Archinect - News

Rem Koolhaas to Receive 2013 Johannes Vermeer Award

2013-05-01T00:03:00-04:00

Rem Koolhaas has been announced as this year's recipient of the Dutch state prize for the arts, the Johannes Vermeer Award. The jury made a unanimous decision, citing Koolhaas’ critical contributions to architecture and urbanism since his career began with the publication of Delirious New York in 1975.

Rem Koolhaas and "Tools for Life" called into The Principals Office

2013-04-12T20:19:00-04:00

...even for a big gun like Koolhaas, the global depression has had an impact. Thus his new furniture line for Knoll called “Tools for Life.” It’s a pretty standard track for any architect when the commissions start to dry up; have some interns fart out designs for a furniture line, ship it off to China for production, then slap a price tag on it with no less that 4 zeros and BOOM! you’re back makin’ Bentley payments and wearing Prada suits in no time.

Every week The Principals call someone new into their office, this week it's Rem Koolhaas and "Tools for Life."

Editor's Picks #310

2013-04-09T12:04:00-04:00

For the latest entry in the ShowCase series Archinect published the Shrine of the Virgin of "La Antigua" by Otxotorena Arquitectos. The project is located in Alberite, La Rioja, Spain and the architects main constraint was the need to "incorporate a preexisting stone archway in the design. This archway was rescued from a previous demolition in the town and it was preserved by the locals".

Donna Sink exclaimed "Wow, wow. I love it. Love the multiple arcade forms and multiple striations and similar but different textures...Would love to see a floorplan if there is one?".

News

The LA Times reported that the Watts Towers in South Los Angeles will be the subject of a new study conducted by experts from UCLA to determine the stability of the historic sculptures.

Orhan Ayyüce shared these words "In my opinion it is the most beautiful and meaningful public art in Los Angeles that people neglected for decades" and a photo.

The Plain Dealer /Cleveland.com announced th...

The Irrational Exuberance of Rem Koolhaas

2013-04-03T14:44:00-04:00

"Irrational exuberance" seems to me an apt introduction to an understanding of Rem Koolhaas in the '90s and beyond; it foregrounds his great success in navigating the intersection of the pragmatic corporate sector, on the one hand, and the “delirious” and volatile realm of desire and possibility, on the other. ... Koolhaas has encouraged his followers to shed the crippling shackles of critical theory and pick up a surfboard upon which to ride the shock waves of the new economy.

For decades Rem Koolhaas has been not only a leading global architect but also a restless provocateur. On Places, in a chapter from the forthcoming book Architecture and Capitalism, Ellen Dunham-Jones explores Koolhaas's protean career, from the early fantastical projects to the big books and bigger buildings of recent years. It's a career that has come to embody, she argues, "the inevitable contradictions in trying to marry art and capitalism, radicalism and pragmatism, icon-making and city-making."

OMA Trumps Preservationists in Battle to Turn Venetian Palazzo into Department Store

2013-03-20T15:00:00-04:00

Architecture’s favorite black humorist Rem Koolhaas is at it again, off planning a Venice Biennale that stresses the dangers of globalization while battling conservationists for rights to transform a 16th-century Venetian palazzo — which currently serves as a post office — into a retail hotspot. Koolhaas’s firm OMA and its client Benetton recently secured permission to redesign the palazzo into a department store/cultural venue after five years of facing resistance from preservationists.

Steve Jobs, Architect?

2013-03-18T19:24:00-04:00

Yet another treatise on Steve Jobs? As an “architect” — really? And with Apple seemingly waning, aren't we behind the curve on this? Suffice it to say that my interest is not solely in Jobs himself, but rather in the challenge he poses to the methods and purpose of an architectural historian.... But since architectural stories are surprising rare here on the edge of the continent, I need a shtick; no matter my connoisseur-ish personal tastes and leftist political dispositions.

What is revealed when we contemplate the late Steve Jobs not only as a technologist extraordinaire but also as a sort of architect? And if we then compare Jobs with another complicated virtuoso, Rem Koolhaas? On Places, architectural historian Simon Sadler argues "Jobs and Koolhaas both seem to have been driven by the possibility that they can act inside, or around, a postmodern world resistant to purpose. Both share an attraction toward design as a type of hermeneutics — a will to learn about the world through the attempt to change it."

OMA to Design Essence Financial Tower in Shenzhen

2013-02-06T17:25:00-05:00

OMA has been awarded the first place in the international design competition for the Essence Financial Building in Shenzhen, China. OMA Partners David Gianotten and Rem Koolhaas are heading the project which they intend to be a new generation office tower for Shenzhen.

UPDATE: Click here to see the project in more detail.

