© Alex Morris Visualisation

John Pawson, OMA, West 8 and Arup were all asked to come together to design The New Design Museum in London. Their design will accommodate up to 500,000 visitors per year. Notable for its superb complex hyperbolic paraboloid copper roof intended by the architects to symbolize a tent in the park, it is regarded by English Heritage as the second most important modern building in London, after the Royal Festival Hall. Plans to bring the new design to fruition is scheduled to be completed by 2014. More images and architects’ description after the break. read more »

Forecourt and St Stephen Walbrook at night © OMA by Philippe Ruault

OMA recently completed their first building in London. The new 21,000sqm building is located in the narrow medieval alley of St Swithin’s Lane, in the heart of the City, a dense context where OMA’s precise intervention is able to blend and become an active urban piece.

The building, thanks to its structural steel design, is lifted from the ground exposing new situations, connections and views, detonator of a new  streetscape where the public realm is as important as the office space above.

You can see Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon discussing this project on a video posted earlier at ArchDaily.

More information courtesy of OMA after the break:

Project: Rothschild Bank Headquarters
Year: 2011
Client: NM Rothschild & Sons
Location: St Swithin’s Lane, City of London
Site: New Court, enclosed in cluster of buildings, adjacent to the 17th century St. Stephen Walbrook church; with main entrance on the narrow St. Swithin’s Lane
Program: Office headquarters: 13,000m2
Partners in charge: Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon

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Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon discuss their design of the Rothschild Bank headquarters in London. Viewing the bank as a “dynamic system”, the main task was to create an “always efficient and always pleasant” machine that will accommodate all of the Bank’s London staff and reunite its connections with the city, including the St. Stephen’s Walbrook. OMA’s design for the New Court is the fourth iteration of NM Rothschild & Sons’ headquarters, all of which have been built on the dense and narrow medieval alley of St. Swithin’s Lane.

The film was created by Miguel Santa Clara.

Reference: BD, OMA

On October 19th Charlie Rose interviewed OMA founding partner Rem Koolhaas (his fifth appearance on the show).  The discussion ranges from Koolhaas’ current interest in the countryside, rather than the city, his firm’s newly completed Milestein Hall project at Cornell University, and the launch of the book Project Japan: Metabolism Talks written with Hans Ulrich Obrist and edited by Kayoko Ota.  Watch the interview here.

© Matthew Carbone

Milstein Hall, the new 25,000 sqf flexible studio space at Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) in upstate New York, was opened last month for students.  The first new building in over 100 years for the AAP, the design by OMA was led by partners Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas in collaboration with associate Ziad Shehab.

“Not only is this going to be our new home, but everyone has a new attitude,” AAP student Ben Waters told the Cornell Sun. “Everyone has this new-found sense of pride for the program.”  The excitement from students and the AAP surrounding the new hall comes with no surprise considering the danger that the program faced in early 2009 – threatening both their accreditation and the hopes of a new OMA designed building eliminated from the campus.

© Matthew Carbone

Featuring a unique hybrid truss system of 1,200 tons of steel to support two dramatic cantilevers Milstein Hall provides a must needed connection between the existing Sibley and Rand Hall.  Professor Mark Cruvellier shared, “We have a couple of buildings here on campus that were always divided, and we’d always have to run back and forth in the middle of winter.  Here, we have a building that not only connects Rand Hall and Sibley Hall together, but one that also embodies architecture and design ideas.”

Enclosed by floor-to-ceiling glass and a green roof with 41 skylights, this “upper plate” cantilevers almost 50 feet over University Avenue to establish a relationship with the Foundry, a third existing AAP facility.  The truss system allows for a wide-open upper plate that will house sixteen design studios.

“The upper plate of the box was a direct response to the need for interaction that the art field entails, though we realize this cannot be perfectly achieved or designed by architecture,” Shigematsu commented. “Our ambition for the upper plate was for it to serve as a pedagogical platform for the architecture, art and planning departments – an open condition that could trigger interaction and discussion. I am sure the students and faculty will generate unexpected uses and conditions that go beyond what we have planned for it.”

