Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Encyclopedia
OMA is a Rotterdam
based architecture firm of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas
.
The firm was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas
and Elia Zenghelis
with Madelon Vriesendorp
and Zoe Zenghelis.
-based architecture school where Koolhaas was a student and Zengelis an instructor. Their first major project was the utopia
n/dystopia
n project Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture (1972). This project proposed a linear structure, cutting through London like a knife. Other pre-OMA projects include City of the Captive Globe (1974), Hotel Sphinx (1975), New Welfare Island/Welfare Palace Hotel (1975-76), Roosevelt Island
Redevelopment (1975), all ‘paper’ projects that were not (intended to be) built, and all located in Manhattan
, the subject of Rem Koolhaas’ famous book Delirious New York, A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1975).
The founding of OMA coincided with the firm's entry in the architectural design competition
for a new Dutch parliament building in The Hague
(1978, with Zaha Hadid
). OMA was one of the first-prize winners (among some 10 others), and the project was widely discussed and published. The commission, however, was given to an architect who did not participate in the competition. The entry for the Dutch parliament competition was the first of a series of controversial and successful international competition entries by OMA in the 1980s that were not built by OMA.
. Due to change of location a second design for the Dance Theater was made in 1984. Once completed in 1987, the building received international attention. Although full of ‘first mistakes’, the Dance Theater is the first realized design in which the ideas of Rem Koolhaas were made apparent. IJ-plein is located at the IJ river, opposite the city center. The masterplan consists of 1300 dwellings and several facilities. OMA designed the school, the community center and two blocks of housing. Although IJ-plein was a success, Koolhaas hardly ever mentions the design any more.
Apart from these two noteworthy projects few designs were realized in the 80s: a police station in Almere (1982–1985), a bus station in Rotterdam (1985-1987, demolished in 2005), Byzantium apartment block in Amsterdam (1985–1991) and Checkpoint Charlie
Housing in Berlin
(1984–1990). None of these designs however could match two houses built in this period, one in Rotterdam, one in Paris. The first house was a duo of "Miesian" patio villas (1985–1988) inserted in a dike in Rotterdam. The second – and arguably the best, most full-grown design of OMA until that date – is Villa Dall’Ava in Paris (1984–1991). The client – according to Koolhaas - asked for a "masterpiece". He wanted a glass house. She wanted a swimming pool on the roof. They got both, and the masterpiece in the bargain. So many delays plagued the house that it "became a record of our own (OMA’s) growing up" (Koolhaas in S,M,L,XL
).
Several studies were made during the late 70s and 80s: Study for the renovation of a panopticon prison in Arnhem in 1979, Boompjes tower slab in Rotterdam (1979), Housing for Berlin IBA
(1980, not realised, and the reason OMA would not design anything in Berlin anymore in the 20th century, the Dutch Embassy Building being the come-back), masterplan for a world exhibition in Paris (1983). Much more important however were the competition entries OMA designed in this period. They gained the office international fame (but not one design was actually built).
, Rotterdam (1992).
The Euralille (1994), a 70-hectare business and civic center in Lille
, northern France comprising the European hub for high-speed trains, transformed a once dormant center of more than 50 million inhabitants into a site offering connectivity, and a range of contemporary activities.
In 1999 OMA completed the Maison a Bordeaux, a villa for a client in the hills outside Bordeaux
, France. The villa is of utter complexity and the most striking feature is a platform in the very center of the house that moves freely between the three floors and allowed the client to move with his wheelchair on all three levels of the villa. The design was conceived in collaboration with engineer Cecil Balmond
.
in Porto (2005), the Prada Epicenter in Los Angeles (2004), the Seattle Central Library
(2004), the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (2004), the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003) and the McCormick Tribune Campus Center
at the Illinois Institute of Technology
in Chicago
(2003).
OMA was awarded the contract for the Seattle Central Library
, completed in 2005, despite not having been on the list of firms originally invited to submit designs. Former Seattle resident Joshua Prince-Ramus
, a partner, heard from his mother about the meeting for interested firms at the last minute and flew in from the Netherlands. This 11-story glass and steel building is a striking addition to the Seattle cityscape.
