Urhahn is named after its founder Gert Urhahn. After many years with the Department of Spatial Planning in Amsterdam, Gert was one of the first to establish an independent urban design office in the Netherlands in the early 1990s. After the office grew too big for his home in the south of the city, it relocated in 1996 to De Ruyterkade. From there it moved to Jan Luijkenstraat, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal and Laagte Kadijk, before reaching its current location on Henri Polaklaan.

In 2010 Gert transferred responsibility of the office to a new generation, and focused on lectures, workshops and advice abroad, with The Spontaneous City International (SPcitI).

Even so, Gert’s influence goes beyond the office name. His quest to find a balance between order and chaos in urban design and his sources of inspiration are still important motives for the office. We are all members of the Urhahn family.