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 innovation offered by a new tech campus on Roosevelt Island is not limited to New York’s technology sector but the design one, as well. Almost every bid had soaring renderings and flashy flythroughs, most notably the winning entry from Cornell. Now the upstate university has announced six of the world’s top firms, including a few local favorites, are in the running to design the new tech campus. — New York Observer

All the headlines talk about Marina and Rem, but his involvement is quite minimal, isn’t it?

He’s involved, but I’m running the New York office. You know the media always has to say Rem just to catch people’s attention, but I appreciate if you don’t repeat that laziness. Of course Rem is involved, but as you can see he’s not here. — artinfo.com

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. — vulture.com

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

Rem Koolhaas, Victor van der Chijs, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka and David Gianotten will discuss their roles within OMA, and how new ideas are transforming the 36-year-old practice. The discussion will be chaired by Chris Dercon, director of Tate Modern. — OMA

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

Rem-There's more and more and more building in the world and buildings growing out like wild plants, across the planet and 90% of them are just, rubish, or junk. You are, your totally right and you would have to be a missionary, to uh, to kind of even attempt to deal with it. And, to some extent um, I think, I am a missionary. — Guardian

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

OMA has won the competition to design the new Parc des Expositions (PEX) in the innovation zone of Toulouse, in southern France. PEX is conceived as a new gateway to the city and will host exhibitions, conferences, and concerts. — bustler.net

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