Crimson Historians & Urbanists is Ewout Dorman, Mike Emmerik, Annuska Pronkhorst, Michelle Provoost, Simone Rots, Wouter Vanstiphout and Cassandra Wilkins. Since 1994, when Crimson became part of the planning team for the extension of Utrecht ’Leidse Rijn’, the office has developed a hybrid practice that takes the contemporary city as its object. Crimson designs for the city, researches it, writes texts and books about it, shows it in exhibitions and works of art, teaches about it, gives advice on it and makes policies for it.
Ewout Dorman is an architectural historian who has a strong affinity with graphic design and visualisations. As a founding partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanist, he has been responsible for the physical development of Crimson’s publications, exhibitions, reports and strategies.
Mike Emmerik was trained as an urbanist at Delft University of Technology and is partner at Crimson Historians & Urbanists since 2018. Mike is specialized in research and design projects at the intersection of urban development and policymaking and is affiliated with the Dutch Board of Government Advisors from which he advises national and local authorities about issues related to urbanisation and mobility. He has taught at Delft University of Technology within the chair of Design as Politics from 2014 to 2019 and has been involved in various international teaching and design projects amongst others in Lebanon, Germany, Ghana and Cuba. Mike is also co-founder and director of the Independent School for the City - a post graduate institute for urban research, development and activism initiated by Crimson in collaboration with ZUS architects.
Annuska Pronkhorst is an architectural historian and became partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists in 2004. With Crimson she works on many projects in the field of Dutch urban planning, architecture and cultural heritage, combining historical research, urban strategy and project development. In 2007-2013 she worked as program manager for Hofbogen BV and was responsible for the physical and conceptual redevelopment of a nineteenth century elevated train line running through the centre of Rotterdam. In 2018 she became member of Amsterdam Committee for Spatial Quality. The committee advises the municipality of Amsterdam on the integral quality of the physical environment: urban planning, public space, cultural history and monuments. She is a member of the Supervisory Board of an international contemporary art centre (Kunstinstituut Melly) and is involved in several advisory committees and juries.
Michelle Provoost is part of the Independent School for the City’s Dean Team, co-founder of Crimson Historians and Urbanist, and director of the International New Town Institute. She is an architectural historian specialised in urban planning history, postwar architecture and contemporary urban development. Michelle teaches at various universities in the Netherlands and abroad and continues to be in great demand as a public speaker. She lectures regularly throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States, and has been involved in many municipal, national and private committees and juries.
Simone Rots is an architectural historian and since 2004 partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists. She received her PhD from Delft University of Technology on the topic of the meeting point of modern planning and self-organisation. Simone is Network & Financial coordinator of the Independent School for the City. She was director of Hofbogen BV and responsible for the transformation of the nineteenth century monumental train viaduct in Rotterdam, through which she gained experience with creative ways of transforming cultural heritage. Since February 2014, she is managing director of the International New Town Institute (INTI), a think-and-do tank for young cities. She is experienced in developing (cultural) events in the field of architecture and urbanism on an international scale and has worked in Latin America and Africa. She is member of the board of Rotterdam Woont (chair) and Mevrouw Meijer.
Wouter Vanstiphout is an architectural historian and researcher who has written extensively on urbanism and spatial politics. He is part of the Deans Team of Independent School for the City and founding partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists. He holds the chair Design & Politics at the TU Delft, which is exploring, researching and defining the boundaries, commonalities and tensions between the fields of politics and design. As a practitioner he has directed the renewal of the Dutch industrial satellite town of Rotterdam: Hoogvliet and advises municipalities, the national government, housing corporations and Project Developers on matters relating to urban renewal, cultural heritage and spatial and urban politics. From 2012 to 2016, he was a member of the national advisory council on the environment and infrastructure (RLI).
Cassandra Wilkins is an architecture historian and founding partner of Crimson Historians & Urbanists. She has edited books and publications made by Crimson and other offices, groups and institutions (Berlage Institute from 1997 to 200). From 2004 to 2006 she was architecture programmer at Stroom Den Haag. Cassandra does research and writes about buildings and urban design, mainly from the reconstruction era in Rotterdam and other cities in the Netherlands.