Thanks to architectural photographer Matthew Carbone for the amazing photos of this project!

Architects: OMA
Location: Ithaca, New York, USA
Client: Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP)
Project Area: 47,000 sqf addition to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning – Studios, Crit spaces, Auditorium, Exhibition, Exterior Workspace and Plaza.
Project Year: 2009-2011
Photographs: Matthew Carbone

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This video features an exclusive interview with Rem Koolhaas by BD online discussing the launch on October 6th of ‘OMA/Progress Exhibition’ at the Barbican Art Gallery. Curated and designed by Rotor, a Belguim-based collective, member Maarten Gielen and OMA founding partner Rem Koolhaas discuss the importance of this major retrospective, the stories being told, and the discoveries Rotor made after having a unique and unheard of ‘behind the scenes access’ to OMA – asking candid questions and reviewing materials from the archives of OMA offices.

The launch of the exhibit coincides with last weeks opening of Maggie’s Centre in Gartnavel, Glasgow and the Rothschild Bank Headquarters in London later this year. The OMA/Progress Exhibition will run through February 19, 2012.

This exclusive video of OMA’s Maggie’s Centre by BD online features OMA partner Ellen van Loon discussing the design for the cancer care center. Led by OMA Partners Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon with Associate-in-charge Richard Hollington the Maggie Gartnaval center located in Glasgow opened today.

Ellen van Loon shared, “I enjoyed designing such an exceptional environment with this very dedicated and inspired team of designers and contractors. The sequence of spaces is an interplay of openness, retreat and support to underpin the Maggie’s programme.”

Image courtesy of OMA; photography by Philippe Ruault

Today marks the opening of Maggie’s Gartnaval, a new center for the charity located on the ground of Gartnaval Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland. Designed by OMA, the center aims to provide emotional and psychological support to those affected by cancer in the greater Glasgow area.

Rem Koolhaas commented, “We were touched to be asked to design a Maggie’s Centre, and invigorated by the opportunity to work on a completely different scale, with different ambitions, and in a different environment. Maggie’s is so unique and urgent among the projects we are working on.”

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Photo by low.lighting - http://www.flickr.com/photos/low-lighting/

The emergence of China on the global economic stage has been discussed at nauseum in myriad publications. But this emergence has had an impact on the world of architecture, providing a testing ground where architects can experiment with new ideas about sustainability and urban growth. These new ideas have been realized in recently completed structures, and more are just beginning construction or have been proposed for the future. More on these new buildings after the break.

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Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman, two of the most influential architects these days, discussing the current the issues which, for them, represent the most critical in architectural discourse today.

Both figures present ideas partly against the backdrop of their architecture, and conclude with a shared conversation chaired by CCA Founding Director Phyllis Lambert.

This event took place in June 2007 at the Center for Canadian Architecture, but as you will see the subjects in discussion are more present than ever.

OMA warmly thanks the CCA for sharing this film.

Courtesy of Flickr CC License / Sarmu

This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Beijing. Beijing has a range of architectural styles, but the three most prevalent are the traditional imperial style (the Forbidden City), the “Sino-Sov” style (boxy structures built between the 1950s and 70s), and lastly the explosion of a modern corporate style that is punctuated with Starchitect buildings like OMA’s CCTV TV Station HQ. We put together a list of 12 modern/contemporary buildings that we feel provides a good starting point. It is far from complete. There are dozens of other great buildings that are not our list, and we are looking to add to the list in the near future. Please add your favorites in the comment section below so we can add them on the second go around. Again thank you to all our readers who sent in their suggestions and photographs. The city guides would not be possible without your help.

To check out other cities visit our world map or our Architecture City Guide page.
The Architecture City Guide: Beijing list and corresponding map after the break.

