Real estate, urban development, and financial feasibility.

Forum Karlin is located in the renovated brownfield once occupied by ČKD, a manufacturer of steam boilers, or generators, supplied to the Austro-Hungarian empire. Against the prevailing opinion, I advised that the owner (Zdeněk Bakala) renovate rather than demolish the halls, preserving the industrial heritage, and proposed a plan with which this could be achieved in a financially feasible way. Renovated into a mixed-use cultural site, hosting events, conventions, restaurants, retail, and the owner's Economia Publishing house, Forum Karlín is now one of the most successful venues in Prague.

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Architect: Ricardo Bofill

Property adviser: Bessel Kok

Developer: Karlín Group by Serge Borenstein

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Location: Pernerova 51, 186 00 Praha 8-Karlín

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Zlatý Anděl (Golden Angel) was built on former brownfield land in Prague 5 that used to house a metro station, next to a luxury train carriage factory. This brownfield site's redevelopment into Zlatý Anděl, a project of urban mixed use, was intended as a first phase of a larger plan. Ideas for a second phase (redeveloping the factory site) were not executed.

Architects: Jean Nouvel (AJN); A8000.
Location: Nádražní 344/23, 150 00 Praha 5-Anděl, Czech republic.
Completed: 2000.

Former brownfield land in Prague, which housed the Holešovice brewery, redeveloped into a project of urban mixed use functions.

Architects: Jean Nouvel, CMC, Frank O'Gehry & Associates.
Location: 1583 170 00, U Uranie 1583/27, 170 00 Praha 7, Czech republic.
Completed: 2002-2004.

Former brownfield land in Le Havre that housed its harbour, redeveloped into a project of urban mixed use functions.

Architect: Bernard Reichen.
Location: 70 Quai Frissard, 76600 Le Havre, France.
Completed: 2006.

​Mixed use retail-led development project, on land that originally housed an ancient amphitheatre that was destroyed and became brownfield land populated by small warehouses.

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A collaboration between tender winner ING (Paul Koch) and runner-up Apsys (Maurice Bansay). Even if ING retreated as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, Apsys (Maurice Bansay) executed the plan that Paul's office had originally conceived and designed and with which ING had won the tender. 27000 sq m of retail, 20000 sq m of offices and 200 housing units.

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Coordinating Architect of five architecture firms: Jean-Paul Viguier.

Location: Metz, France.

Completed: 2017.

Brownfield land in Paris, formerly used for industrial, storage, and harbour functions, redeveloped into a project of urban mixed use functions that houses retail, governmental offices, and serves as the entrance to a Metro and RER station, while also connecting the south-west and north-east neighbourhoods with a bridge.

Architect: Jean Paul Viguier.
Location: Paris 13eme, France.
Completed: 2005.

Former brownfield land in Lyon on the water that served as an industrial area and harbour,  redeveloped into a project of urban mixed use functions. It represented the first redevelopment here and triggered the wider redevelopment of this old industrial area.

Architects: Erick van Egeraat. MVRDV, Combarel & Marrec, Pierre Gauthier, Manuelle Gautrand.
Location: 59 Rue Denuzière, 69002 Lyon, France
Completed: 2009.

Former brownfield land in the city of České Budějovice, in the Czech republic. It was the first

reinforced concrete building in Central Europe, erected to serve as a Habsburg Empire military storage facility. It continued to serve as a storage facility under Communism until it fell into disuse, and was purchased after the fall of the wall by four residents of the area. They rented the space to a Vietnamese market, the success of which allowed them to pay off the debts they had accrued as a result of buying the property. The original building was redeveloped into a project of urban mixed use with retail-led functions.

Architect: A8000.
Location: Pražská tř. 1247/24, 370 04 České Budějovice
Completed: 2004.

Between 1981 and 1989, I worked on the redevelopment of this whole brownfield area that formerly functioned as harbour in Rotterdam. The 4 starting phases of Buitendijks were realized (photo). In the last phase, together with architect Jean Nouvel, we proposed a concept and design which was not selected by the City management.

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Architects: Zdenek Zavrel, Jelles, Mecanoo

Location: Schiemond, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

​My final Engineer's diploma thesis at TU Delft, 1989, was on the redevelopment of  the Oostelijk Haven Gebied, today more populary known as the gentrifying neighbourhood of 'Eastern Docklands'.

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Location: Oostelijk Haven/Eastern Docklands, Amsterdam, Netherlands