ABOUT

Tiny Penthouses is an initiative by artist, architect, and entrepreneur Hedwig Heinsman.

In her work, Heinsman views the city as a transformable canvas. She skillfully blurs professional boundaries, presenting utopic visions in tangible experiences, with the aim to confuse and excite the audience, building room for conversations.

She is co-founder of Aectual, the global design-to-manufacture platform for 3D printed circular architecture made from waste materials, that is dubbed ‘The Utimate Upcycling Approach’ by Forbes magazine. Aectual is backed by Tony Fadell’s (IPone / Nest) BUILD, AKEF, and DOEN, and works globally with renowned brands and designers like Hermès, Tiffany and Co., Nike, MVRDV, and Patricia Urquiola.

Previously she co-founded DUS architects, known for pioneering projects such as the 3D Print Canal House, which was shown to then-president Barack Obama. Work of DUS has been awarded widely, winning amongst others the prestigious Amsterdam Award for the Arts, and presented at museums internationally, including the V&A and the Rijksmuseum.

Heinsman holds a cum-laude master’s degree in architecture from Delft Technical University, The Netherlands, and studied at Aalto University of Technology, Helsinki, Finland.

As a recognized creative in the field of architecture and innovation she appeared in numerous media outlets, such as BBC, Al Jazeera, Op1, DWDD, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and Dutch Vogue. In the face of global housing crises, her first solo project Tiny Penthouses introduces an artful solution with actual impact, inviting you to explore a redefined landscape of possibilities.

PRESS

  • De Volkskrant

  • Frame

  • Trouw

  • De Architect

  • Forbes

  • Elle Decor NL

  • VT wonen

  • FD Imagicasa

  • De architect

  • Forbes

  • Sabato

  • Elle Decor NL A

  • W Architektur Wohnen

  • TCT Mag

  • Elle Decor NL

  • DWELL

  • Medium

  • De Volkskrant

EXHIBITIONS

  • 2021 Design by Nature | Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, NL

  • 2019 Tiny Bauhaus | Fundacio Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, ES

  • 2019 Tiny Bauhaus | Musée des Arts et Metiers, Paris, FR

  • Tiny Bauhaus | Nieuwe Instituur, Rotterdam, NL

  • 3D Printing the world | Espacio Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, ES

  • Hands off | Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, US

  • Urban Innovation |Technisches Museum Wien, Vienna, AU

  • Mind Igloo | Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

  • 3D Print Canal House | Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, NL

  • Radical Locality | Bureau Europa, Maastricht, NL

  • Mind Igloo | Mediamatic, Amsterdam, NL

  • Re-Architecture | Pavillion de l'Arsenal, Paris, FR

  • Triggering Reality | Centro Pecci, Prato, IT

  • Architecture of Consequence | NAi, Rotterdam, NL

  • Moon Life concept store | Shanghai, Amsterdam, etc.

TALKS

  • 2024 Stratosferica, Keynote, Turino, IT

  • 2023 Jury Dutch Building of the Year, NL

  • 2022 Keynote NXT Build conference, London, UK

  • 2019 Jury BNA Next Step Awards

  • 2019 Jury Creative Heroes

  • 2019 Interzum 2019 Congress Disruptive Materials, Cologne GER, lecture

  • 2019 Neprom Dag – presentatie circulariteit & digitalisering van het bouwproces

  • 2018 What Design Can Do Clean Energy Challenge – International Jury member

  • 2018 Jury 42 edition BNA Kubus / Dutch architectural oeuvre award

  • 2018 Keynote NXT Build conference, London, UK

  • 2018 Autodesk University, Keynote, Las Vegas USA

  • 2015 Jyväskylä Arkkitehtipäivät, Keynote, Finland

  • 2015 MCBW lectures 2015 - bayern design, Keynote, Munich GER

  • 2014 Keynote Azrieli Architecture & Urbanism’s annual Forum Lecture Series, Ottawa, Canada

  • 2013 What Design Can Do, Keynote, Amsterdam, NL

  • 2013 Rework Tech 2013 – Keynote, London GB

  • 2013 Nexus - Keynote Australia and New Zealand Architecture Congress, Melbourne

  • 2013 Capita Selecta – Lecture series Amsterdam Academie van Bouwkunst

  • 2011 Dedale Smart City Conference, Keynote, Paris, FR

AWARDS

  • 2024 Winner LVMH Innovation Award - Sustainability & Greentech (Aectual)

  • 2019 FRAME award Best Craftsmanship, Loft store (DUS)

  • 2020 Winner international Excellence Award Japan Arts Festival (DUS)

  • 2014 Winner SEA Global Sustainability Entrepreneurship Award, 3D Print Canal House (DUS)

  • 2014 Nomination Dutch Design Award (DUS)

  • 2013 Shortlisted Icon Emerging Architecture Practice of the Year award 2013 (DUS)

  • 2012 Nomination Dutch Architectural Practice of the Year Award (DUS)

  • 2011 Amsterdam Award for the Arts Winner 2011 (DUS)

  • 2011 Mies van der Rohe Prize - Nomination Bucky Bar (DUS)

  • 2006 RMNO-award by VROM (DUS)

PUBLICATION / ESSAYS

  • 2013 Book: The Future of Architecture by Herman Hertzberger

    With essays from Anna Heringer, Jean-Philippe Vassal, Kamiel Klaasse, Nanne de Ru, Jan Jongert, Marijn Schenk, Hedwig Heinsman, Rudy Stroink

  • 2013 Book: Amsterdam Places - Interiors, Buildings and Cities edited by: Jurjen Zeinstra

    With essay by Hedwig Heinsman

  • 2012 Book: The Pop-Up Generation: design between dimensions by Lidewij Edelkoort

    With theoretical essays from Paola Antonelli, Lidewij Edelkoort, Ahmed El Hady, Carla Fernández, Hedwig Heinsman, Martine Naillon and Bruce Sterling.

TV, RADIO

GRANTS

  • 2009 Startstipend The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture granted to Hedwig Heinsman

  • 2006 Startstipend The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture granted to Hedwig Heinsman

  • 2004 DUS selected for Groepsportretten 2004 'Fear & Space' - The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture & The Netherlands Architecture Fund

photograph: Federico Masini