Koolhaas, who once proposed his own unrealized plans for the Secretariat building decades ago, will be joining 3-D designer Hella Jongerius, graphic designer Irma Boom, and artist Gabriel Lester on a team selected by the Dutch government to redesign the North Delegates' Lounge, an informal meeting space where major policymakers and representatives go for a drink at the end of the day. — artinfo.com

Renowned architect Rem Koolhaas is viewed as one of the most important theoreticians of his trade. In an interview with SPIEGEL, he discusses soulless cities, the failings of Europe's largest urban redevelopment project in Hamburg and the problems with SPIEGEL's brand-new headquarters. — spiegel.de

Architecture on Film: Rem Koolhaas and Shumon Basar in conversation before the UK premiere of "1,2,3 Rhapsody" and "The White Slave"
10th October 2011, Cinema 1, Barbican Centre, London — vimeo.com

“The word celebrity and the word architect are basically incompatible. I know it’s come to pass that some of us have become famous, but it’s a temporary condition, a strange pact: We get a lot of attention, but we’re taken less seriously. Journalists seem mostly interested in what brand of shoes I wear.” — NY Magazine

As architects we don't work for public sector anymore. Metabolists were the last architects worked for the public and communicated among themselves. — Charlie Rose.com

It's not entirely finished yet, and it's been under the radar in terms of press coverage. But Rem Koolhaas' new Milstein Hall, tucked behind the Arts Quad at Cornell University, has opened for the new school year, providing much-needed studio space and meeting areas for students in Cornell University's architecture program. — huffingtonpost.com

I think most exciting thing for designers is this pure absence of design and this incredible presence of life. If you see that combination it is a very profound lesson, I would say. - Rem Koolhaas — OMAofficialchannel

And then there’s something about the building’s appearance that seems to unsettle people. Just when things got back on track after the fire, a Chinese critic published an article saying that the building’s contorted form, which frames an enormous void at its center, was modeled on a pornographic image of a naked woman on her hands and knees. The piece ignited a storm of negative press, forcing Mr. Koolhaas to issue a denial. — nytimes.com

The lecture provides an overview of OMA’s recent thinking and will cover three interrelated topics: the growth of Preservation, and its blind spots; architecture and democracy; and the ongoing development of the office itself. — OMA's vimeo

Mr. Koolhaas’s vision is even more apocalyptic. A skilled provocateur, he paints a picture of an army of well-meaning but clueless preservationists who, in their zeal to protect the world’s architectural legacies, end up debasing them by creating tasteful scenery for docile consumers while airbrushing out the most difficult chapters of history. The result, he argues, is a new form of historical amnesia, one that, perversely, only further alienates us from the past. — nytimes.com

I had never pronounced the word 'preservation' until eight years ago," said world-renowned architect and outspoken urban theorist Rem Koolhaas at a recent media preview of his exhibition Cronocaos at the New Museum (through June 5). "Now preservation is outpacing us." — The L Magazine