Herman Hertzberger (Amsterdam, 1932) completed his studies at the Delft University of Technology in 1958, where he was a professor from 1970 to 1999. In 1958 he also opened his own architecture firm, the present-day Architectuurstudio HH.
Famous buildings designed by his firm include the headquarters for Centraal Beheer insurance company in Apeldoorn, Vredenburg Music Centre in Utrecht and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in The Hague. He has also designed many schools, housing complexes and cultural centres, both in the Netherlands and in other countries.
Hertzberger has won a great many competitions and is an honorary member of several cultural bodies. He has received many international architecture prizes, both for individual projects and for his career.
From 1959 to 1963 Herman Hertzberger was an editor at Forum together with Aldo van Eyck and Jaap Bakema. Besides the numerous articles he has contributed to journals in his field, he has also published the following books: Lessons for Students in Architecture and Space (1991) and the Architect: Lessons in Architecture 2 (1999), a description of the ideas and principles on which his work is based. In 2008 and 2009 he published the books Space and Learning, and The Schools of Herman Hertzberger in which he explains his wide-ranging experience, knowledge and views in a theoretical treatise on the spatial conditions of learning.
Other books by hertzberger are: Accomodating the Unexpected, Projects: 1990-1995 (1995), Chassé Theater Breda (1995), Articulations (2002), Shelter for Culture. Herman Hertzberger & Apeldoorn (2004), The Theatres of Herman Hertzberger (2005), Waternet Double Tower (2006), Hertzberger's Amsterdam (2007) and NHL University (2011). In 2010 a bio-documentary entitled Searching for Space and directed by Kees Hin was released.
