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

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 Willem Hendrik "Wim" Crouwel (; 21 November 1928 – 19 September 2019) was a Dutch graphic designer, type designer, and typographer. Early life and education Between 1947 and 1949, he studied Fine Arts at Academie Minerva in Groningen, the ...

, Benno Premsela,

Dick Elffers Dirk Cornelis "Dick" Elffers (Rotterdam, 9 December 1910 – Amsterdam, 17 June 1990) was a Dutch artist. Life Elffers was trained at the Willem de Kooning Academy, Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten (Rotterdam) as graphic designer. While at Rot ...

, and Cas Oorthuys 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 (architectural office), ZJA (formerly Zwarts & Jansma Architecten) and a former senior profe ...

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 The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public university, public Institute of technology, technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, a ...

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. FAMSF's combined attendance was 1,1 ...

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

Bibliography

* *

External links

ZJA page about Rein Jansma

References

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