BEAToronto Talk with MVRDV

Wednesday, June 3, 2026
6:45 PM 8:30 PM

Paul Cadario Conference Centre 15 King's College Circle Toronto, ON, M5S 3H7 Canada (map)

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We are honoured to have MVRDV’s Nathalie De Vries deliver a BEAToronto Talk on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. This session will be held in person at the Paul Cadario Conference Centre. Event schedule and location details below.

BEAToronto is a volunteer-run organization made up of architects, designers, leaders, and entrepreneurs creating opportunities for community-building, advocacy, networking, and mentorship.

BEAToronto Talks are a series of discussions held at the offices of Architects across the city. Hosts will share their learned experience.

BEAToronto Talks qualify for OAA Structured Learning hours

In her lecture for BEAT Talks, Nathalie will recount the projects and stories that mark her career, from the early ‘90s to today. Beginning with the story of how she became the first of MVRDV’s three founding partners to “take the plunge” and leave her previous job – allowing her to lead the construction supervision of the studio’s first built project Villa VPRO – Nathalie will show how she was able to succeed in a male-dominated industry. At the same time, she will reflect on the complexities of the “woman in architecture” label, a moniker that lauds an architect’s successes at the same time as it draws attention away from her unique contributions to the profession. Nathalie will discuss how, after initially rejecting the label, she grew to accept it as a tool to provide a role model for younger architects.

About Nathalie de Vries:

Architect and urban planner Nathalie de Vries is the founding partner and the “DV” in MVRDV. She is an Honorary Fellow of the AIA and International Fellow of the RIBA. With MVRDV, De Vries develops sustainable and innovative concepts and working methods, and showcases them through exhibitions, publications, interviews, and lectures. Alongside this, she is currently Professor of Architectural Design and Public Building at Delft University of Technology, and from 2021 to 2023 held the role of City Architect for Groningen.

Nathalie de Vries’ work at MVRDV:

As an architect, De Vries appreciates intensive collaboration with clients and interdisciplinary design teams, but also with residents and other stakeholders. Her work often focuses on the invention of new building typologies and the creation of changeable, open systems, an approach which she brings to both buildings and urban plans. Her projects are spatially varied and ground breaking, always giving particular attention to the project’s interaction with the public domain. Whatever the project, there is always a lot of attention given to the design’s interaction with its surroundings, by designing inviting collective spaces and outdoor areas, among other approaches. In her urban designs, De Vries explores the combination of high-quality public spaces with functionally mixed buildings that act as catalysts for the development of an area.