Editor's Picks #300

2013-01-30T11:35:00-05:00

Orhan Ayyüce published parts 1 + 2 of a multi-part interview with George Brugmans (Executive Director of the IABR)...Thayer-D chimed in "This is an excellent example of how well intentioned architects continue to talk past each other...One of the speakers spoke of the need to create relationships with politicians, developers and the public in general to forge a new way forward...What's amazing is that this has been happening for the last 20 years in the Congress for New Urbanism

In the first edition of our In Focus in 2013 Archinect spoke with Yohan Zerdoun an architectural photographer based in Germany/Switzerland.

Plus, Orhan Ayyüce published parts 1 + 2 of a multi-part interview with George Brugmans (Executive Director of the IABR) in which they continued their discussion from where they left it two years ago. Topics include; the theme of the 5th Biennale itself: Making City, the model used for the 5th IABR of Test Sites and Counter Sites, and also Istanbul as either "the next metropolitan nightmare, or...an inspiring example?".

Thayer-D chimed in "This is an excellent example of how well intentioned architects continue to talk past each other while so many of their interests intersect...One of the speakers spoke of the need to create relationships with politicians, developers and the public in general to forge a new way forward. Again, I'd be in full agreement. What's amazing is that this has been happening for the last 20 years in ...

Rem Koolhaas announces "Fundamentals" to be 2014's Venice Biennale theme

2013-01-25T12:39:00-05:00

Fundamentals will be a Biennale about architecture, not architects. After several Biennales dedicated to the celebration of the contemporary, Fundamentals will focus on histories – on the inevitable elements of all architecture used by any architect, anywhere, anytime (the door, the floor, the ceiling etc.) and on the evolution of national architectures in the last 100 years.

OMA Creates Prada’s Ideal House

2013-01-18T14:45:00-05:00

The staging was called the Ideal House, and it was a fully furnished modern home, but one with an audience, a runway wrapped around it, and “windows” projected on the walls with scenes of the outside world. It was the latest in many intricate and avant-garde pairings between Prada and OMA... The 12-piece furniture collection, designed by OMA for Knoll, will debut at the Salon Internazionale del Mobile in Milan in April.

It’s official: Rem Koolhaas to curate 2014 Venice Biennale

2013-01-08T13:21:00-05:00

Indicating his ambitions for the next showcase in 2014, Koolhaas said he planned to ‘give a new look’ to architecture’s basic elements ‘to see if we can discover something new about architecture.’ The festival’s board, chaired by Paolo Baratta, formally appointed the star architect to the role today.

Watch Koolhaas; Hadid; Rogers Stirk Harbour; and Foster pitch their proposals for the new L&L Tower

2012-11-19T12:32:00-05:00

The series of videos below offers a fascinating insight into how this generation of "starchitects" behaves under pressure, as they each pitch to win one of the most high-profile competitions in recent years: a new tower for L&L Holding Company on Park Avenue in New York. The site has such daunting neighbours as Mies van der Rohe's Seagram building, and it will be the first full-block office tower to be built on the street in almost half a century.

Hadid, Koolhaas and Rogers Losing Designs for Park Avenue Tower Unveiled

2012-10-18T11:53:00-04:00

“For us, it was really a blend of what’s the right concept for Park Avenue, a place that has not had a new building for almost 50 years, an avenue that is quite possibly the most important commercial boulevard in New York City, quite possibly the United States, and what is the place of a new build down the street from Seagrams and Lever House, two of the greatest buildings ever built,” Daivd Levinson said.

Four very different schemes for an office tower in New York. Who's your pick?

koolhaas kunsthall in art-house caper

2012-10-16T15:29:00-04:00

Thieves broke into a Rotterdam museum on Tuesday and walked off with works from the likes of Picasso, Monet, Gauguin and Matisse potentially worth hundreds of millions. "Those thieves got one hell of a haul," said Chris Marinello, who directs the Art Loss Register.

thieves broke into rem koolhaas' iconic Kunsthal building in Rotterdam early Tuesday, making off with a number of paintings. while details of the break-in have not been disclosed yet, the collection that the paintings were a part of were being displayed in public for the first time.

i wonder what kind of narrative koolhaas would write about this one...

Rem Koolhaas dismisses preservation in Houston, offers an alternative approach

2012-10-12T14:28:00-04:00

Building upon a short Wednesday evening presentation he gave at Rice, Koolhaas opened with discussion of historical preservation, a topic that elicited mixed emotions for the architect while, at the same time, offered a window into his approach to the built environment. "Preservation is a highly artificial term," he explained. "History happens and leaves its traces . . . I have to say, I prefer history without preservation."

