The first edition of the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) took place in 2003. Kristin Feireiss, director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) at the time, took the initiative for the biannual architecture event, asking Francine Houben to curate a first edition on the theme of Mobility. A second edition followed in 2005, entitled The Flood, curated by Adriaan Geuze is was about water management. George Brugmans then became president, serving until 2021. The Rotterdam Architecture Biennale presented itself as a research biennale from the outset, focusing on architecture in the broadest sense, with important contributions from the disciplines of urban design and landscape architecture. Brugmans was instrumental in concentrating this research, together with social partners and designers, in Ateliers and making it concrete – often on site. The development of the contemporary city and urban life has been the common thread running through the first 20 years of the IABR’s existence. Since The Flood (2005), the awareness of an impending climate crisis has defined the IABR’s agenda.
Successive editions included Power, curated by The Berlage Institute (2007); Open City, curated by Kees Christiaanse (2009); Making City, curated by Asu Aksoy, George Brugmans, Joachim Declerck, Fernando de Mello Franco, Henk Ovink, and ZUS (2012); Urban by Nature, curated by Dirk Sijmons (2014); The Next Economy, curated by Maarten Hajer (2016); The Missing Link, with Floris Alkemade, Leo Van Broeck, and Joachim Declerck (2018); and Down to Earth, with George Brugmans as head curator and Rianne Makkink, Jurgen Bey, Thijs van Spaandonk, and Robbert de Vrieze as co-curators (2020-2021).
In 2021, Saskia van Stein took over the presidency of the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam. The 10th edition, It's About Time, was curated by Derk Loorbach, Véronique Patteeuw, Léa-Catherine Szacka, and Peter Veenstra. Under the motto ‘Connect, Imagine, and Change,’ the IABR demonstrated that architecture, landscape design, and spatial design have a crucial part to play in addressing climate challenges and shaping a sustainable and equitable future.