Atelier Kempe Thill presents the conference ‘Search for a 21st century classicism’, on February 20, Thursday, at 6:30 pm, in the Fernando Távora Auditorium, of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, within the scope of the cicle Matéria: conferências brancas [Matter: the white conferences].

Under the title ‘Search for a 21st century classicism’, Oliver Thill will address the logical relationship between typology and architectural expression and will present proposals for the design of collective housing and public facilities that face/incorporate the challenges of the 21st century.

Atelier Kempe Thill architects and urban planners was founded in 2000 by two German architects, André Kempe (1968) and Oliver Thill (1971), after winning Europan 5 with the project of 300 houses in Kop van Zuid, Rotterdam. In the past two decades, the practice has grown from a ‘two-man band’ to a stable, medium-sized office with about 30 employees.
Since its foundation, Atelier Kempe Thill has been establishing itself in an increasingly broad market. With the participation in more than 200 international competitions, the office designs and builds in Holland, Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland and Morocco.
Among his peers, his work has been increasingly recognized. In recent years, the office has been published in about 500 international titles, with four monographs. In addition, André Kempe and Oliver Thill gave more than 300 lectures. This professional recognition allows the studio to respond to increasingly complex and larger-scale programs.

Atelier Kempe Thill’s work was recognized with multiple international awards and distinctions, with emphasis on Europan 5 Rotterdam / NL (1999), Detail Award / Germany (2005+2009), Rotterdam – Maaskant Prize for Young Architects, NL (2005), Design Vanguard 2007 / USA (2007), Dutch Architect of the year / NL (2011), Special Mention “Prix Phillipe Rotthier” / Belgium (2014), Nomination Mies van der Rohe Award, Barcelona / Spain (2009-2011-2013- 2015), Nomination Schelling award, Karlsruhe / Germany (2016), Nomination Équerre d’argent, Paris / FR (2017) and “Dutch housing project of the year 2019”, Amsterdam / NL (2019).