In Asia OMA recently completed the massive Central China Television Headquarters
building in Beijing
, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
is currently under construction. In January 2009 OMA won the competition to build a performing arts centre in Taipei and in June 2009 the office won the competition to design 'Crystal Island', a transport and cultural hub in the centre of Shenzhen.
In October 2011, the Barbican Art Gallery launched their exhibition 'OMA/Progress', the first major presentation of OMA's work in the UK, curated by Belgium-based creative collective Rotor.
, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten and managing partner Victor van der Chijs
.
, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Harvard University
, Condé Nast
, Heineken
, and Ikea
.
AMO projects also include the development of in-store technology for Prada
, a strategy for the future of Volkswagen
, a strategy for TMRW, new organic fast food chain, work for Platform 21, new design institute in Amsterdam, a curatorial masterplan for the Hermitage Museum
in St. Petersburg, and Roadmap 2050: A Practical Guide to a Prosperous, Low-Carbon Europe. In 2008, AMO curated the exhibition 'Dubai Next' at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, and was one of the editors on the book Al Manakh, which details the rapid transformation of the Gulf region. In 2010, in collaboration with Archis and Think Tank, AMO made the follow-up, Al Manakh 2.
was completed and opened to the public on May 23, 2004 In 2005, the library earned a national American Institute of Architects
Honor Award for Architecture. The building has also been described as, "the most important new library to be built in a generation, and the most exhilarating" by New Yorker
architecture critic Paul Goldberger
.
to design a master plan for Waterfront City located on an artificial island off the Persian Gulf in Dubai. The design for Waterfront City will accommodate as many as 1.5 million people and cover an area of 34435 acres (139.4 km²). OMA's urban plan for the city includes designs for five large buildings, including one 590 feet (179.8 m) spherical building that will be designed by OMA and contain a convention center, residences, hotel rooms, and retail stores.
in May 2001, which made Brussels
the official capital of Europe, the then President of the European Commission
, Romano Prodi
and the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
invited Koolhaas to discuss the necessities and requirements of a European capital.
During these talks and as an impetus for further discussion, Koolhaas and OMA suggested the development of a visual language. This idea inspired a series of drawings and drafts, including the "Barcode". The Barcode unites the flags of the EU countries into a single colorful symbol.
In the current European flag
, there is a fixed number of stars. In the Barcode however, new Member States of the EU can be added without space constraints. Originally, the Barcode displayed 15 EU countries. In 2004, the symbol was adapted to include the ten new Member States.
Since the time of the first drafts of the Barcode it has never been officially used by commercial or political institutions. During the Austrian EU Presidency 2006
it is officially used for the first time. The logo has already been used for the EU information campaign which will also be continued during the Austrian EU Presidency.
There was initially some uproar caused, as the stripes of the flag of Estonia
were displayed incorrectly.
Middle-East
North America
Asia Pacific
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
based architecture firm of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
.
The firm was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
and Elia Zenghelis
Elia Zenghelis
Elia Zenghelis is a Greek architect and teacher. He studied architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, completing his studies in 1961. From 1961 to 1971 he worked for architects Douglas Stephen and Partners, London, while also teaching at the Architectural...
with Madelon Vriesendorp
Madelon Vriesendorp
Madelon Vriesendorp is a Dutch artist best known as one of the co-founders of the Office of Metropolitan Architecture in the early 1970s ....
and Zoe Zenghelis.
History
Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis started working together in the early seventies at the Architectural Association, the LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based architecture school where Koolhaas was a student and Zengelis an instructor. Their first major project was the utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n/dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
n project Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture (1972). This project proposed a linear structure, cutting through London like a knife. Other pre-OMA projects include City of the Captive Globe (1974), Hotel Sphinx (1975), New Welfare Island/Welfare Palace Hotel (1975-76), Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island, known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973, and before that Blackwell's Island, is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east...
