Jacques Vink, Piet Vollaard and Niels de Zwarte
About the Authors
Niels de Zwarte is head of the Urban Ecology Unit and deputy director of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. Niels is ecological advisor for various projects of both governments and corporations, especially in the urban agglomeration of western Holland known as the Randstad. He frequently writes articles and delivers lectures on urban ecology, also as a guest teacher.
Jacques Vink is an architect. After having worked for a number of firms in both the Netherlands and abroad, he started his own architectural firm Ruimtelab in 1998. Jacques is concerned with ecological architecture and urban planning. He is also a publicist and teaches at a number of academies and universities.
Piet Vollaard is an architect and architecture critic, and former director of ArchiNed. With the project City in the Making he is involved in the alternative management of empty buildings. Piet has published several editions of the Architectural Guide of the Netherlands and monographs on Herman Haan, Frank van Klingeren, and cepezed. He has been a guest teacher at a number of academies and universities.
All three authors are actively involved in the foundation De Natuurlijke Stad (The Natural City) Rotterdam (www.natuurlijkestad.nl), a collaboration of architects, biologists, and urban ecologists. They found that good literature describing both the design practice and theory of designing in a nature-inclusive manner was greatly lacking. This is why the authors decided to bridge the gaps between design, theory, and practice of making urban nature.
About De Natuurlijke Stad (the Natural City) Rotterdam:
www.natuurlijkestad.nl