Dutch architect particularly noted for his role in the design of the van Nelle tobacco factory, Rotterdam, one of the most architecturally important industrial buildings of the 1920s and one of the finest examples of modern architecture in The Netherlands.

Brinkman attended the Delft Technical University and in 1925 joined the architect Lodewijk Cornelis van der Vlugt. That firm, with the participation of Mart Stam, designed the van Nelle factory (1928–30), whose unbroken expanses of windows convey a strong feeling of lightness and transparency. The architectural firm, in association with W. van Tijen, also designed the Bergpolder apartment building in Rotterdam (1933–34), an outstanding example of modern apartment design. In 1937, after van der Vlugt's death, Brinkman worked with J.H. van den Broek.