Koolhaas rewrites script with blockbuster buildings

2012-10-03T12:54:00-04:00

Scriptwriting also taught him something about architecture. "If you write a script, you try to stitch episodes together so that, at the end, you have a sort of suspense to a conclusion or a climax," he says. "Architecture is very similar: You create a series of spatial moments and find a way to relate them to each other with the same purpose. An architect writes scripts also, but for people, not for actors."

CNN's "Great Buildings" series asks famous architects about their favorite self-designed projects. Today they feature Rem.

Lord Foster Beats Rem, Zaha, Rogers for Unusual NYC Office Tower

2012-10-03T12:42:00-04:00

“We are grateful to each of the firms for the thoughtfulness and creativity they demonstrated throughout the process. There is no doubt that each group was fully capable of helping us realize our vision of a 425 Park Avenue tower that redefines the modern office environment while also respecting and enhancing the timeless allure of the Plaza district.”

In one of the most unusual assignments around, Foster, Rogers, Koolhaas and Hadid were asked to tackle a New York City office building on Park Avenue. A famous address with two famous towers, but really, the rest of them stink. The catch for 425 Park, one of those middcentury stinkers, is that the zoning for the existing 1957 building was modified a few years later so any new building on the site would be smaller than what is there now. The developer figured out that if he tore down most but not all of his tower and built back up from there, he could keep his zoning envelope. Check out Lord Foster's fascinating design for this challenging project.

Rem Koolhaas to Receive 2012 Jencks Award

2012-08-30T19:13:00-04:00

Rem Koolhaas is to receive the 2012 Jencks Award, announced the Royal Institute of British Architects. The Jencks Award is given annually to an individual (or practice) that has recently made a major contribution internationally to both the theory and practice of architecture.

Why is Rem Koolhaas the World's Most Controversial Architect?

2012-08-23T13:07:00-04:00

It’s hard to know whether you regard this as nightmare or opportunity, I tell him. “That has been my entire life story,” Koolhaas said, “Running against the current and running with the current. Sometimes running with the current is underestimated. The acceptance of certain realities doesn’t preclude idealism. It can lead to certain breakthroughs.

Some classic Nicolai Ouroussoff-piece - so expect an up-and-too-close-personal portrait, explicit hints of retro-active admiration, generic and gullible phrasing, all-over-the-place platitudes and creepy catchphrases - on Rem Koolhaas. Worth a read, but only for the quotes.

For those that do not like to read long ramblings. Here are Rem Koolhaas's most important words:

“I’ve absolutely never thought about money or economic issues,” Koolhaas said. “But as an architect I think this is a strength. It allows me to be irresponsible and to invest in my work.”

“There were two kinds of ’60s,” he said to me. “One was avant-garde, highly modernist— Antonioni, Yves Klein. The other was the Anglo-Saxon, hippie-ish, political side. I associated with the avant-garde tendency.”

“Change tends to fill people with this incredible fear,” Koolhaas said as we sat in his Rotterdam office flipping through an early mock-up of his latest book. “We are surrounded by crisismongers who see the city i...

OMA to reimagine retail for Coach's new stores

2012-08-03T17:29:00-04:00

News broke about a collaboration between OMA and American luxury retailer Coach. With OMA partner-in-charge Shohei Shigematsu leading the design work, two new Coach flagship stores are scheduled to open in New York and Tokyo in the next few months and unveil the new concept.

Coach Omotesando Conceptual image © OMA

Here's the official release we've received from OMA:

American fashion brand Coach has commissioned OMA to develop a new merchandizing system that accommodates Coach's wide diversity of products while returning to the clarity of Coach's heritage stores. The collaboration, led by OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu, will begin inside upcoming flagship stores in New York and Tokyo.

Since establishing its first workshop in 1941, Coach has diversified its range and style, while simultaneously broadening the spectrum of its retail environment: from factory stores to outlets, shop-in-shops, boutiques and flagships. Although this expansion transformed Coach from a specialis...

Architect Rem Koolhaas and the Next World Wonder

2012-07-16T13:16:00-04:00

The building has two colossal, uneven leaning towers (the highest rises 768 feet) that are conjoined at the top by an enormous angular bridge. Conservative estimates put the cost at nearly $900 million; Koolhaas, for his part, says he has “no idea” of the price. What is certain is that the CCTV building now dominates the skyline of Beijing, just as it dominates the airwaves of the country.

Attached are some photos of the CCTV building that I recently took while in Beijing.

Norman, Zaha, Rem and Richard Compete to Design 425 Park Avenue in Manhattan

2012-07-12T14:38:00-04:00

The developer David W. Levinson could have set for himself the simple task of commissioning a better-designed tower for 425 Park Avenue than the one that’s been there since 1957. But that would have been a very low bar. He has engaged four of the world’s leading architects to compete for the job: Norman Foster of Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid of Zaha Hadid Architects, Rem Koolhaas of OMA, and Richard Rogers of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners.