Redevelopment (1975), all ‘paper’ projects that were not (intended to be) built, and all located in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, the subject of Rem Koolhaas’ famous book Delirious New York, A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1975).
The founding of OMA coincided with the firm's entry in the architectural design competition
Architectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...
for a new Dutch parliament building in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
(1978, with Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid, CBE is an Iraqi-British architect.-Life and career:Hadid was born in 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. She received a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut before moving to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.After graduating she worked...
). OMA was one of the first-prize winners (among some 10 others), and the project was widely discussed and published. The commission, however, was given to an architect who did not participate in the competition. The entry for the Dutch parliament competition was the first of a series of controversial and successful international competition entries by OMA in the 1980s that were not built by OMA.
OMA in the 1980s
OMA's first major commissions were The Netherlands Dance Theatre (1981) in The Hague and IJ-Plein Urban planning (1981–1988) in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. Due to change of location a second design for the Dance Theater was made in 1984. Once completed in 1987, the building received international attention. Although full of ‘first mistakes’, the Dance Theater is the first realized design in which the ideas of Rem Koolhaas were made apparent. IJ-plein is located at the IJ river, opposite the city center. The masterplan consists of 1300 dwellings and several facilities. OMA designed the school, the community center and two blocks of housing. Although IJ-plein was a success, Koolhaas hardly ever mentions the design any more.
Apart from these two noteworthy projects few designs were realized in the 80s: a police station in Almere (1982–1985), a bus station in Rotterdam (1985-1987, demolished in 2005), Byzantium apartment block in Amsterdam (1985–1991) and Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War....
Housing in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(1984–1990). None of these designs however could match two houses built in this period, one in Rotterdam, one in Paris. The first house was a duo of "Miesian" patio villas (1985–1988) inserted in a dike in Rotterdam. The second – and arguably the best, most full-grown design of OMA until that date – is Villa Dall’Ava in Paris (1984–1991). The client – according to Koolhaas - asked for a "masterpiece". He wanted a glass house. She wanted a swimming pool on the roof. They got both, and the masterpiece in the bargain. So many delays plagued the house that it "became a record of our own (OMA’s) growing up" (Koolhaas in S,M,L,XL
S,M,L,XL
S,M,L,XL is a book by Rem Koolhaas and Bruce Mau, edited by Jennifer Sigler, with photography by Hans Werlemann.It was first published by Monacelli Press in 1995 in New York and 010 Publishers in Rotterdam...
).
Several studies were made during the late 70s and 80s: Study for the renovation of a panopticon prison in Arnhem in 1979, Boompjes tower slab in Rotterdam (1979), Housing for Berlin IBA
International Building Exhibition Berlin
The International Building Exhibition Berlin was an urban renewal project in Berlin, Germany. Initiated in 1979, it was completed in 1987, matching the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin. The IBA followed two distinct strategies: "careful urban renewal" and "critical...
(1980, not realised, and the reason OMA would not design anything in Berlin anymore in the 20th century, the Dutch Embassy Building being the come-back), masterplan for a world exhibition in Paris (1983). Much more important however were the competition entries OMA designed in this period. They gained the office international fame (but not one design was actually built).
OMA in the 1990s
In the 1990s OMA gained renown through a series of groundbreaking entries in major competitions: e.g Tres Grande Bibliotheque and Two Libraries for Jussieu University, Paris, France (1993). During these formative years OMA also realized ambitious projects, ranging from private residences to large scale urban plans: Villa dall’Ava, Paris, France (1991), Nexus Housing, Fukuoka, Japan (1991), the KunsthalKunsthal
The Kunsthal is a museum in Rotterdam, which opened its doors in 1992. The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Entrance to the Kunsthal is from the Westzeedijk...
, Rotterdam (1992).
The Euralille (1994), a 70-hectare business and civic center in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, northern France comprising the European hub for high-speed trains, transformed a once dormant center of more than 50 million inhabitants into a site offering connectivity, and a range of contemporary activities.
