Ben van Berkel, founder and principal architect of UNS, is a leading figure in avant-garde design with a focus on sustainability, health, and the interconnections between culture and commerce. Trained at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and the Architectural Association in London, he co-founded Van Berkel & Bos with Caroline Bos in 1988, responsible for the Erasmus Bridge and the Möbius House, and later UNS in 1999, a global design and consultancy network with projects including the Lyric Theatre complex in Hong Kong, the Chamartín station masterplan in Madrid, and the Wasl Tower in Dubai. Committed to education, he is a visiting professor at Harvard GSD and serves on the advisory board of the IE School of Architecture and Design in Madrid.