Lennart Graff joins Shift's advisory board to help develop the 8th world wonder that will serve as beacon of hope for the age marked by sustainability.
Graff is an experienced designer and developer of unusual and nature-centric architecture, most notably the Dutch Windwheel (regrettably never realised) and Dutch Mountains, currently being in built in the Eindhoven's railway zone. When finished, it will be the largest wooden building in the world.
The Dutch Mountains will be multidimensional space where people meet, work, life and get inspired in their journey to live more sustainably. The building is being built using bio-based materials and its skeleton made from solid wood ensures that it will fix large quantities of CO2 for a long time. Dutch Mountains also include solar panels and visible irrigation system that connect directly with the Dommel river.
Apart from joining Shift as an advisor, Lennart Graff is leading a team of 300 people at the Gemeente Zaanstad as a "concerndirecteur," working on wide variety of sustainable solutions within the municipality. In 2014, he founded Bloc, a development company working on solutions for the next generation of cities. Among others, the company has a leading role in developing Berlijnplein, a new cultural hearth of Utrecht.
Don Rizen, Founder and CEO of Shift:
Lennart shared many useful tips that both reinforced my initial beliefs about how to build the Shift landmark, but also shared surprising advice about the ins and outs of how to get an ambitious project like this off the ground, step by step. He learned a lot of valuable lessons from Dutch Windwheel, that they successfully applied at Dutch Mountains. The positive news is that Lennart loves Shift's mission and vision and has agreed to come onboard as an advisor.