After studying architecture at ETH Zurich, Jan Kinsbergen worked first with Hans Kollhoff. In 1993, he moved to New York City for work. He worked at Steven Holl's architecture firm until 1999. Then he founded his own architecture firm, also in New York. During this period, Jan Kinsbergen taught architecture as a visiting lecturer at Columbia GSAPP University in New York. From 2002 to 2008 he was a faculty member at ETH Zurich. Since 2002 he has been managing the Jan Kinsbergen Architekt in Zurich, Switzerland.