown renovation, New York (ongoing)
Shenzhen North Station Urban Design, Shenzhen (ongoing)
Tainan Public Library, Tainan (ongoing)
Natural History Museum, Abu Dhabi (ongoing)