MVRDV was set up in Rotterdam in the Netherland in 1993. The name is an acronym for the founding members Winy Maas (b. 1959), Jacob van Rijs (b. 1964) and Nathalie de Vries (b. 1965). Maas and Van Rijs worked at OMA, De Vries at Mecanoo before starting MVRDV.

In close collaboration the three principal architect directors produce designs and studies in the fields of architecture, urbanism and landscape design. Early projects such as the headquarters for the Public Broadcasting Company VPRO and the WoZoCo housing for elderly in Amsterdam brought MVRDV to the attention of a wide field of clients and reached international acclaim. VRDV is well-known for its philosophy of densification and multiple space use. Their "Studies in Density" implies a city that is not

only in front, behind or next to, but also above and below. In short a city in which ground level zero no longer exists but has dissolved into a multiple and simultaneous presence of levels where the town square is replaced by a void or a bundle of connections; where the street is replaced by simultaneous distribution and divisions of routes and is expanded by elevators, ramps and escalators where far away is reduced to proximity; and the park is transformed into a stacking of public spaces. In this dense three-dimensional world, spatial quality is no longer translated into morphology or geometry, but in richness, diversity, presence, and proximity. This theory has been published in a book titled KM3 - Excursions on Capacities.