Freek Schmidt is an architectural historian, professor of history of architecture and the living environment at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and advisor in the field of spatial quality in Amsterdam and for MOOI Noord-Holland. He is closely involved in the teaching of the Master's program in Architecture History, which focuses on the history and topicality of the living environment. His most recent book is Passion and Control: Dutch Architectural Culture of the Eighteenth Century (Ashgate 2016). He regularly publishes nationally and internationally on the built environment of the early modern and modern era. Recent articles deal with eighteenth-century home culture, twentieth-century urban development plans for Amsterdam, and historicity and the concept of authenticity in today's building practice of adaptive reuse. From 2002 to 2008 and from 2012 to mid-2020 he was editor of the Bulletin KNOB. He is currently editor of the Amsterdam University Press book series Landscape & Heritage Studies (LHS).