Rem Koolhaas/OMA: The Construction of MerveillesIn this book, the projects, buildings and theories of Koolhaas, as well as the other members of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, are examined in chronological and thematic sequence, beginning with the period of Koolhaas' education at the Architectural Association School of Architecture of London in the cultural context of the neo-avant-gardes at the end of the 60s and at the beginning of the 70s. The essay then discusses the period of his stay in New-York, his contact with Ungers, Eisenman, Rowe, as well as the polemic confrontation with the emerging post-modernism movement; and it concludes with the last critical contributions of Koolhaas. The starting point is design, which, in the case of Koolhaas, usually grows out of an alchemy of logic, influenced both by the proposed program (as viewed by the clients and institutions) and the metaphorical and autobiographical aspiration of the artist. The analysis is carried through to the details of construction, with special attention paid to the choice of materials, the configuration of the structure, and the role and position of the installation. The book is richly illustrated and includes an exhaustive bibliography. |
Contents
Chapter 1 Experiences with the ParanoidCritical Method 148 Kunsthal II 198992 essences of the modern | 1967 |
Learning from Manhattan 197274 165 From the Terminal at Zeebrugge to the Grand Palais | 21 |
the example of Berlin 215 Projects for Miami Munich Almere | 30 |
The Culture of Congestion and the poché plan of architecture | 40 |
paranoidcritical 227 Theory of Bigness | 62 |
Chapter 2 New Sobriety vs PostModern for towers | 76 |
Polemical writings of OMA 197980 247 The McCormick Tribune Campus Center and the | 83 |
Haussmannian poché and sponge | 90 |
projects for Paris 198283 263 The generic volume with trajectory and the prism | 109 |
project for the Ville Nouvelle 272 The Y2K house the Casa da Música the Seattle | 118 |
The pavilion at the Milan Triennale the De Brink 298 Variants of Manhattanism | 124 |
apotheosis of the merveilles | 130 |
Chapter 3 The epoch of the merveilles | 142 |