BEAToronto Talk with MVRDV

In their BEAT Talk, Nathalie de Vries and Sanne van der Burgh will recount the projects and stories that mark their careers. Beginning with Nathalie’s story of how she became the first of MVRDV’s three founding partners to “take the plunge” and leave her previous job – allowing her to lead the construction supervision of the studio’s first built project, Villa VPRO – the conversation will reflect on navigating and succeeding within traditionally male-dominated fields. Sanne will connect these experiences to her own field of practice, working within sustainability and technology-driven design environments, and reflect on how this shapes questions of authorship, visibility, and agency today.

At the same time, they will reflect on the complexities of the “woman in architecture” label, a moniker that can both celebrate an architect’s successes and draw attention away from their unique contributions to the profession. Nathalie will discuss how, after initially rejecting the label, she grew to accept it as a tool to provide a role model for younger architects.

Agenda

6:45 PM | Doors open

7:00 – 8:00 PM | BEAT Talk

8:00 – 8:30 PM | Q&A + Networking reception

BEAToronto Talks qualify for OAA Structured Learning hours