Who is Herman Hertzberger? Herman Hertzberger (born 6 July 1932, Amsterdam) is a Dutch architect, professor emeritus at TU Delft and the leading voice of structuralism in architecture — the idea that a building should be an open framework its users complete. Best known for the Centraal Beheer offices in Apeldoorn and a lifetime of celebrated school buildings, he received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2012 and, at 94, remains one of architecture’s most influential living thinkers.
| Quick facts | Herman Hertzberger (2026) |
|---|---|
| Born | 6 July 1932, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Movement | Structuralism — buildings as frameworks of small spatial units that users appropriate |
| Masterpiece | Centraal Beheer offices, Apeldoorn (completed 1972) — now being converted to housing under a masterplan by MVRDV |
| Famous schools | Montessori school, Delft (1966); Apollo Schools, Amsterdam (1983) |
| Key books | Lessons for Students in Architecture (1991) and its sequels; Architecture and Structuralism (2015) |
| Honours | RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2012); professor emeritus, TU Delft; founder, Architectuurstudio HH |
{1 + 1 = Humans + Togetherness = Structuralism + Sustainability= Past + Future= HH}
The equation explains:
The Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger (HH) always followed a simple principle of ‘One plus one’. It aimed either a space serving people while connecting them integrally or a space where structuralism and sustainability go hand in hand, or a space dynamically serving in the present and future even after a change is there in the building’s purpose.
Herman Hertzberger is a beautiful contribution to our society who thinks, lives, and expresses for the community. The unifier has received the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2012) and many other accolades through his contribution to BBE: Buildings, Books, and Education.
90 years = 9 sentences | Herman Hertzberger
Who would’ve thought that a boy, waiting and getting bored daily for his father’s return from work, could connect to architecture unknowingly by noticing facades, detail of doorways, canopies, and bay windows on the streets of Zuid (Netherlands)? Later, the education at Eerste Montessori school and Montessori Lyceum- De Lairessestraat, the war years, the Le Corbusier’s book, Mansion de Verre (Paris), and his cultural roots made him reach one of the best architectural universities (Delft University of Technology). In 1958, the undergraduate, with the ambition of being a modern architect, opened his HH studio from home.
Within the coming years, Herman Hertzberger collaborated with Marius Duintjer, his father of architecture–Aldo Van Eyck, FORUM, and Jaap Bakema. This experience was even reflected in his buildings leading to being a part of the Dutch Structuralist Movement from 1960 to the 1970s. The decade provided a range of works from the popular Matchbox schemes to A workshop for 1000 people.
“I think an architect’s role is to make a space for people to contact each other. Space is effect medium for interrelation, exchange, meeting with each other, speaking.”- HH.
From days to days, years to years, and decades to decades, a comprehensive portfolio of housing, urban planning, cultural and educational buildings, offices, and interior design was made by HH. With this continuation, the 90-year-old man is still inspiring the community with his works, teachings, speeches, and mindset.
25+ Key projects = 6 lessons
The six lessons commonly seen in all buildings of Herman Hertzberger are:-
- Every building has social cohesion.
- A feeling of belongingness for the people.
- A space accommodating society and social exchange.
- Structuralism; a philosophical notion of competence and performance.
- The space/structure/environment for today and tomorrow.
- Buildings are like city streets, depicting a balance between freedom and control for the people.
Some of his key projects are:-
- De Drie Hoven, Amsterdam (1964-1974)– The cohesive form of a system of columns, beams, and floors, with a social substratum within the elderly housing.
- Montessori school, Delft (1966)– The school with spatial articulation through the L-shaped classrooms, diagonal central corridor, and autonomous units. “A safe nest”- A home environment with a concentration in each class has been achieved, through cloakrooms than rows of pegs, protected sandcastle zones, and sunken slabs for children having familiar surroundings.
- A Workshop for 1000 people, Apeldoorn (1968)- The sixty tower-like cubes articulated as a single unit feel like a street pattern of a medieval town. The office of no corridors and rabbit hutches has cafes, boudoirs, phonebooth, kitchen, library, compluvium, etc. At present, the building will serve as affordable housing, proving Herman Hertzberger’s statement: “Every building shall be designed in such a way that gets converted later at the stage of abandoning to a type of housing”.
- Vredenburg music centre, Utrecht (1973)- When the Vredenburg’s entrances are all open, the centre temporarily becomes part of the street. The building seeks to be absorbed by the city because of being part of the market square and informally integrating each other.
Diagoon experimental housing, Apollo schools, Burgerweeshuis orphanage(Amsterdam), YKK dormitory(Japan), CODA(Apeldoorn), Montessori schools, and colleges are some of the other projects.
