About ONE
Office for the New Earth (ONE) is a Design & Construct practice, based in the Netherlands. Touched by the devastating circumstances at the border of Greece in and around refugee camps, they decided to help out by means of holistic interventions at the intersection of art and architecture. After realizing multiple projects, ONE was founded in 2022 to continue the work at the most critical places in the EU. At this moment ONE consists of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in environmental psychology, architecture, engineering, construction, and childhood development. The team is supported by additional psychological advisors and volunteers.
Michaël Vrijhof
Chairman | Architectural engineer
Since Michael went to Lesvos for the first time in 2018, he was destined to make a real impact in the world. Since then, he gathered his own groups of volunteers to realize multiple projects for children. With his strong spirit, he is one of the driving figures behind the foundations of ONE.
Michael is an architectural engineer with a MSc degree from the TU Delft. He is a specialist on the psychological and physiological impact of architecture on our well-being, mood regulation and brain development.
Niels Hofstee
Secretary | Civil Engineer
Niels likes to explore and connect with open heart to everyone around. His passion is to create strong architectural spaces that radiate light and healing. With open heart, he is one of the corner stones of ONE.
Niels is a civil engineer with a MSc degree from the TU Delft. He has worked as an engineer on a great variety of projects over the past couple of years through multiple offices. Thereby, he secures the safety and stability for all upcoming projects.
Astrid Ydema
Co-founder | Psychological advisor
Astrid is one of the founding mothers of the organization. She helps in defining its mission and the key values that are at the very core of ONE. She has a gift for lifting up the collective awareness and thereby she opens up an horizon of unforeseen possibilities.
Astrid has years of experience in family trauma and is specialized in the emotional perception of younger children. Further, she has often been hired as a professional mediator to dissolve internal blockages and bring the heart back into the organization.
Marianne Vollenhoven
Co-founder
From the very start Marianne has been defining the mission of the Organization. With a background in somatic trauma psychology, and child education she brings decades of knowledge into the art of creating healing spaces for the children.
Further, from a background in theology, she teaches us the intrinsic value of running an organization from a place of selflessness and the connection to higher ideal that connects us through our hearts.
Frans Kortmann
Treasurer | Strategic advisor
Frans is always open to discuss new ideas and opportunities that can help in achieving fundamental impact in the world. With an open heart he is one of the founding stones of the organization.
Frans has decades of experience as an entrepreneur and CEO of his own company. Thereby, he makes sure Office for the New Earth is structured in an efficient way for the years to come.
Lars
Child ambassador
With is young age, bright insight, and open heart, Lars represents the children we build for. Hereby we try to give a new generation a voice in the creation of the New Earth.
Lars is the guardian of the interests of all children. He stands for a world in which they are liberated from traumatizing environments and grow up into adults that act from a place of kindness, connectivity, and peace.
