The four-part series ‘Francine Houben, een Hollandse architect met wereldsucces’ documents one year of Francine’s professional and personal life, following her travels between Rotterdam, Delft, Limburg, New York, Boston and Taiwan. This journey introduces us to Francine’s architectural vision which is centered on people and inspired by local place and cultures.
The series also gives us behind-the-scenes insight into Mecanoo’s current projects, including the design process of the New York Public Library and the construction of the National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, which will open in October of this year.
There is no success without setbacks, however, and the documentary does not hide the reality of for instance a lost competition. What does it take to lead such a large company with a multitude of different projects? How do you navigate cultural and communication differences when working with international clients? It is by creatively and collaboratively facing these challenges that Mecanoo, under Francine’s leadership, has become a global success.
The documentary (mostly in Dutch) will be broadcasted on NPO 2:
Thursday 12 July, 19 and 26 July and August 2 at 22:50h, for more info, click here.
Outside the Netherlands, you can watch at bnv.tv, check the schedule.
The series was realized by Inge le Cointre, Martijn Schroevers, Nienke Andersson and Ivo Niehe. Image copyright Roger Neve.
*UPDATE You can now view all four episodes at NPO.