Ir.arch. G. (Gilbert) Koskamp

Ir.arch. G. (Gilbert) Koskamp

Profile

ancillary activities

(2006-) Research in ‘Timber in Architecture’ and advisor for several architecture firms supporting the engineering design of Timber constructions.

(2010-2017) Foundation ‘Special Living’, advisor and board member .The Foundation is engaged in researching in small communities for elderly and disabled people.

(1989-1992) Swiss Heritage Society, advisor by section St.Gallen/Appenzell .The Swiss Heritage Society pursues its goals mainly with public relations activities, through publications, technical consulting in construction projects, advisory functions in planning committees, appraisals, and legal action. The Swiss Heritage Society commends exemplary achievements by awarding prizes (Wakker Prize, Schulthess Horticultural Prize).

Projects

Beside design of urban plans, landscape-parks, bridges and furniture, the activities are focused on designing and realizing sustainable and health buildings and interiors. Specialized in building with Timber, here a view key-projects:

  • 100% wood, kindergarden pavilion St.Gallen CH, designed with open GL-Timber frame-construction, infill with wooden box-elements for floor walls and ceilings, in collaboration with Hermann Blumer and Heinz Jucker Engineers. (1991) 
  • 100% circular, temporary exhibition pavilion out of 100m3 CLT  built for the Inside Design Event Amsterdam NL (https://vimeo.com/56024493) is 100% reused and it is now a residential building in Wolphaartsdijk NL (2007/2008) 
  • 100% park landscape preserved, by building a new building. Like a Leaf Plaswijckpark Rotterdam NL (2013) 
  • 100% groundbalance forms new landscape with water and hills , biketrails,and swimming facilities natural cleaned with a flow labyrinth. Park van Luna Heerhugowaard NL (2006) 
  • 100% in wood constructed, backyard-house in the Unesco Heritage of Amsterdam, 2 prefabricated clt-modules placed in 1 hour. (2012)
  • In 2002 he/drftwd worked together with Toyo Ito associates architects on the Mahler4Blok5 Building in Amsterdam, the design was focused on all included voids and outdoor spaces within the design of the office-tower. The design strategy was to optimize the spatial and experience qualities in a contemporary office. The elaboration focused on the development of different climate conditions in the separate voids and outdoor areas. These can be experienced in dynamic lighting, various forms of green development and rainwater recycling and processing of interior and exterior glass facades.Importance is attached to the renewal of the building's physical components of the building and to arrive at place-based experiences that revolve around changes in common working conditions. This plan has been exhibited on La Biennale di Venezia / Next 2002.
  • An other special research project has resulted in a Card Game. The "Adventure City Cards Game" is an interactive strategic card game to stimulate communication between residents, visitors, administrators and companies about the spatial development of their city. The aim of the game is to generate strategies for urban development. By using the game as an activity, it is possible to collect the latent wishes, experiences and desires of a wide group of users of the city in a structured way. The information generated by playing the "Adventure City Cards Game" serves as the basis for the urban development of the city of Alkmaar. The prototype game has been developed for the city of Alkmaar, but the game principle can be used for other cities and / or regions. (2004) http://www.drftwd.nl/projects/p%202007/07-05%20city%20card/p07-05.html


https://ssse-ovo.com/projects

https://badewanne-ragaz.ch/ausstellungen/platz-machen-platz-schaffen

www.bk-wood.nl

Biography

‘ Understanding the need to restore the balance between ecological and social systems and, moreover, by adapting human behavior, architecture can serve as a tool to heal and even more as economic and cultural aspects. As missionaries and scientists we are able to accelerate the transition through design, production, furbishing and to achieve perhaps new beauty of typologies and systems in every aspect of the built environment.


Gilbert Koskamp is one of the founding architects at Ssse | OvO associates architects (2007-) and former office DRFTWD (1999-2007),  Gilbert studied technical engineering at the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences Buchs CH and later architecture at the ETH. After his education he worked besides his own practice part-time for several architects in Switzerland, Austria and later in the Netherlands : Hans Hollein, Bruno Bossart, Affolter & Kempter, Clerici-Müller, OTH. 

His work focuses on multiple fields of activity: urban landscapes, local economy based on ground-bound networks, combined living and working environments, architectural and spatial typologies for new forms of living, working, leisure and care and contemporary visual culture. The starting point is always the social and cultural side of an assignment within the push of the technical boundaries. The emphasis is on connecting and transitioning the urban and landscape, the private and the public and the facilitation of exchange between individuals and communities.

In the daily practice Gilbert expresses his principles by entering into temporary partnerships with professionals from other disciplines, depending on the design or research tasks: landscape architects, environmental geographers, cultural anthropologists, ecologists, economists and professionals in the field of cultural economics and art and culture.

Sinds 1993 Guestteacher and Seminarlecturer on several Universities ; ETH Zurich CH, Leibniz University of Hannover D, University of Applied Sciences Chur CH, University of Liechtenstein LI, Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences St.Gallen CH.

For more information on the Curriculum Vitae of Gilbert Koskamp please visit www.linkedin.com/in/gilbert-koskamp-27690a5/

 

TREE_TimberREengineered: New action at TU Delft: Started by Gilbert Koskamp and Pierre Jennen, both docents at TU Delft / Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, this blog targets the current and future developments in building with wood, being interested in research, education and building projects. And yes, it is about biobased, sustainability, circularity ect. – but this is logical with the material wood! So, to come: “Next generation of wood architecture – design and construction unthinkable without timber?” TREE (t-re-e.com)

Expertise

On Wood, wood-based, wood-modifications and wood- composite materials suitable for almost all (structural) components of a building.

studios

Teacher, Lecturer in Msc1,2,3,4

Building Engineering Studios

Extreme AE Studio

Graduation Studios

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Publications

  • 2024

    Moisture-induced timber joining

    Utilizing the hygroscopicity and shape-memory effect of wood resulting in dimensional change in a prefabricated wood-only, self-built, sawn timber system for affordable housing in Colombia
    Max Salzberger / Juan Sebastian Cruz Rojas / Gilbert Koskamp