Abe Bonnema (Stiens, September 6, 1926 - Groningen, August 9, 2001) was a Dutch architect who designed a number of striking office buildings in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Life Bonnema was the son of a civil engineer. He studied architecture at the Technische Hogeschool in Delft. After completing his studies, he started a firm for architecture and spatial planning. Bonnema initially started his business in Leeuwarden and later moved it to Hardegarijp, where he also lived. At the beginning of his career, Bonnema was mainly concerned with housing projects. In the last twenty years before his death, he built mostly large office buildings. Bonnema was a functionalist. In his view, buildings were utensils that had to meet the demands of the user. The form follows naturally from the function. Work Bonnema designed several striking office buildings in the Netherlands, including: - The Delftse Poort in Rotterdam, the headquarters of Nationale Nederlanden (with 93 and 150 meter high towers). This was the tallest office building in the Netherlands until May 2009. - Het Boek in Amsterdam, former headquarters of Elsevier, now used by the tax authorities. - The Achmea Tower in Leeuwarden, is a landmark skyscraper in this city. - The Interpolis tower in Tilburg, offices of Interpolis. - The Cascade complex in Groningen, an office building that includes the residential tower De Regentes. - The headquarters of the Social Insurance Bank in Amstelveen. Honors During his lifetime, Bonnema received several architectural awards. He was also an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. Exhibitions of his work were held at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others.