Month: March 2021

Principal

David van der Leer is a cultural strategist, forecaster, and educator dedicated to reimagining institutions and public spaces to envision the most inspiring cultural platforms of tomorrow. As Founder and Principal of DVDL, he leads an interdisciplinary team that works with museums, municipalities, developers, and brands to create experiences that are both visionary and viable. Since establishing DVDL in 2018, David has drawn on extensive experience with institutions, government agencies, corporations, and thought leaders worldwide, including the BMW Guggenheim Lab, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Steven Holl Architects, and the Van Alen Institute. He is recognized for assembling and guiding diverse teams to deliver transformative cultural strategies, design frameworks, and experience-driven platforms. His work connects people-focused insight with design excellence, ensuring that cultural spaces and programs are relevant, sustainable, and built to endure In addition to practice-based leadership, David has taught and led workshops at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where his course “Institutions & Impact: Mental Health – Could Hybrid Institutions Have More Impact?” explores new models for cultural institutions. He has also taught “(Re)Programming Museums” at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. An expert in design competitions and the selection process, David has created, chaired, and led nearly 30 competitions worldwide, and co-founded the Design Competition Conference at Harvard in 2015. Born and raised in The Netherlands, David is a graduate of Erasmus University Rotterdam, and completed the High Impact Leadership program at Columbia Business School.  

 

David’s Background

From 2013 to 2018, David was the Executive Director of  Van Alen Institute—a 124-year-old design nonprofit that develops cross-disciplinary research, provocative public programs, and inventive design competitions to make cities better places. Prior to repositioning Van Alen Institute, David created and curated the Architecture and Urban Studies program for the Guggenheim Museum from 2008 to 2013. At the Guggenheim, David developed and co-curated the highly publicized  BMW Guggenheim Lab that traveled from New York City to Berlin and Mumbai in its own building. He curated projects like   stillspotting nyc  and exhibitions like  Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, among others. In 2012, he co-curated the  United States Pavilion  at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and in 2011 he curated for the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture. In 2010, The New York Times  recognized David as one of ten promising curators of the next generation.  

 

David’s Collaborations and Recognitions

Among David’s former collaborators are AECOM, The Atlantic, The Battery Conservancy, BMW, the City of New York, the City of Miami, the City of Washington, D.C., the City of West Palm Beach, Cornell University, Columbia University, The Flatiron Bid, Harvard University, HUD, Imperial College, the National Park Service, Miami-Dade County, the National Capitol Planning Commission, the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, The New Yorker, The (Obama) White House, and The Times Square Alliance. David has been profiled for Architect,  A+ U,  Architectural Record, The Economist,  Fast Company,  NRC Next,  Surface magazine, The Singapore Architect, The New York Times, Vrij Nederland,  and more. In 2014, David was selected for the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) 40 Under 40 list of leading land use professionals. Besides academic speaking engagements from Columbia University, to Harvard University, and Tsinghua University, David has spoken at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Guggenheim Museum, Helsinki Design Week, MIPIM, MoMA, SXSW, ULI, the United Nations, UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum, the White House Climate Action Plan, World Architecture Festival, and the World Economic Forum in New York. David’s projects have appeared in national and international media, including ABC,  Abitare,  Architectural Digest,  Architectural Record, The Art Newspaper,  Art in America,  Art Forum, BBC,  Designboom,  Domus,  Dwell,  China Daily,  Forbes, The Guardian,  International Herald Tribune,  International Business Times,  Metropolis, Le Moniteur, the Miami Herald,  New York  magazine, The New York Times, NPR, The Real Deal,  Die Tageszeitung, Time  magazine, Wallpaper, the Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.