Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Office for Metropolitan Architecture
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Practice Information
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Key architects	Rem Koolhaas Ole Scheeren Ellen van Loon Reinier de Graaf Floris Alkemade Shohei Shigematsu
Principal office in	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Founded	1975
Work
Significant Buildings	Seattle Public Library, Villa Dall'Ava, Casa da Música, Netherlands Dance Theater, McCormick Tribune Campus Center, China Central TV Headquarters, Guggenheim Museum Las Vegas, Prada Flagship Store New York

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture, (OMA), is the 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.

1 History
- 1.1 OMA in the 1980s
- 1.2 OMA in the 21st Century
2 Organization
3 Notable Works
4 Current Projects ^[12]
5 External links
6 References

History

Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis started working together in the early seventies at the Architectural Association, the London-based architecture school where Koolhaas was a student and Zengelis an instructor. Their first major project was the utopian/dystopian 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.

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 Amsterdam. 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 anymore.

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 the two houses, 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 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).

In 1999 OMA completed the Maison a Bordeaux, a villa for a paralyzed client in the hills outside Bordeaux, France. The villa is of utter complexity and the most striking feature is a platform in the very centre of the house that moves freely between the three floors and allowed the now deceased client to move with his wheelchair on all three levels of the villa. The design was conceived in collaboration with engineer Cecil Balmond.

OMA in the 21st Century

Since 2003 OMA has completed numerous projects including the Zeche Zollverein Historical Museum and master plan in Essen (2006), the Seoul National University Museum of Art (2005), the much acclaimed Casa da Música in Porto (2005), the Prada Epicenter in Los Angeles (2004), the Seattle Public 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).

Seattle Central Library Exterior

The 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 and flew in from the Netherlands. This 11-story glass and steel building is a striking addition to the Seattle cityscape.

At the moment the office's constructions sites are in China: the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China.

Organization

Leadership

OMA's leadership is organized as a colloborative partnership. OMA's current Partners are Rem Koolhaas, Ole Scheeren, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Floris Alkemade, and managing partner Victor van der Chijs. On June 6, 2008, OMA appointed Shohei Shigematsu as the newest partner of the firm.¹

Offices

OMA maintains offices in Europe (OMA*AMO Rotterdam), North America (OMA*AMO Architecture PC New York) and Asia (OMA Beijing). To accommodate new projects in the Middle East, OMA will soon open an office in Dubai (OMA Dubai). ²

OMA Rotterdam: the head office is working on a master plan for the White City area of London; a harbor redevelopment and contemporary art Museum in Riga, the Cordoba Congress Center in Spain; the redevelopment of the Mercati Generali in Rome, an architectural center, offices and housing in Copenhagen, the new head office of Rothschild Bank in London and multi-use towers in Rotterdam and The Hague. It is also working on various masterplans in The Netherlands and Belgium and shopping centers in Rotterdam and Ostrava. In addition the Rotterdam office has a number of activities in the Middle East including office and residential towers and master plans in Dubai, three master plans in Ras -Al-Khaimah and several public buildings in Qatar. The Rotterdam office is also designing a science center for Hamburg’s Hafencity.

OMA New York: the office in Manhattan lead by Shohei Shigematsu is now designing an extension of Cornell University (NY), 111 First Street, a high rise residential building and hotel in Jersey City (NJ) and a high end residential tower with CAA screening room at One Madison Park in NYC.

OMA Beijing: In Asia, OMA is working on the office’s largest project to date, the 575,000 m2 China Central Television Headquarters CCTV and Television Cultural Center TVCC, currently under construction in Beijing and due for completion in 2008. Other projects in development include the new Shenzhen Stock Exchange and a lush residential tower and residential masterplan in Singapore.

AMO

In 1998, Koolhaas founded AMO, a think tank within OMA dedicated to producing non-architectural work including exhibitions, branding campaigns, special events, and research.³ To date, AMO has produced work for Universal Studios, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Harvard University, Condé Nast, Heineken, and Ikea. Recent works 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 and work for Platform 21, new design institute in Amsterdam and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.⁴

Notable Works

Seattle Public Library

In 1999, OMA won a competition to design a new central library for the City of Seattle.⁵ The Seattle Public Library was completed and opened to the public on May 23, 2004⁶ In 2005, the library earned a national American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Architecture.⁷ 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 Goldberger⁸

Waterfront City

In 2007, OMA was commissioned by Nakheel Properties to design a master plan for Waterfront City located on an artificial island off the Persian Gulf in Dubai.⁹¹⁰ The design for Waterfront City will accommodate as many as 1.5 million people and cover an area of 34,435 acres. OMA's urban plan for the city contains designs for five large buildings, including one 590 foot spherical building that will be designed by OMA and contain a convention center, residences, hotel rooms, and retail stores.¹¹

European Flag Proposal

Following the signing of Treaties of Nice 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.