Bas Smets
Bureau Bas Smets was founded in Brussels in 2007 by Bas Smets and brings together 24 architects and landscape architects working on projects ranging from territorial strategies to major parks, infrastructural landscapes, and urban public spaces. The office has completed over 50 international projects, including Parc des Ateliers in Arles, Thurn & Taxis Park in Brussels, the public spaces around Trinity Tower in Paris La Défense, Himara Waterfront in Albania, and the ongoing redesign of the public spaces around Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, won through an international competition in 2022.
Across its portfolio, the Bureau develops “augmented landscapes”, using natural logics to create cooling microclimates and new atmospheric conditions to address climate change. This research-driven approach is reinforced through collaborations with scientists, artists, and engineers.
In 2023, Bas Smets was appointed Professor in Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he explores new ways to transform the city into an urban ecology capable of producing cooling microclimates. He has received the Award for Urbanism and Public Space from the French Académie d’Architecture, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, and the Ultima for General Cultural Merit in Flanders. In 2025, he represented Belgium at the Venice Architecture Biennale. In November of the same year, he was named Officer in the Order of the Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. His work and the Bureau’s projects contribute to redefining the role of landscape in the future of cities.
