2. REM KOOLHASS
Biography-
Rem Koolhaas was born in the Netherlands in 1944, to a world
still rebuilding from WWII.
Koolhaas's parents then moved to Dutch Indonesia shortly after its independence.
It was there that Koolhaas was exposed to city
redesign as inspired by growth and change. Indonesia was
transitioning from a colony with deep roots in Asian tradition to
a country that needed cities that catered to its new identity as a
global location.
After Koolhaas left school, he embarked on careers in journalism
and theater that didn't fulfill him. So he enrolled in architecture school instead. In
1968, Koolhaas completed a degree in architecture and embarked on his goal to
bring to life post-modern designs that were rooted in nationalism or local culture
and needs. Koolhaas developed the Netherland's Dance Theater, which won him
notice. He then moved on to develop original designs across the globe, with a
preference on competing for public works designs over working with private clients
in OMA.
3. Design Philosophy-
Buildings designed according to the principles of “Conscious Inspiration“ or copy
paste, are identified by means of three principles:
1. You can easily identify the sources of idea,
2. There is a clear expression of unique planning tools,
3. Stands out, the architect’s invention.
The “Conscious Inspiration Method‘ , How it Works?
First step: the inspiration Source.
Second step: Developing the Conscious Inspiration tools.
Third step: Realize the design idea.
Influenced-
Koolhaas was influenced by post-modern
Japanese architectural theory as well as his
experience in reconstruction and invention in
the Netherlands and Indonesia.
Growing up in this period of rebuilding gave
Koolhaas the understanding that architecture had to accommodate modern needs. It
left an indelible impression on him, and he understood the importance of planning
architecture
and accommodating architecture to the needs of a global world.
4. Style-
RemKoolhaasis, in fact, so different that scholars have difficulty classifying him. Is
he a :
1)Deconstructivist
2)Modernist
3)Structuralist
RemKoolhaashas been called in turns Modernist and Deconstructivist, yet he leans
toward Humanism. His work searches for a link between technology and humanity.
Koolhaas refused to refer to past styles (he called for an “end to sentimentality”),
choosing instead to engage directly with the true gritty character of the modern
world.
The combination of Koolhaas’s theoretical writings with his fondness for
asymmetry, challenging spatial explorations, and unexpected uses of color led
many to classify him as a deconstructivist. However, his work, unlike that of other
deconstructivists, does not rely heavily on theory, and it is imbued with a strong
sense of humanity and a concern for the role that architecture plays in everyday
life, particularly in an urban context. This grounding in reality was reflected in
Koolhaas’s keen interest in urban planning, most notably in a master plan for a new
city center in Lille, France (1985–95), through which he transformed Lille into a
business, entertainment, and residential centre. His celebrated Grand Palais, an
elliptical structure utilizing plastic and aluminum, was at the centre of this plan.
5.
6. Design process-
Koolhaas’s greatest achievement is therefore not a building or book, but a system
that is capable of harvesting, questioning and producing ideas. What Koolhaas has
built is a very large version of himself, a system that, through a method of
researching and building, is capable of reliably creating beautiful and intelligent
ideas on how the world could be.
7. 1. Observation
The easiest way to uncover new ideas is to be in areas where life is being
transformed fast. Koolhaas and his team have been working on a structure that is
capable of searching the world for opportunities where change is happening faster
than anywhere else, where certain breakthroughs can be made. Some places like
the historical centres of European cities have hardly changed through the centuries,
whilst others like Beijing.
2. The studio practice
Another way in which Koolhaas differs from his competitors is in how his studio is
run. Koolhaas doesn’t come up with the masterplan that is then refined by his
architects. On the contrary, his practice defines itself by an enormous freedom, in
materials, in methods and in working hours.