9 + 1 = Publications + Education | Herman Hertzberger
Publications
- ‘Homework for more hospitable forms’- FORUM XXIV(1973)Hans Van Heeswijk(1995)
- Lessons for Students in Architecture (1996)
- Ruimte maken, ruimte laten: lessen in architectuur (1996)
- Space and the Architect: Lessons in Architecture 2 (1999)
- Articulations (2002)
- Space and the Learning: Lessons in Architecture 3 (2008)
- The Future of Architecture (2013)
- Architecture and Structuralism: The Ordering of Space (2015)
Herman Hertzberger majorly disseminated about the interaction between form and users, experiencing and absorbing something that leads to references and shouldn’t be sublimated by architects and architectural frame of mind that enables students to do the work and focus on a wide-angle lens than a telelens, so forth.
Education
After 20 years (1970) of passing from Delft University of Technology, the man himself got invited to teach students of architecture. He even says, “Architects must react to the world, not each other”. He was an asset to the university with his diverse spectrum in different fields of architecture.
Lectures and Documentary
Berlage Institute (1991)- He expressed his idea about education, explaining why students shall not be steered by the teachers and be allowed to explore. The lecture even had been shared with Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, and others.
Searching for Space(2009) – The main goal of the documentary was to inspire and motivate architects where Herman Hertzberger gets inspiration from; and who preceded him.
4 = Accolades
His contributions to the society are his vision have led him to achieve the following:
- Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence (1989, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona)
- RIBA Royal Gold Medal (2012, London)
- Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture (2015, University of Virginia)
- Accademico d’Onore or honorary member (Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, Florence)
Herman Hertzberger = 7.9 billion | Herman Hertzberger
HH has always thought for the best of the people while keeping aside aesthetics, budgets, and problems; and it continues. The Dutch architect has always thought of the best for society, whether it is about human dignity in the past; living for the society at present, or will express the best solutions in the future. The person’s teachings and perspectives are the main things an architect shall make the goal.
Frequently Asked Questions About Herman Hertzberger
Who is Herman Hertzberger?
A Dutch architect born in Amsterdam on 6 July 1932, professor emeritus at TU Delft and the most eloquent practitioner of structuralism. He received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2012 and is still living in 2026, aged 94.
What is Herman Hertzberger’s most famous building?
The Centraal Beheer office building in Apeldoorn (1972) — a “workers’ village” of interlocking concrete units that let a thousand employees shape their own workspace. It is considered a high point of structuralism, and MVRDV is now masterplanning its conversion into a residential district.
What is structuralism in architecture?
The movement Hertzberger championed: instead of fixed, finished forms, the architect designs a structural framework of repeatable spatial units that inhabitants complete and adapt — “form follows people” rather than function alone.
Which schools did Hertzberger design?
School design is his life’s thread: the Montessori school in Delft (1966), which he extended for decades, and the Apollo Schools in Amsterdam (1983) are studied worldwide, and his thinking on learning spaces fills the book Space and Learning (2008).
What books did Herman Hertzberger write?
His Lessons series — Lessons for Students in Architecture (1991), Space and the Architect (1999) and Space and Learning (2008) — plus Architecture and Structuralism: The Ordering of Space (2015) are staples of architectural education. See where his peers rank among the 20 greatest architects in the world, or compare another master profiled here, Minoru Yamasaki.
Sources for the 2026 update
Wikipedia, “Herman Hertzberger” (2026). ArchDaily, “MVRDV Commissioned to Transform Herman Hertzberger’s Centraal Beheer Building into a New Residential District” (2022). RIBA, Royal Gold Medal laureates (2012). Herman Hertzberger, Lessons for Students in Architecture (010 Publishers, 1991).
References:
- n.d. [online] Available at: <https://www.hertzberger.nl/index.php/en/> [Accessed 17 May 2022].
- n.d. [online] Available at: <https://www.ahh.nl/index.php/nl/> [Accessed 17 May 2022].
- Dezeen. n.d. Herman Hertzberger to receive the Royal Gold medal for architecture. [online] Available at: <https://www.dezeen.com/2011/12/06/herman-hertzberger-to-receive-the-royal-gold-medal-for-architecture/> [Accessed 17 May 2022].
- Archdaily.com. n.d. Herman Hertzberger | Tag | ArchDaily. [online] Available at: <https://www.archdaily.com/tag/herman-hertzberger> [Accessed 17 May 2022].
- n.d. Lessons for Students in Architecture By Herman Hertzberger. 1st ed. [ebook] Herman Hertzberger. Available at: <https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=l7KxKAAHW2sC&oi=fnd&pg=PA12&ots=XH_uJksFmZ&sig=_1AVSQs0yP5QYL1NrTvev3MsY4g&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false> [Accessed 17 May 2022].
- Workplace | Design | Architecture. n.d. Herman Hertzberger: The super-humanist. [online] Available at: <https://www.onofficemagazine.com/opinion/herman-hertzberger-the-super-humanist> [Accessed 17 May 2022].
