Rem Koolhas- Life and Works

1. Rem Koolhas
Office for Metropolitan Architecture

2. The Architect
•Born November 17, 1944 in
Rotterdam, Netherlands
•Definitely a celebrity architect, at the
opening of the Prada stores of his
design in New York and Los Angeles,
he was a recognizable figure
•Former journalist and screenwriter
who studied architecture at the
Architectural Association School of
Architecture in London
•"Professor in Practice of
Architecture and Urban Design" at
Harvard University's Graduate
School of Design

3. The Architect
•In 1975 Koolhaas along with some
other architects founded the OMA
(Office for Metropolitan Architecture),
dedicated to finding "new synergies"
between architecture and
contemporary culture
•In 2005, he co-founded ‘Volume
Magazine’ together with Mark Wigley
and Ole Bouman.

4. Awards
•Pritzker Architecture Prize
Laureate for the year 2000
•TIME Magazine Best
Architecture for 2004 (Seattle
Central Library)
• RIBA Gold Medal (2004). In
2005 Rem Koolhaas
received the Mies van der
Rohe Award for the
Netherlands Embassy, Berlin

5. A Visionary Architect
From the Pritzker Prize Jurors:
A. 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.
B. 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.

6. Design Philosophy
• Boldly produces buildings that differ visually to their surroundings
• Celebrates the "chance-like" nature of city
• Interrogated the "Program“ to oppose the notion “ an act to edit
function and human activities “ as the pretext of architectural design
• His work emphatically embraces the contradictions of two
disciplines- architecture and urban design

7. Important Work
• Kunsthal, (Rotterdam, 1993)
• Euralille (Lille, 1988)
• Netherlands Dance Theater (The
Hague, 1988)
• Educatorium, (Utrecht, 1993-1997)
• Netherlands Embassy (Berlin, 2003)
• Guggenheim Museum, (Las Vegas,
2002)
• Nexus Housing (Fukuoka, Japan)
• Retail design for Prada stores (New
York 2003, Los Angeles 2004)
• McCormick Tribune Campus Center,
(IIT Chicago, Illinois, 1997-2003)
• Seattle Central Library (2004)
• Casa da Música (Oporto, 2005)
• CCTV HQ, Beijing (2008)

8. Euralille (Lille, France 1988)

9. Educatorium, (Utrecht, 1993-1997)

10. McCormick Tribune Campus Center,
(IIT Chicago, Illinois, 1997-2003)

11. Kunsthal, (Rotterdam, 1993)

12. Casa da Música
(Oporto, Portugal
2005)
Casa da Musica concert hall in Porto
was completed and was already
voted as one of the most important
concert halls in the world by the New
York Times” (April 10th 2005)

13. Netherlands Embassy (Berlin, 2003)
Prada Los Angeles

14. Seattle
Central
Library

15. CCTV HQ Beijing

17. Project Details
Architects:
Rem Koolhassand OMA
East China Architecture and Design Institute
of Shanghai (ECADI)
Engineers:
OveArup and Partners
Financing:
Chinese Government (est. Investment: $1.2
Billion)
Location:
New central business district in Beijing, China
Building Footprint: 160m x 160m
Floor Space: 450 000 sq.m
Height: 234m, 49 storeys (+3
basements)

18. Architectural
Concept
• It takes the state-run broadcaster to a
new level of global broadcasting,
expanding from its previous operation
of running 13 channels to over 200
upon completion.
• Combines administration and offices,
news and broadcasting, programme
production and services – the entire
process – in a single loop of
interconnected activities

19. Production
Service
New Media
Broadcasting
Administration
News
Cultural Center
Hotel

20. Production
Service
New Media
Broadcasting
Administration
News
Cultural Center
Hotel

21. Production
Service
New Media
Broadcasting
Administration
News
Cultural Center
Hotel

23. • Consists of nine-storey ‘Base’, the two
leaning Towers that slope at 6° in
each direction, and the nine to 13-
storey ‘Overhang’, suspended 36
storeys in the air
• A visionary design, radical shape –
defying the traditional skyscraper
• A landmark building, reflects the new
image of China
• A major engineering design and
construction feat

24. Siteplan

25. Design
The design not only adds to the interest of the internal space but also
complements the functionality of the building, which needs to
support the full range of processes involved in TV production.
The variable space and the continual loop structure make the building
ideal for creating the desired interconnected sequence of activity,
and provide a fitting new home for CCTV.

26. CCTV Tower Beijing

28. •The facade mirrors the form of the structural braces.
•The leaning towers and the interconnecting section
created a real challenge in engineering terms and
required an innovative approach to make the uniquely-
shaped building possible.

30. Structure
The weight of the floor plates is taken by structural cores
The forces at the skin are distributed along diagrid skeleton.
Regular grid of columns
and edge beams
Patterned diagonal
bracing
Braced tube system+ =

31. Structure
• The positioning of the columns
and diagonal tubes on the
exoskeleton reflects the
distribution of forces in the
surface skin of the building
• Forms irregular pattern on the
façade
• Uses about 20% less steel
compared to a single tower of
similar area
• For better appearance
exoskeleton under a
curtainwall layer

32. Significance in the
Contemporary Scene
• An influential architect of the contemporary scene - Aspiring,
adventurous, visionary and innovative
• Creates new precedent with ‘top down skyscraper’ for a ‘top down
organisation’
• New Concepts of architecture and structure. First instance of a loop
form implemented for a building
• Emphasis on exploiting present day materials
• Brings in technology, structure as a key component in buildings
• Rem Koolhaas has extended the boundaries of the possible through
his radical designs

33. Criticism
• Deconstructivist? Structuralist? Late modernist?
• Often criticized for lack of aesthetic consideration.
• 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.

34. Thank You