From a young age Ralph was fascinated by geography, by the forces and processes in the earth, the oceans and the weather. And by the attempt to capture those by making maps and models. As a kid he produced meticulous drawings of landscapes and buildings in geometrical perspective.
At the TU Delft is was clear very quickly what Ralph wanted to focus on: how buildings and structures that were thought out into the last detail still fitted into their context in a meaningful and beautiful way. ‘Working together with a good landscape architect and a good construction company, that is on the same wave length, you can, as an architect, contribute to a fit for the technical, the strategic and the esthetic qualities involved. It really is wonderful when that happens. Like it did in Flanders, in the case of the A 11.’
He sees his role as project manager mostly as a motivator for all the team members to develop their talents and to engage them to aspire to what the project requires. Asked if he has a dream project he says: ‘Some day I would like to design an airport or a train station in an open landscape so it shows itself in its full glory.’