Rein Jansma (28 September 1959 – 17 April 2023) was a Dutch architect and co-founder of the architectural studio

ZJA ZJA (previously known as Zwarts & Jansma Architecten) is a Dutch architectural studio located in Amsterdam and founded in 1990 by Rein Jansma (1959-2023) and Moshé Zwarts (1937-2019). To date, the studio has approximately 50 staff and the par ...

Early life and education

Jansma was born on 28 September 1959 in an artistic environment to parents that were interested in both art and science and were politically active, artistic family. His father Arie Jansma was a visual artist, who once exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and his mother was a mathematician named Jeanne Nancy ('Oekie') van Dulm. Renowned Dutch designers and artists like Wim Crouwel,

Benno Premsela Benno Premsela (Amsterdam, 4 May 1920 – Amsterdam, 27 March 1997) was a Dutch designer, visual artist and art collector. As designer he was active as textile artist, industrial designer and interior designer.

, Dick Elffers, and

Cas Oorthuys Casparus Bernardus Oorthuys (1 November 1908 – 22 July 1975), known as Cas Oorthuys, was a Dutch photographer and designer active from the 1930s until the 1970s. Education Casparus Bernardus (Cas) Oorthuys, born 1908 in Leiden, was the fourth ...

were regular guests at their house and influenced Rein Jansma's upbringing. Jansma met

Moshé Zwarts Moshé Zwarts (27 August 1937, Haifa, Israël – 4 December 2019, Amsterdam, Netherlands) was a Dutch architect, founder of the architectural office ZJA (formerly Zwarts & Jansma Architecten) and a former senior professor of Architectural Techn ...

as a teenager, because Zwarts was a good friend of his parents. Zwarts recognised in Jansma a "brilliant boy" and a "true autodidact". Jansma briefly enrolled in studies in biology as well as architecture at Delft University of Technology but finished neither.

Career

Jansma was drawn to "making things" and following his own diverse interests. This included the publication of ''Stairs'' in 1981, a pop-up book with compositions of simple cut-outs of folded stairs and no text. It gained international acclaim for its architectural elegance and has been reprinted several times since. The publication is included in several museum collections, such as

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...

. Jansma was also briefly involved in set design in Paris and Amsterdam. At the end of the 1980s, Jansma started collaborating with Zwarts. After the duo won several architectural design competitions, they decided to start an architectural studio together in 1990, now known as

(formerly Zwarts & Jansma Architects). The studio quickly gained success and over the years has taken on a wide variety of projects, with an emphasis on public infrastructure and technical innovation. Jansma received his title as architect based on his extensive experience and portfolio of projects at ZJA. Jansma's approach to architecture is characterised by curiosity and exploration, a fascination for physics and the natural world as well as a love of art and a keen sense of technological possibility. Jansma was married to

Maartje Nevejan Maartje Nevejan (born in Utrecht, Netherlands) is a Dutch documentary filmmaker, best known for multimedia productions like ''14 and one stations'', ''Couscous & Cola''. and ''The National Canta Ballet'' Background Nevejan performed in theat ...

. He died on 17 April 2023, at the age of 63.

Bibliography

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External links

ZJA page about Rein Jansma

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jansma, Rein 1959 births 2023 deaths Dutch architects