Perhaps no one is better situated to forge a behind-the-scenes look at Rem Koolhaas than his son, Tomas Koolhaas. The LA-based filmmaker just wrapped up 'REM', a documentary about his father as he travels the world and reflects on his work.
Related: Listen to Tomas Koolhass talk about REM on Archinect's 1:1 podcast:
The latest in a spate of docu-homages to their famous architect parents, 'REM' follows the likes of 'My Architect' (Louis Kahn) and 'Learning from Bob and Denise' (Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, as of yet unreleased), as a documentary tailored to be more of a humanistic portrait than investigative exposé.
'REM' will officially premiere at the Venice Film Festival this September (check out The Guardian's preview here). Trailers are below:
OFFICIAL TRAILER FOR 'REM' DOCUMENTARY from tomas koolhaas on Vimeo.
REM OFFICIAL TRAILER #2 from tomas koolhaas on Vimeo.
24 Comments
Enough of the tease, when's the fucking movie coming out?
One architect son reflecting on great father movie was enough
If Rem is really challenged by people's needs, why do his buildings all look ugly? Does he not thing people need beauty? Maybe it's too superficial for him, or maybe he's incapable of delivering it. These promos look like a trailer for the Unhappy Hipster.
A building has only one life that matters. The one experienced by those who live with it.
But Thayer, take the SPL as an example:
you think it "looks ugly"
I think it "looks awesome"
we both experience it in our lives
100 years from now other people will experience it too
Who exactly should Rem decide to design for?
dumb parkour trailer - probably has more relevant content than the actual movie.
I think Rem should design for awesome people or just people with money.
"A building has only one life that matters. The one experienced by those who live with it. "
When i visited the library a few years ago, I had the opportunity to talk to the people that work there, and a 100% of them loved coming to work there everyday. So, by your definition we should call this a success, right?
Love Koolhaas' work (and find it beautiful) but this "documentary" has a contrived premise... Again he plays with the ideas of post-occupancy through a framework that his son constructs to look at his own work. Like a commercialized retread of "Koolhaas Houselife" but ends up being more "Infinte Happiness" (a glorified commercial commissioned by BIG). How a project is funded and who is doing items why makes all the difference between serious work and .... Whatever this is.
My Architect on the other hand was successful because the filmmaker had a distant relationship with Kahn; and the narrative seemed sincere. This looks ... Not good. But I'll see it anyway to make sure.
Donna, Fair enough. As for who REM should decide to design for? I think he has his pick.
sameolddoctor, I've heard the opposite, especially from those who work there, but if that's changed, then great. It looks like a bunch of nonsensical bends and angles to me, but maybe they make sense from the inside. I'm just amazed how prolific a self marketer this guy is.
" It looks like a bunch of nonsensical bends and angles to me" - i could say the same about a bunch of nonsensical right angles.
I'll watch it if it gets on Netflix. Unless something better is on like season 3 of Bloodline.
I want to give an advice about this new movie!
Women skateboarding in one's building post occupancy, seems to be even more popular nowadays, than men's skateboarding !! Should be included..
Waiting to see it in the new trailer !!
"i could say the same about a bunch of nonsensical right angles."
Then don't make them nonsensical, make them musical.
I'm sure that skateboarder is NOT a paid professional... Just a random guy enjoying the architecture. Uh huh
LOL nice one Thayer. On a serious note, non-right angles are going to make more and more sense as construction technologies change (and buildings start growing themselves) but one still has to make whatever angles one uses make sense, and preferably music.
BTW, Thayer, are you Birds of Venice?
True, but just because technology allows us to do things doesn't mean they make sense. One still has to contend with people's innate desire for order, love of harmony, and the practicality of furnishing right angled rooms. I think these aspects of human nature don't preclude originality or the desire to experiment with technology, I just happen to think they supersede them when faced with a choice. And one can be perfectly original much like a writer who employs certain traditional devices when writing a new story. I'm actually not a curmudgeon about architecture, just one who maybe puts too much importance on how buildings make people feel.
Anyhoo, I'm not Birds of Venice, although it sounds like a nice title. Twitter I suspect? I would go with Cats of Rome, for greater appeal on the internets.
I love the SPL. Hell, even the homeless love it.
More of this:
Less of This:
More of This:
Less of This:
^YES
"One still has to contend with people's innate desire for order, love of harmony, and the practicality of furnishing right angled rooms"
Most of us have to, yes, but I still think its important for someone (like Rem etc) to question the traditional notions of order, harmony etc. BTW all floors of the SPL are rectilinear in plan, and hence possible to furnish.
I agree, but do you really think Rem is the exception? You say most of us "have to" contend with people's innate desires as if it was a chore rather than a pleasure. Who says?
Right now our educational system prioritizes the gee whiz over what most clients want, which is not to live in a sculpture but a home, just like most people are drawn to beautiful cities. So many programs tout their experimentation because of folks like Rem. Should one be experimenting before they've learned the basics? Young people are drawn to heroism, as they should be, but sometimes one simply needs to support others, not be their hero.
this is all distraction, Rene Daalder's Leaning Tower is the real deal.
Who's talking about "young people"? Is Thom Mayne young?
Excellent post, beta! LOLing.
Thayer, I like right angles. And I love order. I don't find grids monotonous, I find them calming, for the most part: Agnes Martin is my favorite painter.
As Steven Ward said in his 100 Word Manifesto so long ago: some buildings should just be quiet. Which doesn't mean being boring, it means being calm, orderly, lovely in their stillness, for example.
But yes, we also need some chaos to make that order feel sooooo good.
Donna, the idea of what we find beautiful will never be summarized in a paragraph for obvious reasons, but there are elements of our perception that evolved and are common to all of us, what Kant called our 'sensus communis'. That is what I'm most interested in, not the particulars of you liking mid-century and I Shingle style. I'm sure we can both appreciate the other despite our idiosyncrasies, but the aspect of taste that is common, in other words what enables us to determine with some kind of intelligence what another person might like, or which house has 'curb appeal' is something that schools simply don't touch, because of the statement that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.'
Someone else blogged about it, asking is architecture 'humane enough', which I find really promising. http://archinect.com/thesocraticmethod/is-architecture-humane-enough I wrote a paper recently on this very subject that I'd be happy to forward you, And if it's of interest to you and yours, maybe I could post it.
Anyhow, I hope you don't think I'm advocating for silencing or vilifying modernism. My only interest has been in understanding the human animal and why they do the things they do, zoomed out to see what patterns emerge rather than focused in to see whether everyone likes the SPL. It's about understanding human nature more than anything else and what lessons we can learn that will benefit those for whom we build.
When will the movie up for watcing?.. Luis Doporto Aejandre
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