Seattle Library: Homeless Man Interview Clips

2012-07-02T13:24:00-04:00

CLIPS OF SEATTLE LIBRARY: INTERVIEW WITH HOMELESS MAN AND SHOTS OF STRUCTURE. This footage is part of a feature length Documentary film that I am making about my father Rem Koolhaas.

CCTV 2012 LOW RESOLUTION ROUGH CUT by Tomas Koolhaas

2012-05-29T22:03:00-04:00

Low resolution rough cut of footage I shot at the CCTV building in Beijing in Feb 2012. This footage is part of a documentary I am making about my father Rem Koolhaas.

OMA-designed CCTV Headquarters in Beijing completed

2012-05-16T13:40:00-04:00

It is a very big day for Rem Koolhaas and the entire OMA team, as their iconic CCTV building in Beijing—OMA's largest project so far—is being officially completed today.

↑ CCTV/OMA, photographed by Iwan Baan

Here is the official release we just received from OMA:

Today OMA participated in the official construction completion ceremony for the China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters in Beijing, which will start to be used later this year. Designed by OMA as a reinvention of the skyscraper as a loop, construction on the building began in 2004. At approximately 473, 000m2, CCTV – accommodating TV studios, offices, broadcasting and production facilities – is OMA’s largest ever project and its first major building in China.

↑ CCTV/OMA, photographed by Iwan Baan

CCTV defies the skyscraper’s typical quest for ultimate height. Rising from a common platform, two towers lean towards each other and eventually merge in a perpendic...

Lego Architecture with Rem Koolhaas

2012-05-02T05:08:00-04:00

How to confirm one's role as a starchitect? Appear in the Simpsons. In its last episode the Simpsons featured a split-second of Rem Koolhaas/CCTV. The architect, not seen sporting any Prada though, is instructing, eyes closed, a group of nine pupils. Next to him, a vegan buffet and 'Junior TED Talks' - anyone recognizing Bjarke Ingels up there?

The scene: Rem Koolhaas is working - on a cruise ship notabene - as an instructor - probably in iconographic buildings - in KIDZONE ELITE. The ship, just like CCTV, is an emblem of closure. The architect, so can be seen in the above image, has a half-bald hairstyle and is holding a couple of lego-bricks in his left hand while seeming to fix something to the back of the building. A CCTV made out of lego-bricks is also structurally different than the original. Lisa seems to have her eyes fixed on the back of the architects' head. The appearance of Rem Koolhaas is of no further importance for the rest of the storyline of this episode.

As s...

Zaha Hadid for Park Avenue? She and 10 Starchitects Compete to Design a $750-Million Skyscraper

2012-04-24T18:12:00-04:00

The site of 425 Park Avenue now awaits its fate as a star-studded line-up of prospective architects compete for the chance to helm the $750 million project. L&L Holding Co. has tapped Jean Nouvel, Herzog & de Meuron, Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Richard Meier, Renzo Piano and others with high hopes to create a "bespoke skyscraper that will both complement Park Avenue's existing architectural treasures and make its own indelible mark in the world's most timeless office corridor"..

INTERVIEW: Rem Koolhaas on the Invention and Reinvention of the City

2012-04-24T15:47:00-04:00

Things are changing enormously in almost every sense. The effects of globalization have been positive and negative. My generation of architects is the first that could work almost anywhere in the world. We had the option to repeat the same building everywhere or to push ourselves forward, to create an encounter between ourselves and the local culture.

Manhattan Memorious

2012-04-10T11:28:00-04:00

Before a city becomes a thing of steel, concrete, and glass it is a theater of visions in conflict. As a city ages, the visions do not die but come up against the physical and ideological resistance of the place and its people. This is an account of a Manhattan that could have been – might have been. A phantasmagorical Manhattan where the visionary meets the everyday. The island as we know it is but a pale reflection of a city designed by visionaries – a city of mad, incongruous utopias.

The film (created for Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale) visualizes several unrealized projects for Manhattan, including Buckminster Fuller’s dome over Midtown, Rem Koolhaas’ City of the Captive Globe, RUR’s East River Corridor, Paul Rudolph’s Eastside Redevelopment Corridor, Morphosis’ West Side Yard and others.

Rem Koolhaas to Build Marina Abramovic’s New Museum of Performance Art

2012-02-16T11:17:00-05:00

Marina Abramovic signed a deal with architect Rem Koolhaus earlier this week to design and construct her Center for the Preservation of Performance Art in Hudson, New York. The Serbian art superstar will seek to raise $8 million to pay for the project, she revealed Tuesday night to a group of art collectors at a panel at Manhattan's tony Core Club, and the museum will be devoted to performance art pieces of "six hours minimum." Some of them will go on for days.