Rem Koolhaas
Early Life and Education
Rem Koolhaas was born on November 17, 1944, in Rotterdam, Netherlands. His father, Anton Koolhaas, was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter, and his mother was a homemaker. His grandfather, Dirk Roosenburg, was a prominent modernist architect.
Koolhaas’s early life was shaped by his family’s intellectual and artistic pursuits, as well as by his experiences living abroad. From 1952 to 1956, he lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, where his father was the director of a cultural institute. This experience of living in a post-colonial Asian city gave him a unique perspective on urbanism and the forces of modernization.
He returned to the Netherlands and, after finishing school, he pursued a career in journalism. He worked for the Haagse Post, a weekly newspaper in The Hague, and he was also involved in screenwriting. He co-wrote the script for “The White Slave,” a Dutch film noir, and he was part of a group of young writers and artists who were interested in exploring the intersection of art, culture, and politics.
In the late 1960s, Koolhaas decided to switch careers and study architecture. He enrolled at the Architectural Association (AA) in London, one of the most experimental and influential architecture schools in the world. He was a charismatic and intellectually precocious student, and he quickly became a leading figure in the school’s avant-garde circles.
After graduating from the AA in 1972, he received a Harkness Fellowship to study in the United States. He spent time at Cornell University and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) in New York City. His time in New York was a revelation. He was fascinated by the city’s density, its energy, and its “culture of congestion.” He began to study the city’s architecture and urbanism, not as a collection of individual buildings, but as a complex and dynamic system.
This research culminated in his seminal 1978 book, “Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.” The book was a highly original and influential analysis of the city’s urban development, and it established Koolhaas as one of the most important architectural thinkers of his generation.
In 1975, while still working on his book, he founded the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in London with his wife, Madelon Vriesendorp, and Elia and Zoe Zenghelis. The firm would later move to Rotterdam and would become one of the most influential and innovative architectural practices in the world.
Architectural Philosophy and Career
Rem Koolhaas’s architectural philosophy is a complex and often contradictory mix of analysis, irony, and a deep engagement with the social, economic, and political forces that shape the contemporary world. He is both a celebrated architect and a provocative theorist, and his work has had a profound impact on the way we think about architecture and the city.
Koolhaas’s philosophy is rooted in a critical and unsentimental analysis of the modern condition. He is interested in the forces of globalization, urbanization, and commercialization, and he believes that architecture must engage with these forces, rather than retreat from them. He is not interested in creating a personal or signature style; instead, his work is a series of strategic responses to the specific problems and opportunities of each project.
He is a master of the “programmatic” approach to design. He begins each project with a period of intensive research and analysis, and he is interested in how a building’s program—its mix of functions and activities—can be used to generate new and unexpected architectural forms. He is known for his use of diagrams, charts, and other analytical tools to explore the programmatic possibilities of a project.
His work is often characterized by its use of fragmentation, collision, and unexpected juxtapositions. He is interested in creating buildings that are complex, dynamic, and full of surprises. He is not afraid of ugliness or awkwardness, and his work often has a raw, unfinished quality that stands in contrast to the polished perfection of much contemporary architecture.
Koolhaas is also a highly influential writer and theorist. His books, such as “Delirious New York” and “S,M,L,XL” (1995), have had a huge impact on architectural discourse. “S,M,L,XL,” which was co-authored with the graphic designer Bruce Mau, is a massive, 1300-page “novel about architecture” that combines essays, projects, and a wealth of other material in a dizzying and non-linear format.
In 1998, Koolhaas founded AMO, a research and design studio that operates in parallel with OMA. AMO works on projects that are outside the traditional boundaries of architecture, such as branding, media, and political consulting. This dual structure allows Koolhaas and his firm to engage with a wide range of cultural and intellectual issues, and it reflects his belief that architecture is just one of many tools for shaping the contemporary world.
Notable and Famous Works
Rem Koolhaas’s portfolio includes a wide range of projects, from private houses to large-scale urban plans and cultural institutions.
The CCTV Headquarters (2012) in Beijing is one of his most famous and ambitious works. The headquarters for China’s state television broadcaster is not a traditional skyscraper but a continuous loop of horizontal and vertical sections that encloses a large central void. The building’s radical, three-dimensional form is a powerful symbol of the interconnectedness of the media industry and a landmark of 21st-century engineering.
The Seattle Central Library (2004) is another of his most celebrated works. The library is a highly innovative and user-friendly building that rethinks the traditional library model. The building’s most distinctive feature is the “Book Spiral,” a continuous, four-story ramp that houses the library’s non-fiction collection and allows users to browse the entire Dewey Decimal System without interruption. The building is wrapped in a distinctive, diamond-patterned glass and steel skin.
The Casa da Música (2005) in Porto, Portugal, is a concert hall that is a powerful and sculptural object in the city. The building is a faceted, concrete polyhedron that is carved away to reveal the main concert hall and a series of other public spaces. The building’s unusual form and its raw, industrial materials create a dramatic and memorable presence.
The Villa dall’Ava (1991) in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris, is a key early work that demonstrates many of his signature ideas. The house is a complex and fragmented composition of different materials and forms, with a rooftop swimming pool that offers panoramic views of the city.
The Fondazione Prada (2018) in Milan is a masterful renovation of a former distillery complex. Koolhaas’s design preserved the existing industrial buildings and added a series of new structures, including a “haunted house” clad in gold leaf and a mirrored cinema. The result is a rich and complex campus that creates a dynamic dialogue between the old and the new.
Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Rem Koolhaas is one of the most decorated architects of his generation. In 2000, he was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The jury citation praised him as a “prophet of a new modern architecture” and for his “contributions as an urbanist and a writer.”
He has also received the Praemium Imperiale in Architecture from the Japan Art Association (2003), the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (2004), and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale of Architecture (2010).
Koolhaas’s legacy is that of a provocateur and an intellectual giant. He has redefined the role of the architect in the 21st century, from that of a master builder to that of a strategic thinker, a cultural critic, and a public intellectual.
His influence on architectural education and discourse has been immense. A generation of architects, including Bjarke Ingels and Zaha Hadid, have passed through his office, and his ideas and writings are a staple of architecture schools around the world.
He has challenged the conventions of the profession and has forced architects to confront the complex and often uncomfortable realities of the contemporary world. His work is a testament to his belief that architecture is not just about creating beautiful objects, but about engaging with the world in all of its messy, contradictory, and exhilarating complexity. He is one of the most important and influential figures in the world of architecture today.