© Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff

REM KOOLHAAS
DEVELOPMENT OF CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE I

JASWANTH 20AR10021

RAJASHEKAR 20AR10033
Introduction
BIRTH
17th November 1944, Rotterdam,
Netherlands
EDUCATION
1968-1972: Architecture Association in London
1972-1975: Cornell University, New York
PRACTICE
1975: Formed Office for Metropolitan
Architecture (OMA)
AWARDS
2000: Pritzker Award
2003: Praemium Imperiale
2004: Royal Gold Medal
2005: Mies Van Der Rohe
2010: Leone d’oro alla carriera

© wyly wonderment
© Dominik Gigler
 ARCHITECTURAL IDEOLOGY

● London divided into 2 zones - one of pleasure, one of practicality

● Prefers to call himself an “urban thinker” and not an architect

● Postmodernist.

● Deconstructivist

● His buildings usually stand out from the surroundings

Visionary Architect :

From the Pritzker Prize Jurors:

● Rem Koolhaas is that rare combination of visionary and implementer

—philosopher and pragmatist — theorist and prophet — an architect whose
ideas about buildings and urban planning made him one of the most
discussed contemporary architects in the world even before any of his
design projects came to fruition.
● He is not a formalist, yet he creates form. He is not a functionalist, yet
programs are the generators of his solutions; he is not a theoretician, yet
ideas dominate his work.
IMPORTANT WORKS

The Kunsthal combines 3300 square

meters of exhibition space, an
auditorium and restaurant into one
compact design.

© Delfino Sisto Legnani and Marco Cappelletti

Kunsthal, (Rotterdam, 1993)

IMPORTANT WORKS

© Westfield Euralille

In 1989 Euralille, a public-private

partnership, commissioned OMA to
masterplan a vast program
consisting of more than 800,000
square meters of urban activities - a
new TGV station, shopping, offices,
parking, hotels, housing, a concert
hall, congress - built on 120
hectares on the site of the former
city fortifications by Vauban.

Euralille (Lille, 1988)

IMPORTANT WORKS

© Hans Werlemann

The Netherlands Dance Theatre,

completed in 1987, was originally
conceived in 1980 as an extension to
a circus theatre in Scheveningen,
a seaside resort in The Hague. In
1984, the design was adapted for a
new site - the Spui Complex - in the
centre of The Hague.

Netherlands Dance Theater (The Hague, 1988)

 IMPORTANT WORKS

The Educatorium is composed of two

planes which fold to accommodate a
range of distinct programs, including
an outdoor plaza, two lecture halls,
cafeteria and exam halls. Planes
interlock to create a single trajectory in
which the entire university experience
- socialization, learning, examination -
is encapsulated.

© Hans Werlemann

Educatorium, (Utrecht, 1993-1997)

IMPORTANT WORKS

The Netherlands Embassy is a

disciplined cube with equally
disciplined irregularities which aims to
facilitate a better understanding of
Berlin, confronting divergent ideas
about how the city, with its complexity,
heaviness, opacity, and beauty, should
build / rebuild.

© Christian Richters

Netherlands Embassy (Berlin, 2003)

IMPORTANT WORKS

© OMA

The McCormick Tribune Campus

Center seeks to reinvigorate the
urbanism inherent – but long since
© OMA
neglected – in Mies van der Rohe's
1940 masterplan for the Illinois
Institute of Technology.

McCormick Tribune Campus Center,

((IIT Chicago 1997-2003)
 © -JVL

SEATTLE CENTRAL
LIBRARY(2004)
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
 Five “stable” programmatic clusters which include
parking, staff, meeting, Book Spiral, HQ. These five
are arranged on overlapping platforms.

