OFFICE

-C-A-S- is a Rotterdam based practice with an international outlook. We operate on the intersection between architecture, urbanism and public space design and actively connect our project-based work with an independent research agenda.

-C-A-S- was founded by Carolien Schippers in 2018.

With almost 10 years of experience in international practices Carolien has led a
wide range of complex projects from highrise developments (up to 300m), public buildings, and transformation projects to regional planning and affordable housing.

We are part of a dynamic network of skilled collaborating offices in architecture, urban and landschape design as well as a diverse circle of advisers allowing us to take on large scale projects requiring multidisciplinary teams.  
FOCUS 

To meet climate and biodiversity goals spatial practice needs to pivot from expansion to intensification and regeneration of existing urbanized areas. 

In this context we are increasingly active in and fascinated by peripheries; the outskirts of cities with their industrial landscapes, infrastructures, suburbs, office parks but also overlooked corners and abandoned buildings in urban centers. 

Built areas that seem to escape our collective cultural focus but are revealing spatial products of a society focused on expansion, exclusion and extraction.

They confront us with the contradictions and flaws of our current sytems, but also hold enormous spatial and material potential.  
A dynamic zone that can help us us reconcile ecological, technological and social challenges into a spatial practice focused on reciprocity, reuse and regeneration.  
 
APPROACH

To us architecture is a mediator, bringing together differrent spheres. It operates on a spatial and material level but also in the social, cultural, technological, ecological, financial, and political spheres.

We therefore believe in the power of collective thinking in our design processes. Engaging with end users and experts from different fields to find new relations and shared goals.

For this we often work through a process of mapping that allows us to relate different spheres of information and make it operative in the design process.

This approach helps our clients make informed decisions and often unearths new potentials taking the impact of the project beyond its initial brief.

©2023
-C-A-S-
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