In 1999 OMA completed the Maison a Bordeaux, a villa for a client in the hills outside Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, France. The villa is of utter complexity and the most striking feature is a platform in the very center of the house that moves freely between the three floors and allowed the client to move with his wheelchair on all three levels of the villa. The design was conceived in collaboration with engineer Cecil Balmond
Cecil Balmond
Cecil Balmond is a Sri Lankan/British designer, engineer, artist, architect, and writer. He has been hailed as "one of the most important forces in contemporary architecture today," and in 2003 received the prestigious RIBA Charles Jencks award for Theory in Practice. He is also the recipient of...
.
OMA in the 21st century
OMA's recently completed projects include the Viktor & Rolf Store in London (2011), the Edouard Malingue Gallery, displaying Modernism and Impressionism art, in Hong Kong (2010), Prada Transformer, a rotating multi-use pavilion in Seoul (2009), the Zeche Zollverein Historical Museum and master plan in Essen (2006), the Seoul National University Museum of Art (2005), the much acclaimed Casa da MúsicaCasa da Música
Casa da Música is a major concert hall space in Porto, Portugal which houses the cultural institution of the same name with its three orchestras Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Orquestra Barroca and Remix Ensemble...
in Porto (2005), the Prada Epicenter in Los Angeles (2004), the Seattle Central Library
Seattle Central Library
The Seattle Public Library's Central Library is the flagship library of The Seattle Public Library system. The 11-story glass and steel building in downtown Seattle, Washington was opened to the public on Sunday, May 23, 2004...
(2004), the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (2004), the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003) and the McCormick Tribune Campus Center
McCormick Tribune Campus Center
The McCormick Tribune Campus Center is a building on the main campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology, in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.-Description:...
at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
(2003).
OMA was awarded the contract for the Seattle Central Library
Seattle Central Library
The Seattle Public Library's Central Library is the flagship library of The Seattle Public Library system. The 11-story glass and steel building in downtown Seattle, Washington was opened to the public on Sunday, May 23, 2004...
, completed in 2005, despite not having been on the list of firms originally invited to submit designs. Former Seattle resident Joshua Prince-Ramus
Joshua Prince-Ramus
Joshua Prince-Ramus is an American architect. Prince-Ramus is Principal of REX, an internationally acclaimed architecture and design firm based in New York City. REX recently completed the AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas, Texas and the Vakko Fashion Center and...
, a partner, heard from his mother about the meeting for interested firms at the last minute and flew in from the Netherlands. This 11-story glass and steel building is a striking addition to the Seattle cityscape.
In Asia OMA recently completed the massive Central China Television Headquarters
CCTV Headquarters
The CCTV Headquarters is a , 44-storey skyscraper in the Beijing Central Business District and serves as headquarters for China Central Television . Groundbreaking took place on 1 June 2004 and the building's facade was completed in 1 January 2008...
building in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Shenzhen Stock Exchange
The Shenzhen Stock Exchange is one of the People's Republic of China's two stock exchanges, alongside the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is based in Shenzhen, China...
is currently under construction. In January 2009 OMA won the competition to build a performing arts centre in Taipei and in June 2009 the office won the competition to design 'Crystal Island', a transport and cultural hub in the centre of Shenzhen.
In October 2011, the Barbican Art Gallery launched their exhibition 'OMA/Progress', the first major presentation of OMA's work in the UK, curated by Belgium-based creative collective Rotor.
Leadership
OMA's leadership is organized as a collaborative partnership. OMA's current partners are Rem KoolhaasRem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and "Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design" at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, USA. Koolhaas studied at the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam, at the Architectural...
, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten and managing partner Victor van der Chijs
Victor van der Chijs
Victor van der Chijs is Managing Director and Partner of architecture and design office OMA, founded by Rem Koolhaas, with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing and Hong Kong and projects in over 30 countries worldwide....
.
