The history of AHH
AHH was founded by Herman Hertzberger in 1958. His work challenged conventional ideas about architecture: buildings were not fixed objects, but frameworks that could be appropriated, adapted and given meaning by the people using them.
Iconic designs for real people
Projects such as Centraal Beheer in Apeldoorn and the Apollo Schools became internationally recognised examples of this approach. Rather than prescribing how a building should be used, they created conditions for encounter, interaction and change.
Van structuralisme naar nu
The world in which we design has changed considerably since 1958. So have the programmes, technologies and challenges we work with. AHH today designs schools, workplaces, cultural buildings, homes and environments for new forms of digital culture. What connects these projects to the work of earlier generations is not a particular architectural language. It is an attitude: starting with people, questioning the brief, and creating buildings that leave room for different ways of using them.
Herman Hertzberger today
Herman Hertzberger remains connected to AHH. Born in 1932, he continues to contribute his knowledge and experience, particularly to projects involving his earlier buildings and their future. The transformation of Centraal Beheer is a particularly important example. A building conceived more than fifty years ago around flexibility and appropriation is now facing a new question: how can those same qualities allow it to accommodate an entirely new use? Hertzberger also remains involved in architectural education, continuing a lifelong commitment to teaching and the exchange of ideas between generations.