On the other hand, the four “unstable” clusters which include kids,
living room, Mixing Chamber, reading room occupy interstitial zones.
Each area is defined and equipped in a way that ensures productivity
with varying size, pliability, spatial movement, palette, and structure.
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY

Each platform is a programmatic

cluster with different purposes.
Therefore, each platform’s size,
flexibility, circulation, palette,
structure, and MEP differs.
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY

The Book Spiral implies a reclamation of the much-compromised Dewey Decimal

System arranging the collection in a continuous ribbon running from 000 to 999 .
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY

There are two types structural

systems exist. The vertical loads are
brought down to the foundations by a
regular grid of columns, resulting in a
free plan concept. In contrast, the
steel cage takes horizontal loads that
wrap the platforms and stabilize the
building against wind or seismic
disturbances. Besides, Depending on
the weights that need to be resisted,
the steel elements fluctuate in size,
density, and orientation.
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY
SEATTLE CENTRAL LIBRARY

© Philippe Ruault
 ©Eric Gregory Powell | Stone | Getty Images

CCTV
HEADQUARTERS
(2012)
© OMA

© OMA

© OMA

© OMA
CCTV HEADQUARTERS

● Continuous loop
● Two L-shaped towers joined at top
and bottom
● Referring to a closed circuit
television
CCTV HEADQUARTERS

STRUCTURAL CONCEPT
● 3-storey basement, 9-storey
base, 2 towers, 9-13 storey
overhang (36-storeys above the
ground)
● Towers slope in 6 degrees in
each direction
CCTV HEADQUARTERS

FACADE
● The irregular geometry of the steel structure
facade gives it stability to cope with different
load conditions.
● The facade mirrors the form of the structural
braces.
● For better appearance exoskeleton under a
curtain wall layer
CCTV HEADQUARTERS

INTERIORS
CCTV HEADQUARTERS

Criticism

● Breaking Chinese codes design for such

a structure(for which it was criticised),
but the system was accepted to be a
very innovative design.
● Often criticised for lack of aesthetic
considerations
● “Simply architecture that wants to be
different”
● Though a landmark, the boldness of the
“twisted loop” is out of place in Beijing’s
skyline and Chinese culture.
References
● Quirk, V. (2012, November 17). Rem Koolhaas: A Reluctant Architect. ArchDaily. Retrieved October 30, 2021,
from
https://www.archdaily.com/294970/rem-koolhaas-a-reluctant-architect

● Shah, V. (2013, February 1). Koolhaas Modernism: 4+2 Houses. Issuu. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from
https://issuu.com/viralshah/docs/koolhaas-modernism
● Maison à Bordeaux. (n.a). (n.d). OMA. Retrieved October 30, 2021, from
https://www.oma.com/projects/maison-a-bordeaux
● Kroll, A. (2011, January 25). AD Classics: Maison Bordeaux / OMA. ArchDaily. Retrieved October 30, 2021,
from
https://www.archdaily.com/104724/ad-classics-maison-bordeaux-oma

● CCTV Headquarters - Data, Photos & Plans. (n.a). (n.d). WikiArquitectura. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from
https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/building/cctv-headquarters/
References

● China Central Television Headquarters - A Masterpiece of Architecture. (n.a). (2014, October 14). My
Decorative. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from
https://mydecorative.com/china-central-television-headquarters-a-masterpiece-of-architecture/
● CCTV Headquarter. (n.a). (n.d). Faculty.arch.tamu.edu. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from
http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/anichols/courses/applied-architectural-structures/projects-631/Files/CC
TV%20HeadquartersPres.pdf
● Discover The Innovative Buildings of Rem Koolhaas. (n.a). (n.d). Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved
October 31, 2021, from
https://artsandculture.google.com/theme/discover-the-innovative-buildings-of-rem-koolhaas/awJSs
VRdLkcbIA?hl=en
● Sreekanth, P. (2011, January 17). Rem Koolhaas – CCTV HQ Beijing. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from
https://thearchiblog.com/2011/01/17/rem-koolhaas-cctv-hq-beijing/
● CCTV Headquarters / OMA. (n.a). (2012, May 21). ArchDaily. Retrieved October 31, 2021, from
https://www.archdaily.com/236175/cctv-headquarters-oma?ad_medium=gallery
● Ghandour, M., Sawaya, V., Itani S. (n.d). Group 4 (sec33) / Site Analysis + CCTV Headquarters (Rem
Koolhaas). Retrieved October 31, 2021, from
http://arc531.blogspot.com/2012/10/group-4-cctv-headquarters-mouaz.html
● Seattle library
https://www.archdaily.com/11651/seattle-central-library-oma-lmn
THANK YOU