3. Models
Models play a crucial role at the design process; produced in large quantities, they
function as a container for ideas and constrains. Because of their shape they create
an immediate impact, there is no need to go through long documents, a model is
an entity to makes experiments easy. This way of working also allows to blur the
distinction between the research, concept and design phases. In these worlds the
information that came from outside slowly grows into a plan that could transform
the future. The playground of ideas is constructed through mixing client demands,
the environment, laws and budgets, but also opportunities, ideas, and dreams. In
an endless circulation, ideas turn into shapes and shapes into ideas.
8. CONCEPT-
1. Rem Koolhaas devotion to architecture is a way for living a parallel life between
the theory and practice of architecture
10. EXAMPLES
Buildings in Berlin
Checkpoint Charlie Apartments
Rem Koolhaas project was part of the
IBA (International Building Exhibition)
during 1984. His office, OMA, submitted
two competition entries, the Checkpoint
Charlie Apartments and a project for social
l housing with mixed use facilities which was
not built. The Checkpoint Charlie Apartments' construction started before the fall of
the Berlin Wall, it included Customs officials and allied forces
It was completed short after the reunification of Germany, in 1990.
It is located near other IBA buildings like Peter Eisenman's
Check Point Charlie Museum and Aldo Rossi's Quartier in
Shützenstrasse.
A special concern for this project, set as objectives by the
IBA competition, was the closeness of urban housing to busy roads. Koolhaas's
office reinterpreted these objectives as
"different concepts of quality of urban life". The urban life
concerns included the ecological impact and the proximity
to the border crossing "Checkpoint Charlie".
11. Dutch Embassy-
Rem Koolhaas was commissioned to create the
building in 1997.
The design strictly follows the city's urban norms
to build close to the perimeter but instead of fil-
ling up the whole plot it builds 2 elements: one L
shape building reaches the perimeter and a tra-
nsparent cube stays isolated in the middle of the
plot.
With a total area of 8,500m2, the design consists of
offices, housing and parking. The L shape volume
contains 3 apartments and installations, it is cone-
cted to the main cube by ramps that function as
emergency exits. most of the L shape building is
translucent, being able to see the TV tower and
other buildings around it through the aluminum
membrane.
12.
13.
14. The main idea is for the building to show the transparency of the Dutch
government, and it is represented with transparent glass facades and floors; the
green glass ramp that can be seen projected towards the entrance has 100% see-
through glass layers more than 20cm thick.
The activities and functional program are arranged along ramps that go around
and through the glass cube.
The main materials of the building are: glass (facades and ramps), aluminum
(facades and floors), wood (wall panels and floors) and concrete.
A black cube emerges from the main cube and hangs free giving view to the river.
It houses inside the ambassador's main meeting room.
Another interesting concept is the landscape design, with big pebbles and grass
mounds that resemble Dutch docks.
29. Yellow = Canteens
Dark Blue = Studios
Green = Open Studios
Orange = Lobbies (Tower & Sky)
Pale Green = Broadcasting
Light Blue = Sports & Recreation
Red = VIP Areas
-Lobbies on Ground & Top Floors
-Recreation mainly on bottom
-Elevators in both towers
-Separate Lobby & Elevator for
VIPs
-Two Ground Floor Lobbies
-Continuous Loop through Towers
-Studios mainly on the lower
Floors
30.
31. The Basic Geometry
• Mobius Strip (continuous loop)
• Cantilever Overhang
• Diagonal Structural Grid System
• L-Shaped
32. Advantages of this System of Diagrid Framing System-
• Structurally very strong
• Less material required (~20% reduction in
steel as opposed to typical moment frame
method)
• Aesthetically Pleasing – Blends in together
with façade
• Floor plan becomes open and free – more
internal space
• Most forms can be created with a triangulated form
– architectural freedom
• Self-reliant structure, simple in shape
• Simple Construction Technique
• Skyscraper Structural Failure minimized by diagrid
construction
• Better ability to redistribute loads than a moment frame (Failure of
one
portion does not mean complete structural failure)
This is the current typology of a skyscraper, there’s a core and a group of people here and people there and you see each of them isolated, there you can do two things: Combine all cores to make the communities into one or distribute the cores without dividing the communities
