OMA Appoints David Gianotten as Managing Partner–Architect
Words: Bronzella Cleveland, Cory Sekine-pettite
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, has appointed David Gianotten to serve as managing partner-architect.
After the recent expansion of the OMA partnership to 10 partners, Gianotten will oversee the firm’s offices in Rotterdam; Hong Kong; Beijing; Doha, Qatar; and New York. He will primarily be responsible for the daily operations, business growth, and long-term strategy of the company.
Alongside his managerial tasks, Gianotten will remain actively involved in OMA’s creative and architectural work, and will continue to oversee some of his ongoing projects in Asia and Australia.
In early 2015, he will relocate from Hong Kong to The Netherlands, allowing him to work more closely with all of OMA’s partners, associates, creative teams, and support staff in the company’s five offices.
About David Gianotten:
In his previous role as partner-in-charge of OMA’s Hong Kong and Beijing offices and director of OMA Asia, Gianotten led the firm’s large portfolio in the Asia Pacific region. Projects under his design and supervision include the Taipei Performing Arts Centre in Taiwan, the Hanwha Galleria in Busan Korea, the Taiyuan Industrial Heritage masterplan in China, and the Prince Plaza Building in Shenzhen China. He was responsible for the recently completed Shenzhen Stock Exchange headquarters, the end stages of the CCTV headquarters in Beijing, and OMA's conceptual masterplan for the West Kowloon Cultural District in Hong Kong.
David joined OMA in 2008, launched OMA's Hong Kong office in 2009, and became partner at OMA in 2010. He studied architecture and construction technology at Eindhoven University of Technology, and before joining OMA was Principal Architect at SeARCH in the Netherlands.