van der Architects is an architectural design company based in Tokyo. The firm was founded by Martin van der Linden, a Dutch architect educated in the Netherlands, Japan and the UK. Before establishing van der Architects Martin worked for the renewed Japanese architect Hiroshi Hara on the Kyoto station and Umeda Sky Building. In the mid-'90s, he was employed by the Japanese office of Cesar Pelli, and then became a design consultant to the Japanese Ministry of Education's privatised architecture office (EFI) from 1997-1999. Teaching at Waseda University and Tokyo University of Science for around ten years, Martin established van der Architects in 2001.

Today architects can design and build anything, anywhere in anyway. Our aim is to create an architecture where users have an authentic experience of space.

Architecture is about movement and rest within space. We strive in creating immersive experiences of space. This is done through careful selection of materials, the tactility of space, the use of shadow, light and reflection, by inserting a variety of viewpoints, by taking dimensionality of the space and our mobility into consideration. An authentic space is not so much seen but rather it is felt.

The spaces we inhabit emotionally shape us.

Our clients share our believe that architecture, the creation of space has a strong influence on its users. As such our clients feel a personal as well as social responsibility that the spaces they commission us to design will help the well-being of the users of these spaces.

Projects are being undertaken in Japan. Through a series of strategic partnerships we also work on projects in the Asian region