This book presents a recent lecture and seminar given by architect Rem Koolhaas at the Rice University School of Architecture. In this compact volume, Koolhaas addresses the urban and architectural implications of extra-large construction, using as examples three of OMA's important large-scale projects: the Zeebrugge Ferry Terminal in Belgium, the Tres Grande Bibliotheque in Paris, and the Karlsruhe Center for Art and Media Technology in Germany.
Tackling questions about the difficult state of urbanism and modernism in contemporary Europe, America, and Asia, this slim volume forms a concise and coherent explanation of the theories and polemics of Koolhaas and OMA. This beautifully designed book serves as an inexpensive alternative and companion to Koolhaas's recent S,M,L,XL.
Award-winning Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas is the founder of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and has become one of the most intriguing and exciting architectural thinkers of our time. This small-scale, affordable paperback presents a selection of texts from a seminar series conducted by Koolhaas, as well as an essay by the architect discussing three of OMA's large-scale projects. Addressing questions of urbanism and architecture in Europe, Asia, and the United States, these texts ultimately illuminate in a concise manner OMA's long-term mission and ideals.