Martin Sobota

Partner | Dipl.-Ing. Architect

Strategic Location Development, International Projects, Sustainable Tourism

Martin is a founding partner of CITYFÖRSTER architecture + urbanism and managing partner of the office in Rotterdam. Martin is responsible for strategic location development and international projects. He specializes in architecture and urban design with a socio-economic impact – in the Netherlands, Southeast Europe, and Southeast Asia, but also in emerging economies.

After studying landscape architecture and architecture at the Universities of Hannover and Oslo, Martin came to Rotterdam in 2003 for postgraduate studies at the Berlage Institute. He taught at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design and TU Delft. From 2014 to 2016, Martin was a visiting professor at the Riga School of Economics and Business Administration. Martin is in demand internationally for lectures, workshops, and teaching assignments at universities (e.g. IaaC Barcelona, UDP in Chile). He has been a member of the advisory committee of the Dutch Creative Industries Fund since 2019.

Building on his first practical experiences working with Greg Lynn FORM and Shigeru Ban, Martin built the first project of his own, a 15,000 m2 residential complex in Tirana, Albania. Since then, he has taken multiple international projects from concept development to execution. Current examples are two village-like hospitality concepts at the Albanian Riviera, the Lungomare in Dhermi, and two Innercity redevelopments in The Netherlands and Germany.

As a person with German roots who lives in the Netherlands, Martin sees himself as a pioneer and bridge builder between cultures. An ardent city dweller, Martin lives with his family in the heart of Rotterdam – where he is actively engaged in transforming his living environment into an inclusive and sustainable city of high quality.