“If you listen to what truly drives you, life unfolds by itself.”
Paul Kotvis is a traveller and documentary filmmaker who divides his time between the Netherlands and the wider world. His life now revolves around storytelling, reflection and the search for balance. Decades earlier, he spent five years leading the World Trade Center Amsterdam through a large-scale renovation that reshaped the building and its surroundings.
Roots
He was born in The Hague and grew up in Bathmen, a small village in the east of the Netherlands. “We had fields, friends and freedom,” he recalls. As a teenager he worked as a stock clerk at a supermarket, finding small ways to make repetitive work more fun. “Sometimes we dropped candy boxes on purpose, just to eat them,” he laughs. The lightness of those early years stands in contrast to the intensity that would follow. His professional life began at the Royal Family and Nyenrode Business University, where he learned how to manage building services. From there, one opportunity led to the next, eventually bringing him to Amsterdam.
Building the stage
Before arriving at the WTC, Paul was director of the Circustheater in Scheveningen, introducing musicals like The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. “It was a fantastic period,” he says. “But after five years, I was ready for a new challenge.” That came in 1997 when he became Managing Director of the World Trade Center Amsterdam. His task was to reposition the building for a new era. “The owners told me, we want you to bring the concept back to life,” he says. Soon after, plans for a complete renovation were announced. “It was a fortress,” Paul explains. “Tenants didn’t feel at home. You couldn’t even see outside from behind your desk.”
He suddenly found himself leading a half-billion-euro redevelopment. “That was not my ambition. I came for marketing and community, and ended up in a construction team.” Still, he turned challenges into opportunities, organising events that opened the area to the public.
Calm in the chaos
Paul is driven by creativity, empathy and a spiritual sense of purpose. He describes himself as highly sensitive, alert to what people feel beneath the surface. “I’m a mix of risk-taking and intuition,” he says. That instinct helped him navigate crises, including long nights and angry tenants during the renovation. “One night a tenant even threw blue tiles at my head.” He laughs softly. “It taught me resilience and the importance of staying calm in the storm.”
Significant memories
Despite the stress, he remembers moments of pride. The reopening in 2002 was spectacular. “We raised fifty thousand euros for the Peace Parks Foundation of Nelson Mandela and Prince Bernhard.” One of his proudest moments was the first open-air concert on the Zuidas, held in a construction pit with Karin Bloemen and a Dutch brass orchestra. “For a moment, we forgot all the worries,” he says. “That concert showed what was possible.”
But not all memories are joyful. On 11 September 2001, he was in his office when the attacks in New York happened. “Someone said a plane hit a building, and minutes later we realised how serious it was. We even got a bomb threat from an airline tenant.” The WTC Amsterdam was evacuated. “We felt the same fear they felt in New York. We were the second largest WTC in the world.” The next day, the building reopened, but the atmosphere had changed forever.
Letting go to begin again
After decades of corporate leadership, Paul made a radical shift. “Four years ago, I turned my life upside down,” he says. “I let go of everything I needed to let go of.” For years he had chased recognition, trying to gain the approval of a father who never truly saw him. “I worked hard to be noticed, but at some point, I realised I was living someone else’s expectations.” That insight led him to write Afscheid van de Ratrace, a book about breaking free from pressure. “We live in a system that pushes us to work harder and harder, but it’s not what makes us happy.”
Now he lives between the Netherlands and Asia, working on documentaries that explore healing and human connection. His first film tells the story of his great-uncle, an Amsterdam engineer who died on the Burma railway. “No one ever spoke about him. It was a family trauma.” Paul followed his ancestor’s path across Java, Singapore and Thailand, filming every site. “I was the first in eighty years to visit his grave. I felt his spirit still there,” he says. In Thailand, he is rebuilding his great-uncle’s house, creating a place for peace, for both of them.
Finding the human path forward
Today Paul’s focus lies far from boardrooms and skyscrapers. His work now is about consciousness and connection. He organises journeys for people seeking balance, guiding them to places where nature and culture heal. “There is so much ancient wisdom in the world,” he says. “We just forgot to listen.” His second journey explores how indigenous communities in Suriname use nature to restore health. “People here live in patterns that make them sick. Out there, life is simple. If you have food for today, that’s enough.”
When he reflects on technology, he sounds both curious and cautious. “AI is the next step after social media and the internet. But every step seems to pull us a little further from ourselves,” he says. “It’s a powerful tool, but it shouldn’t take over. Stay close to who you are.” His philosophy for the next forty years is simple: live from inspiration. “If you listen to what truly drives you, you don’t have to force anything. Life unfolds by itself.”
MY WTC in 5 questions
- Since when did you work at the WTC?
“From 1997 to 2002. It was a period of major change for the building and for me.”
2. What did the WTC mean to you personally?
“It felt like running a theatre again, full of energy, people and daily performances. There was always something happening, from small surprises to big moments. I also felt proud to be part of such an international place, which at that time was the second largest World Trade Center in the world.
- Which challenge or uncertainty kept you awake at night?
“Keeping three thousand tenants calm while the building was being turned inside out. It was not always easy.” - If you could have redesigned one space in the WTC, what would it have been?
“The auditorium. I wanted it to feel more like a real theatre, less stiff and formal.” - WTC Amsterdam is turning 40. What do you hope will still be the same in 40 years?
“The international mix of people and the creative energy that comes with it.”