The Board of Government Advisors is an independent advisory board which advises the cabinet on spatial quality, upon request or at its own initiative. The Board advises on the urgent themes of today: from transformation, infrastructure and the complete city to new cultural landscapes and energy transition.
Working on spatial quality
The Board of Government Advisors (BGA) is a multidisciplinary board in which the various design disciplines are represented by the Chief Government Architect (architecture) and the two Chief Government Advisors for the Physical Living Environment. The Chief Government Architect is the chairman of the BGA.
Our team consists of around 40 people that use design thinking to develop and promote an integrated and innovative approach towards contemporary social and spatial challenges within national projects and policies. We believe that spatial designers can help to create a joint perspective and bring the desired future closer. The combination of looking far into the future and learning from the past allows us to find out what we need to do now. And above all: what we must not do.
The BGA stands for integral quality guarantee in spatial projects in which the State is involved. Spatial quality is central to spatial plans where future value, amenity value and user value converge. The BGA uses a broad definition of spatial quality, in which connection and diversity are core values, in addition to integrality. The Board does not make any designs or plans itself, but facilitates spatial planning. The connecting view of the designer is always central in this.
Composition
The BGA’s assignment was expressed by the cabinet in the Action Agenda for Architecture and Spatial Design of 2012. The members were appointed by their own departments: Ministry of the Interior (Chief Government Architect), Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (Chief Government Advisor on the Built and Rural Environment) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Agriculture (Chief Government Advisor on the Built and Rural Environment). The BGA also advises implementing government departments, including the Central Government Real Estate Agency, Rijkswaterstaat and the Netherlands Agency for Cultural Heritage.
The composition of the BGA:
- Francesco Veenstra, Chief Government Architect
- Noël van Dooren, Chief Government Advisor on the Built and Rural Environment on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs
- Thijs van Spaandonk, Chief Government Advisor on the Built and Rural Environment on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment