Jacob van Rijs (Amsterdam, 1964), Prof. Ir. FRIBA is an architect, urban planner and one of the founders of the office MVRDV, together with Winy Maas and Nathalie de Vries in 1991. Early projects such as the headquarters for the Public Broadcasting Company VPRO and the WoZoCo housing for elderly in Amsterdam brought MVRDV to the attention of a wide field of clients and reached international acclaim. In 20 years MVRDV has realized architectural and urban designs, master plans and research projects, as for example design software like Function- and Region Mixer.

Jacob van Rijs regularly lectures, takes part in international juries and teaches at universities and institutes worldwide.
He is currently Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Munich. Before that he has been teaching at TU Delft, University of Wismar, Etsam University Madrid, Royal Academy of Arts Copenhagen, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Rice University, Houston, amongst others. Since 2011, Jacob van Rijs has been Chairman of the International program of the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) and, in 2012 initiated BNA iTop, a network for creative industries. In 2014, he was appointed Board Member of the Dutch Trade Board.

Jacob van Rijs studied at Delft University of Technology from 1984 to 1990 and graduated with a Master in Architecture (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning) with honourable mention. The work of MVRDV/Jacob van Rijs is published and exhibited worldwide and received many international awards. The monographic publications MVRDV Buildings (2013), KM3 (2005) and FARMAX (1998) illustrate the work of the Rotterdam based office.