Staff, Communications Manager (2009-present)                            CTBUH Journal, Editor (2010-present)               Committee; Height, Member (1995-present) Conference, Session Chair (Mumbai, 2010) Conference, Speaker (Mumbai, 2010) Chicago, USA email: jklerks@ctbuh.org direct: +1 312 567 3286

Jan Klerks is the Communications Manager of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. In this position he is responsible for creating and organizing content, knowledge and information on tall buildings and initiating and executing related projects and activities. Mr. Klerks is the editor of the CTBUH Journal and has built the online tall buildings database.

Mr. Klerks graduated from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he obtained master degrees in economics and sociology. For his final thesis Mr. Klerks did research on high-rise living in Rotterdam. Before moving to Chicago, Mr. Klerks was self employed and commissioned to act as executive director of the Dutch Council on Tall Buildings, an active local sister organizations of the CTBUH. In this position, he was responsible for organizing conferences, publishing newsletters, conducting study projects, supporting high-rise related activities and maintaining the professional network in the Netherlands. Regularly Klerks gives lectures or writes articles for a professional, educational or a general audience or conducts high-rise related studies for third parties.

Mr. Klerks also chaired the Rotterdam Skyscraper Foundation, a local nonprofit organization which published a book series on local skyscraper developments and organizes activities for the general public. In this position, he initiated the first Rotterdam Skyscraper Festival in 2007.


His published books and research papers in the field of Tall Buildings include:

KLERKS, J. (2005). New Metropolitan Living and the Skycraper in a European City. Proceedings of CTBUH 7th World Congress, 16th-19th October 2005. New York, USA. Published by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Chicago.

KLERKS, J. (2009). Shaping the High-rise Framework. Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Journal 2009, Issue III. Chicago, USA. pp. 34-37.


Recent presentation on tall buildings include:

Tall Buildings and Sustainability, presentation for the Dutch Ministery of Housing and Planning, New York City, September 2009

International Tall Building Development, TowerTech, Doha, Qatar, October 2009

Tall Buildings and Sustainability, Global Climate Summit, Rotterdam, December 2009

Tall Buildings Planning Policies, CTBUH 2010 World Conference: Remaking Sustainable Cities in the Vertical Age, Mumbai, India Februari 2010

International Trends in Tall Buildings Development, Global Convention & Expo on Architecture, Chicago, April 2010