Offices
OMA maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing and Hong Kong.- OMA Rotterdam is working on construction of the new headquarters for Rothschild Bank in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and De Rotterdam, the largest building in the Netherlands; on design development of Stadskantoor, a new city hall building in Rotterdam; the Bibliothèque Municipales à Vocation Régionale in Caen; Maggie's Centre for cancer care in Glasgow; and the Cordoba Congress Center in Spain. The office is also working on several projects in the Middle East including three buildings for Education City in QatarQatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
.
- OMA New York, is working on Milstein Hall, a new building for the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, now under construction, and a new building for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
- OMA Beijing is working on the office's largest project to date, the 575,000 m2 China Central Television Headquarters (CCTV) and Television Cultural Center (TVCC), in Beijing. Other projects in development include a residential tower and residential master plan in SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
- OMA Hong Kong is working on the new Chu Hai College campus in Hong Kong, construction of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and design development of the Taipei Performing Arts Centre.
AMO
In 1998, Koolhaas founded AMO, a think tank within OMA dedicated to producing non-architectural work including exhibitions, branding campaigns, publishing, and energy planning. AMO has produced exhibitions at the Venice Biennale (on the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg) and Venice Architecture Biennale (on the development of the Gulf, and, in 2010, on preservation), and guest-edited issues of the magazines Wired and Domus. AMO has produced work for Universal StudiosUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Condé Nast
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
, Heineken
Heineken
Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
, and Ikea
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
.
AMO projects also include the development of in-store technology for Prada
Prada
Prada S.p.A. is an Italian fashion label specializing in luxury goods for men and women , founded by Mario Prada.-Foundations:...
, a strategy for the future of Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, a strategy for TMRW, new organic fast food chain, work for Platform 21, new design institute in Amsterdam, a curatorial masterplan for the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
in St. Petersburg, and Roadmap 2050: A Practical Guide to a Prosperous, Low-Carbon Europe. In 2008, AMO curated the exhibition 'Dubai Next' at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, and was one of the editors on the book Al Manakh, which details the rapid transformation of the Gulf region. In 2010, in collaboration with Archis and Think Tank, AMO made the follow-up, Al Manakh 2.
Seattle Central Library
In 1999, OMA won a competition to design a new central library for the city of Seattle. The Seattle Central LibrarySeattle Central Library
The Seattle Public Library's Central Library is the flagship library of The Seattle Public Library system. The 11-story glass and steel building in downtown Seattle, Washington was opened to the public on Sunday, May 23, 2004...
was completed and opened to the public on May 23, 2004 In 2005, the library earned a national American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
Honor Award for Architecture. The building has also been described as, "the most important new library to be built in a generation, and the most exhilarating" by New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
architecture critic Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger
Paul Goldberger is the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where since 1997 he has written the magazine's celebrated "Sky Line" column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City...
.
Casa da Musica, Porto
Completed in 2005, the new home of the National Orchestra of Porto stands on a new public square in the historic Rotunda da Boavista. With a distinct faceted form, New York Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff called it "a building whose intellectual ardor is matched by its sensual beauty." Inside, the elevated 1,300-seat (shoe box-shaped) Grand Auditorium has corrugated glass facades at either end that open the hall to the city and offer Porto itself as a dramatic backdrop for performances. As well as the Grand Auditorium, conceived as a simple mass hollowed out end-to-end from the solid form of the building, the Casa da Musica also contains a smaller, more flexible performance space with no fixed seating.Netherlands Embassy, Berlin
Winner of the 2005 Mies van der Rohe Award (the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture), OMA's Netherlands Embassy in Berlin is an isolated cube surrounded on two sides by a perimeter wall. The cube is punctured by a cantilevered meeting room and the visibility of the zig-zagging, interior path through the building.Waterfront City, Dubai
In 2007, OMA was commissioned by Nakheel PropertiesNakheel Properties
Nakheel is a real estate developer in Dubai and creator of several land reclamation projects, including the Palm Islands, the Dubai Waterfront, The World and The Universe Islands. Its residential projects include The Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Lake Towers. Its...
to design a master plan for Waterfront City located on an artificial island off the Persian Gulf in Dubai. The design for Waterfront City will accommodate as many as 1.5 million people and cover an area of 34435 acres (139.4 km²). OMA's urban plan for the city includes designs for five large buildings, including one 590 feet (179.8 m) spherical building that will be designed by OMA and contain a convention center, residences, hotel rooms, and retail stores.
