A good architect is a generalist, someone who is interested in many different things and can do a bit of almost everything. Says Hedwig Heinsman, co-founder of both architecture company DUS and construction-tech company Aectual.

DUS designs unique architecture, by focusing on technological innovation, bespoke design, and communities. The firm gained world fame with its 3D Print Canal House project, which even was shown to president Obama when he visited Amsterdam. The project is a research into how new digital fabrication techniques can lead to new smart housing solutions and affordable tailor-made architecture worldwide. This development is now scaled within design-driven construction tech company Aectual, that produces large scale 3D printed architectural elements of recyclable and renewable materials.

‘Architecture is the scenery for everyone’s life. My ambition is to offer people worldwide tailor-made living solutions.’

DUS, founded by Heinsman together with Hans Vermeulen and Martine de Wit, is winner of several international awards, including the 2014 SEA Global Sustainability Entrepreneurship Award and the prestigious Amsterdam Awards for the Arts 2011. The office was nominated ‘best Dutch architecture practice’ in 2012.

Heinsman graduated cum laude at Delft Technical University and studied at Helsinki University of Technology. She was a guest teacher at the Rietveld Art Academy and is a frequently invited keynote speaker in the Netherlands and abroad.

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