Francine Houben

Francine Houben has held professorships in the Netherlands and abroad, and in 2007 was visiting professor at Harvard University. From 2002 to 2006 she was City Architect of Almere. In 2001, she published her seminal manifesto about architecture: 'Composition, Contrast, Complexity' and brought as curator of the First International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam in 2003, the theme of the aesthetics of mobility to the forefront of international design consciousness. In 2010 Francine Houben was granted lifelong membership to the Akademie der Künste, Architecture Department, in Berlin. In November 2015 Queen Máxima of the Netherlands presented the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize to Houben for her oeuvre. Francine has published books and traveled to numerous universities giving lectures on her studies and practice. Her most recent synopsis is "People, place, purpose, poetry: through these four words Francine Houben illustrates her practice's unique, humanistic approach to architecture."

Her practice is particularly known for the design of libraries. The library at the Delft University of Technology, completed in 1997, led to the Library of Birmingham in 2013,, and the current refurbishment of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. and the New York Public Library Midtown renovation (Mid-Manhattan Library and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building), New York. She has spoken extensively on libraries and public buildings, stating that "libraries are the most important public buildings, like cathedrals were many years ago". She has gained international acclaim for her works, both architecture and written. Her most recent building being the Library of Birmingham (2013), which was one of six buildings shortlisted for the 2014 Stirling Prize awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). When Architects' Journal named her as 2014 Woman Architect of the Year, Houben stated: "It was a great privilege to design the Library of Birmingham. Architecture is about teamwork, about being supportive and visionary at the same time. Women are especially good at that."

Francine Marie Jeanne Houben (Dutch pronunciation: [frɑnˈsɪnə maːˈrɪ ˈʒɑnə ˈɦʌubən] ; born 2 July 1955) is a Dutch architect. She graduated with cum laude honours from the Delft University of Technology. She is the founding partner and creative director of Mecanoo architecten, based in Delft, The Netherlands.