Buro Ole Scheeren

Ole Scheeren is a German-born architect and the principal of Büro Ole Scheeren. His landmark projects shape the way we interact with our cities and generate new social narratives in highly integrative environments.

Scheeren is Büro-OS’s chief designer and responsible for steering the company’s creative vision and strategic development. His projects have won numerous awards, including World Building of the Year 2015 and the CTBUH Urban Habitat Award 2014 for The Interlace in Singapore, as well as the global CTBUH Best Tall Building Award 2013 for the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing.

Highlighting the need for visionary, transformative solutions to the challenges facing contemporary society, Scheeren’s architecture is characterized by a 20 year commitment to grounding this idealism within pragmatic, highly successful, real world projects, including the completion of three major developments in 2017; the MahaNakhon skyscraper in Bangkok, the DUO mixed-use towers in Singapore, and the Guardian Art Center in Beijing.

Büro Ole Scheeren’s large-scale projects are complemented by Scheeren’s independent collaborations with flmmakers and artists, as well as research projects exploring his personal interest in cinema, media and narrative space. He created Archipelago Cinema (2012); a floating auditorium in a lagoon on the Andaman Sea for Thailand’s Film on the Rocks festival (also featuring at the 2012 Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy), and Mirage City Cinema (2013) for the Sharjah Art Foundation, paying homage to the Gulf city’s historic architecture.

Prior to founding Büro Ole Scheeren, Scheeren was a director and partner at OMA, where he was responsible for the practice’s expansion into Asia as well as its work for Prada, with flagship stores in New York (2001) and Los Angeles (2004). Scheeren was also the partner-in-charge of the groundbreaking CCTV Headquarters for China’s national broadcaster in Beijing (2010). Subverting the traditional typology of the skyscraper, this monumental building challenges architectural convention and creates a giant loop of interconnected activities of people and the city.

Alongside his architectural work, Scheeren has created exhibition designs for New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Hayward Gallery, contributed to triennials in Beijing and Milan, and participated in the Rotterdam Film Festival. He has been a TED speaker and regularly lectures at international institutions and conferences, as well as serving on juries for architectural awards and competitions.

Having lived and worked across Europe, the United States and Asia, Ole Scheeren was educated at the universities of Karlsruhe and Lausanne, and completed his studies at London’s Architectural Association. He was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal – the most prestigious European prize in architecture education.