Koolhaas, Rem
Koolhaas, Rem
Bio Sketch
Rem Koolhaas (b. 1944) is a Dutch architect, theorist, and a principal of OMA/AMO, among the most influential and contested figures in contemporary architecture. Author of Delirious New York, S,M,L,XL, and "Junkspace," and thinker of the "generic city," he is a key (ambivalent) figure in Geoffrey's postmodernism & critique, semiotics & representation, and star architecture areas.
Key Works
- Delirious New York (1978); S,M,L,XL (1995); "Generic City" and "Junkspace."
- CCTV Headquarters, Beijing; Casa da Musica, Porto; Seattle Public Library — "route buildings"/icons.
- AMO content/branding work (e.g. EU project, "Content").
Key Concepts
Concepts associated with this author that have pages in this wiki:
Relevance to Geoffrey's Research
Koolhaas matters to Geoffrey's postmodernism & critique and semiotics & representation areas: his theory of the generic city and junkspace, and his ambivalent embrace/rejection of iconicity and content, are central to the critical-vs-projective debate and to the question of whether architecture can be content-driven and critical within capitalism.
Source Support
Source notes in this wiki drawn from this author's work:
- Radical Post-Modernism and Content (debate with Jencks)
- Logan Airport / Junkspace
- Architecture or Techno-Utopia
- The Architecture of Neoliberalism: How Contemporary Architecture Became an Instrument of Control and Compliance
- Parametricism Can Never Become a Dominant Architecture Style Now That the Forces of Capitalism Are No Longer Interested in the Lives of the Masses
- The Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful—and Their Architects—Shape the World
- Can We Still Believe in Iconic Buildings?
- Is the Era of the Skyscraper Over?
- Latour for Architects (Yaneva 2022) — Yaneva names Koolhaas as the exemplary architect who "has never been modern," rejecting the modernist purification of form and function.
- The Abstractionist (Seabrook 2009) — Koolhaas as Hadid's teacher at the A.A.; schooled her in draftsmanship, noted "strong element of calligraphy" from her Arabic background. Called her "a planet in her own inimitable orbit."