Kees Rijnboutt began his studies in architecture in 1956 at the Technical High School in Delft, where he came under the guidance of Professor J.H. van den Broek. Together with Professor C. van Eesteren, Van den Broek inspired him to focus on public housing. In 1964, Rijnboutt graduated cum laude with Van Eesteren and Professor H. Brouwer. He designed a structuralist plan for the institute "Church and World," which included educational facilities, a chapel, restaurant and student housing. Van den Broek pointed Rijnboutt to the Woningdienst Amsterdam, at the time the "Mecca of public housing. Here Rijnboutt worked on expansion projects such as an apartment building ensemble in Banne Buiksloot, an elderly people's complex in Osdorp and the first part (Part H) of the Bijlmer. In 1968 he began work on neighborhood-oriented urban renewal, inspired in part by protests against municipal sanitation plans. Together with Dirk Frieling, Rijnboutt implemented organizational innovations and established an intermunicipal project organization for quality control of housing construction. He eventually became deputy director of the Amsterdam Public Housing Department. He also joined the board of Architectura et Amicitia, where he dealt with issues such as urban renewal and resident participation in Forum magazine. In 1975 Rijnboutt joined the Architectengroep VDL, where he worked with Sjoerd Soeters on the Hoptille housing project, a project as an alternative to the Bijlmer high-rise. He developed projects on a human scale, including De Gors in Purmerend and the Ensemble Gerdesiaweg in Rotterdam. He also expanded his scope to office buildings, such as the energy-saving Leaseplan complex in Almere, and to reuse projects such as the Wolters Noordhoff printing office in Groningen, for which he received a national award. Rijnboutt also began guest lecturing at universities in Europe and the U.S., which he would continue until 2008. During this period, Rijnboutt's focus shifted to urban planning supervision and direction. In addition to housing projects, he held an important role in urban development as state architect (1989-1995). He initiated workshops to promote joint decisions between governments and market parties and worked on important projects such as De Resident in The Hague and the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. His work as chief government architect earned him the prestigious BNA Cube in 2002. After his role as government architect, Rijnboutt became urban planner for The Hague and worked on projects such as Karperkuil and Statenplein shopping area in Dordrecht. He received the Annual Prize of the Dutch Council of Shopping Centers in 2003. Noteworthy was the Prinsenhof housing project in The Hague, three residential towers as part of the Beatrixkwartier Master Plan, a project that referred back to Rijnboutt's experiments with urban living during his studies. In 2005, together with partners, Rijnboutt set up the firm "Rijnboutt," focusing on architecture, urban planning and strategy. Some notable projects from this time include the redevelopment of The Bank and Concertgebouwplein in Amsterdam, as well as the Aalmarkt shopping area in Leiden. In 2015, the monograph Kees Rijnboutt - architect / What shall we do with all this useless beauty? was published, presenting a selection of his work. As of 2016, Rijnboutt gradually withdrew, but remained involved in a few projects. Kees Rijnboutt's career shows a gradual shift from architect and urban planner to director and supervisor of complex urban and architectural projects, with a strong emphasis on quality and collaboration.