Julius Klatte

Julius graduated cum laude in architecture and building technology from the Delft University of Technology. He has wide-ranging experience in everything from large-scale residential developments and the renovation of listed buildings to the execution of private homes, interior and furniture design and product development. He was the editor-in-chief of The Architecture Annual of the Delft University of Technology and worked at the internationally renowned Wiel Arets Architects before coming to Paul de Ruiter Architects.

“My interest in buildings and cities began at quite an early age. The thing I particularly love about architecture is the way it immerses you in a wide range of subjects, from art history to the latest technological developments, from the way cities acquire their shape to the texture of materials, and from an understanding of what makes an environment comfortable for people to what makes it impart a feeling of well-being or excitement.”

Julius is responsible for a variety of the firm’s large-scale projects, and is hands-on from concept design right through to their completion. Among these are Lelystad Airport’s sustainable terminal, Fontys University’s new educational building and the Waldorp Four residential towers in The Hague. The sheer variety of the challenges presented by projects like these inspires his endless curiosity about the world.
Each project begins with an exploratory dialogue with the client and an analysis of the main issues. “A lot depends on your relationship with the client and with the building’s eventual users. The best assignments are the ones where we’re able to involve all the relevant parties in idea generation and get them equally enthused about the design. As the architect, you conceive the overall vision that will guide everyone else; but you need to also be flexible enough to accommodate the incoming range of ideas and respond to whatever limitations arise. The trick is not to lose sight of the outlines of your vision, and to use this to ensure the consistency of the series of decisions you make in response to the input so that each one constitutes an improvement.”

Julius’s passion for innovative architecture, his love of the intrinsic beauty of things and his appreciation of all living things is something he shares with everyone at Paul de Ruiter Architects.

“I feel completely at home at Paul de Ruiter Architects, and I owe this to the high standards we set ourselves, to our intelligent approach to each and every project and to the level of affinity within the team. The last of these has partly to do with our common sense of aesthetics, but also with our shared sense of responsibility for the well-being of people and the planet. You feel it when you walk through the building, and it manifests itself in our designs.”