STUDIO
STUDIO ANNE HOLTROP
Misk Art Institute, Riyadh. Under Construction
Studio Details
Location
Tokyo, Japan
Date
13 July-24 July, 2026
Team Leader
Anne Holtrop (Founder, Studio Anne Holtrop)
Program
House
Field Trips and Site Visits
Curtain Wall House by Shigeru Ban + Shigeru Ban office visit and discussion
Kait Plaza by Junya Ishigami + Junya Ishigami office visit and discussion
Issey Miyake atelier
Project
House Without Form
In times of constant and unpredictable change, we consider textile to be one of the most adaptive materials. From the perspective of material behavior, textile is non-rigid and formless. As a material, it is incapable of maintaining form on its own. Only through external forces can it achieve a certain tempered formlessness, giving the impression of a fixed form. This changing condition—its inherent formlessness—is one of its key characteristics.
Textile architecture, therefore, is an architecture without form, and it is precisely here that its potential lies. Its capacity to enclose and extend space, as well as its ability to respond to changing environmental conditions such as climate and geology, opens up new architectural possibilities.
One misconception about my work is that I focus on form. In fact, it is the direct definition of form that I try to avoid. I believe that imagining and fixing a form in advance can only result in the realization of preconceived ideas. By contrast, engaging with matter and its processes of formation allows the final form to remain open. It is this openness that attracts me, as it keeps us involved in inventing what architecture can become—beyond what we already know.
Textile is often considered the origin material of architecture. Gottfried Semper wrote that hanging carpets were the true walls, the visible boundaries of space. The solid walls behind them were necessary for reasons unrelated to spatial creation: security, load-bearing, permanence, and so on. Wherever these secondary functions were unnecessary, the carpets remained the original means of spatial separation.
Our task is simple: design a house without a fixed form, made from textile. What can a formless house do? How can it respond to constantly changing environmental conditions? We imagine a house that can twist, split, disarrange, lift, expand, contract, and fold space.
Anne Holtrop, studied Architecture in Amsterdam and established his own practice in 2009. Since 2014, his primary studio has been based in Muharraq, Bahrain, where he resides. The studio’s work and research centers around the relationship between matter and space under the influence of environmental conditions, such as our climate.
Currently, Holtrop holds the position of titular professor at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio in Switzerland. Previously, he served as a professor at the ETH Zurich and directed the master Studio for Immediate Spaces at the Rietveld Academy Amsterdam. In 2007, he was awarded the Charlotte Köhler Prize for Architecture by the Prince Bernhard Cultural Foundation. In 2016, he received the Iakov Chernikhov International Prize, and in 2020, the Aga Khan Award.
Internships and Opportunities
Young designers and students accepted to join Studio Anne Holtrop at Venice Studio may be considered for available internship or job opportunities at Studio Anne Holtrop. Selection of candidates is at the sole discretion of the team leaders and Studio Anne Holtrop. Places are not guaranteed.