Gebruiker:Amberluesink/Kladblok

Dikkie Scipio

Dikkie Scipio is a Dutch architect and professor. Together with Kees Kaan and Vincent Panhuysen she is founding partner of KAAN Architecten.

Early Life & Education

Dikkie Scipio was born in 1963 in Utrecht (stad) in the Netherlands. After high school and several other educational activities, she developed her creativity during her study Applied Art and Interior Design at the Royal Acadamy of Art in The Hague. After finishing this training, she worked for a few years and almost 6 years later she trained herself as an architect at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture. From these professions she is skilled to do projects from masterplanning on a very large scale to designing small-scale public space or interiors. She has a very diverse and yet specific knowledge which can be used for the designing of monuments, restaurations and urban design. After studying she decided to use her knowledge in practice by being involved in many architectural projects but also by teaching and writing about her profession. From her student days on she hasn't only done this in the Netherlands, but all over the globe, for example in Nancy, Sao Paolo and Münster. In the latter she obtained her title as professor.

Career

Architectual work

Even before finishing her Master's degree in Architecture, in 1995, Dikkie started working together with Kees Kaan at Claus & Kaan Architects. In 2002 she became partner and in 2014 KAAN Architects, along with Vincent Panhuysen, was born. This firm works on a global scale on architecture and urbanism and develops academic expertise in this field (Kaan Architects, no date). They work in the private and the public sector and their team is very multidisciplinary and dynamic. The vision of KAAN Architects is to always link research with designing and to keep evolving and learning, since the architectual field is changing in a rapid pace. Sustainability and long-term use are important pillars for the firm and their projects integrate quality at every scale, from interior design to large-scale urban design. Both Dikkie and Kees Kaan are also professors and with this knowledge they always succeed in integrating research and the newest knowledge in their designs and way of working. This is what makes them unique and what makes them win many architectual competitions.

Media Presence & Publications

After already being involved in several juries and boards, Dikkie became board member of the Fleur Groenendijk Foundation in 2014. From this function she is commited to encourage young professionals to develop themselves further in the field of architecture. Since 2018, Dikkie Scipio is also a member of the board of the nai010-publishers. Recently, in 2020, Dikkie started writing columns for "de Architect", a Dutch magazine about the profession of architecture, urbanism and interior design. Here, she writes about modern issues in the field of architecture and urbanism, such as sustainability and spatial justice. As Frank van der Poel (2021) explains, social media isn't only a way to attract clients and projects, but also a tool to improve your own work and to contribute to a wider process of innovation. Since Dikkie is also a professor and aware that learning (for yourself and others) never stops, she has a strong (social) media presence.

In her work as publisher, Dikkie Scipio hasn't only contributed to shared knowledge and innovation, she also speaks about her strong ambitions and views on the future social development. In interviews and colums she isn't shy in making statements about for example women in architecture and her responsibility as rolemodel. "It’s nonsense that gender has any kind of influence on the quality of work you produce as an architect" (Kaan News, 2020) is what she recently said in an interview about this subject. This relates to the statement of Namelok (2021) saying that women don't get the same chances as men and that a change in the system is needed to create gender equality. Dikkie Scipio fights for this in her work. Besides this subject, she also stands for giving a voice and platform to young people and always protecting quality and sustainability in designing. Dikkie takes her responsibility as an architect, even if it gets political sometimes.

Concluding, it can be said that Dikkie is a strong designer with a lot of academic knowledge. She sees it as her duty to spread this knowledge and to help the field of architecture and urbanism to develop towards a sustainable and high-quality urban environment. With her work during her ongoing career she made a difference in inspiring and motivating the building field.

Works

From 2015 till 2021 Dikkie Scipio has worked on the renovation of Paleis het Loo. This old house of the Dutch Royal Family near Apeldoorn is a museum nowadays and has been renewed and expanded with 5000 square meters. In the renewed design the diverse expertise of Scipio becomes visible. With a very good eye for detail and a great integration from interior design to outside landscape design, a new experience for visitors is created. Special attention has been paid to good routing through the forty different royal rooms of the palace. (Kaan Architects, no date)

Dikke Scipio has also worked on another museum, namely the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. In this renovation design, Dikkie aimed to bring back the old intrinsic qualities of the building and returning daylight as the bearer of the design. Careful attention has gone into colouring and detailing the interior, adapted to the art of the museum. An unpredictable experience for the visitor is created which suprises and creates curiosity in every new room.

Another project Dikkie has worked on is the Central Post in Rotterdam. This is a multifunctional office building mainly used to host the creative industry (Kaan Architects, no date). By implementing hanging floors, a lot more floor space is created and monumental value is restored. The building became one of the most sustainable buildings of the Netherlands.

In her work, Dikkie Scipio pays special attention to understanding a place and a design to define its qualities and potentials. She researches the work carefully to make the right routing, use daylight as quality or create new constructions. Spiro (2013) explains the art of the working drawing and the different ways to tell the story of the place. A sketch tells something else then a formal floor plan. By researching different drawings carefully a deep understanding of an architectual work can be achieved. In her work, Dikkie Scipio uses the tool of studying drawings deeply to eventually take the best qualities as a starting point for the (re)design. This makes her work strong and powerful.

Further Reading

1.     Dikkie Scipio's perspective of women in architecture: https://kaanarchitecten.com/i-find-women-in-architecture-a-difficult-subject-an-interview-with-dikkie-scipio-for-a-zine/

2.     The website of Dikkie Scipio: https://www.dikkiescipio.com

3.     A series of videos called "Architects, not Architecture": https://kaanarchitecten.com/video/dikkie-scipio-in-architects-not-architecture/

References

• Frank van der Poel (2021), The Berlage Sessions: “The Architect’s Social Media Presence”, retrieved on december 10, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_csAkk7F9v8
• Kaan Architects (n.d.), Centrale Post, retrieved on december 20, 2021, from https://kaanarchitecten.com/project/central-post/
• Kaan Architects (n.d.), Museum Paleis het Loo, retrieved on december 20, 2021, from https://kaanarchitecten.com/project/museum-paleis-het-loo/
• Kaan Architects (n.d.), Royal Museum of Fine Arts, retrieved on december 20, 2021, from https://kaanarchitecten.com/project/royal-museum-of-fine-arts-2/
• Kaan News (2020), Dikkie Scipio on creating a platform for young architects, retrieved on december 20, 2021, from https://kaanarchitecten.com/dikkie-scipio-on-creating-a-platform-for-young-architects/
• Kaan News (2021), I find 'women in architecture' a difficult subject- an interview with Dikkie Scipio, retrieved on december 20, 2021, from https://kaanarchitecten.com/i-find-women-in-architecture-a-difficult-subject-an-interview-with-dikkie-scipio-for-a-zine/
• n.a. (n.d.), Dikkie Scipio, retrieved on december 15, 2021, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/dikkie-scipio-b6641a8/?originalSubdomain=nl
• n.a. (2021), Dikkie Scipio, journal of personal interests, projects and ideas, retrieved on december 15, 2021, from https://www.dikkiescipio.com/about
• n.a. (n.d.), NAI010, retrieved on december 20, 2021, from https://www.nai010.com/nl
• n.a. (n.d.), Fleur Groenendijk Foundation, retrieved on december 15, from https://www.fleurgroenendijkfoundation.nl/gb5/
• Namelok (2021), The Berlage Sessions: "The Architect's Patriarchy", retrieved on december 24, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VPw6awWx0E&ab_channel=TheBerlage
• Spiro, Emerson, Ganzoni (2013), The Working Drawing: The Architect’s Tool, PARK BOOKS, 978-3-906027-31-9