Donna van Milligen Bielke is an architect with a Diploma in Building Engineering and Architecture from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and a Master's degree in Architecture from the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture.
Throughout her professional career, she has received a number of awards and recognitions: RIBA Silver Medal nomination (2012), Prix de Rome Award (2014), Public Building of the Year Award (2023), and the Abe Bonnema Award (2023), among others.
For Van Milligen Bielke, architecture begins with architecture. And it also ends with architecture. She uses the history of the discipline to fuel her passion for her own architecture. Although she never explicitly mentions it, for Van Milligen Bielke, architecture is enough to make architecture. Rather than venturing into new and uncharted territory, borrowing elements from other disciplines, or drawing inspiration from fields outside architecture, she explores architecture itself, offering reinterpretations of what already exists, reinterpretations of what has been done, and recombinations of pre-existing elements.
Van Milligen Bielke sees the world around us as a giant carpet, woven by countless designers. As an architect, she attempts to unravel the structure of this carpet, interpret its densities, colors, and textures, and then adds new motifs, repairs its weave where necessary, and artfully finishes its frayed edges.
