Charles Jean François Karsten (Amsterdam, 1904 – there, 1979) was originally an architect. From 1922 to 1925 he attended the 'School for Architecture, Decorative Arts and Art Crafts' in Haarlem, where he met his later partner Ben Merkelbach. Karsten was a member of 'De 8 en Opbouw', the Ciam group and the 'Liga Nieuwe Beelden'. He was also an employee of the Stichting Goed Wonen. Later, in the 1950s, he became a sculptor. After working in Paris in 1950 with Ossip Zadkine, he made bronze, abstract sculptures. In addition to free sculptures in stone, bronze and chamotte, he also made bird drinking troughs and a sundial in limestone for the Van Nelle factory. Afterwards he developed further into an environmental artist pur sang. He was engaged in designing geometric spaces, making 'building plastics' with paving and walls. His visual-architectural work can be found in Amsterdam, Assen and Delft. They are percentage-control artworks that are meant to be lived in, rubbing shoulders with designs by architects Herman Hertzberger and Aldo van Eyck.
