Working in acceptance of the distance between the general idea of architecture and its specific elaboration in indivudual projects, Claus en Kaan Architecten produce buildings in which an ideal standard is always at least visible in the background. It is an architecture in which arbitrariness is kept in check as much as possible without lapsing into schematism.

The selection of work of Claus en Kaan Architecten presented in this book makes clear that the practice has developed an increasingly explicit and recognisable signature over the years, based on the conviction that the best they can make consists of buildings in which the layers that expressly make them architecture are stripped off as much as possible.

Working in acceptance of the distance between the general idea of architecture and its specific elaboration in indivudual projects, Claus en Kaan Architecten produce buildings in which an ideal standard is always at least visible in the background. It is an architecture in which arbitrariness is kept in check as much as possible without lapsing into schematism.

The selection of work presented here, designed between 1988 and 2009, makes clear that the practice has developed an increasingly explicit and recognisable signature over the years, based on the conviction that the best they can make consists of buildings in which the layers that expressly make them architecture are stripped off as much as possible.

By doing this, Claus en Kaan are able to position their projects between the mas of buldings and exceptional architecture: their architecture is neither ordinary nor extraordinary, but is situated in an area in between, free of the conventions of the commonplace, unhindered by the urge to be original. Their architecture acquires its distiction by a far-reaching reduction of specificity, and by a unique condensation of ordinary forms and compositions.