European Flag Proposal
Following the signing of Treaties of NiceTreaty of Nice
The Treaty of Nice was signed by European leaders on 26 February 2001 and came into force on 1 February 2003. It amended the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Rome...
in May 2001, which made Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
the official capital of Europe, the then President of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi
Romano Prodi is an Italian politician and statesman. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy, from 17 May 1996 to 21 October 1998 and from 17 May 2006 to 8 May 2008...
and the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :...
invited Koolhaas to discuss the necessities and requirements of a European capital.
During these talks and as an impetus for further discussion, Koolhaas and OMA suggested the development of a visual language. This idea inspired a series of drawings and drafts, including the "Barcode". The Barcode unites the flags of the EU countries into a single colorful symbol.
In the current European flag
European flag
The flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on an azure background. It is the flag and emblem of the European Union and Council of Europe . It is also often used to indicate eurozone countries, and, more loosely, to represent the continent of Europe or the countries of Europe...
, there is a fixed number of stars. In the Barcode however, new Member States of the EU can be added without space constraints. Originally, the Barcode displayed 15 EU countries. In 2004, the symbol was adapted to include the ten new Member States.
Since the time of the first drafts of the Barcode it has never been officially used by commercial or political institutions. During the Austrian EU Presidency 2006
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
it is officially used for the first time. The logo has already been used for the EU information campaign which will also be continued during the Austrian EU Presidency.
There was initially some uproar caused, as the stripes of the flag of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
were displayed incorrectly.
Current projects
Europe- Viktor & Rolf, London, UK
- Maggie’s Center, Gartnavel, Scotland, UK
- ABN AMRO building Coolsingel, Rotterdam, NL
- De Rotterdam multi-use tower, Rotterdam, NL
- Stadskantoor, Rotterdam, NL
- Cordoba Congress Centre, Spain
- Bibliothèque Municipales à Vocation Régionale, Caen, FR
- Il Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Venice, IT
- Rothschild Bank HQ London, UK
- White City London masterplan, UK
- Maggie's Center Glasgow, UK
- Commonwealth Institute, UK
- Strelka Institute for Media, Architecture and Design, Moscow, RU
- Project Japan: A Portrait of the Metabolist Movement (Taschen, December 2010)
- Roadmap 2050: A Practical Guide to a Prosperous, Low-Carbon Europe
- Prada catwalk shows, Milan and Paris
Middle-East
- Central Library, Qatar Education City, QatarQatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
- Strategic Studies Centre for the RAND Qatar Policy Institute, Qatar Education City, Qatar
- Qatar Foundation Headquarters, Qatar Education City, Qatar
North America
- Milstein Hall Cornell University, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Asia Pacific
- Prada Transformer, Seoul, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
- CCTV - China Central Television HeadquartersCCTV HeadquartersThe CCTV Headquarters is a , 44-storey skyscraper in the Beijing Central Business District and serves as headquarters for China Central Television . Groundbreaking took place on 1 June 2004 and the building's facade was completed in 1 January 2008...
, BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China - TVCC - Television Cultural Center, BeijingBeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China - SSE - Shenzhen Stock ExchangeShenzhen Stock ExchangeThe Shenzhen Stock Exchange is one of the People's Republic of China's two stock exchanges, alongside the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is based in Shenzhen, China...
, ShenzhenShenzhenShenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
, China - SST - Singapore Scotts Tower, Residential Building, SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
- The Interlace, Singapore large-scale residential complex, Singapore
- Taipei Performing Arts Center, TaipeiTaipeiTaipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...