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© OMA

The NASDAQ equivalent Shenzhen Stock Exchange by OMA, continues to progress forward nearing completion. The latest photographs of the new building, which poses a strong representation of capitalism in China, highlight the robust exoskeletal grid and the and complexity of construction.

“For millennia, the solid building stands on a solid base; it is an image that has survived modernity. Typically, the base anchors a structure and connects it emphatically to the ground. The essence of the stock market is speculation: it is based on capital, not gravity. In the case of Shenzhen’s almost virtual stock market, the role of symbolism exceeds that of the program – it is a building that has to represent the stock market, more than physically accommodate it. It is not a trading arena with offices, but an office with virtual organs that suggest and illustrate the process of the market.”

- OMA

More construction photographs of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after the break.

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Photo by Diego Torres Silvestre - http://www.flickr.com/photos/3336/

Although Brazil has been growing quickly as a nation, its economic growth has been stinted by the country’s lack of investment in infrastructure. In preparation for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, Brazil is expected to spend over one trillion dollars from the Brazilian government and as much as $34 billion from private investors. The money will go toward numerous construction projects designed to increase and improve upon Brazil’s roads, railways, stadiums, hotels and airports. More information after the break. read more »

This week, with the help of our readers, our Architecture City Guide is headed to Berlin. The twentieth century changed nearly all cities, but perhaps none more so than Berlin. From its destruction in World War II that left few historic buildings intact to its division until 1989 that brought together the architecture of two competing ideologies into one city, Berlin’s modern and contemporary architecture speaks to a past that seldom accompanies such recent additions. The city is filled with new and wonderful architecture that might not have found space in other cities in Europe. With that in mind, we were unable feature all our readers’ suggestions on the first go around. We will be adding to the list in the near future, so please add more of your favorites in the comment section below. Once again, thanks to all our readers for your help.

The Architecture City Guide: Berlin list and corresponding map after the break.

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© OMA

Providing the winning design for the Parc des Expositions (PEX) in the innovation zone of Toulouse, in southern France, OMA conceived PEX to be a new gateway to the city hosting exhibitions, conferences, and concerts. The 338,000 sqm project is designed to be a compact mini-city – an antidote to the sprawl of a standard exposition park, and a means to preserve the surrounding French countryside.

Surpassing three submissions by internationally-renowned competitors, the project, led by OMA’s director of French projects Clément Blanchet, will be completed by 2016. Blanchet commented: “This project is not only about architecture, but rather infrastructure. It’s a condenser for diversity, a machine that can promote an infinite amount of possibilities.”

Architects: OMA
Location: Toulouse, France
Designers: Rem Koolhaas and Clément Blanchet
Client: Société Publique Locale d’Améngement (SPLA)
Project Area: 338,000 sqm
Project Year: 2016
Renderings: Courtesy of OMA

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The Office for Non Fiction Storytelling recently shared with us the first of an exclusive film series for Wallpaper* Visionaries. Beginning with none other than AMO, OMA’s research counterpart, Reinier de Graaf director of AMO and architect Laura Baird share their ideas of creating a world driven by a 100% renewable energy by 2050. The ambitious WWF project experiments with scale ranging from the North Sea and an energy grid for Europe to a much larger scale presenting the world as one utilizing a united energy grid. Throughout the process the AMO team has learned to represent things that don’t yet exist, traveling the world sharing their ideas.

Architects: REX | OMA
Location: Dallas, USA
Key Personnel: Joshua Prince-Ramus (Partner-in-Charge) and Rem Koolhaas, with Erez Ella, Vincent Bandy, Vanessa Kassabian, Tim Archambault
Executive Architect: Kendall/Heaton Associates
Client: The AT&T Performing Arts Center
Consultants: Cosentini, DHV, Donnell, Front, HKA, Magnusson Klemencic, McCarthy, McGuire, Pielow Fair, Plus Group, Quinze & Milan, Theatre Projects, Tillotson Design, Transsolar, 2×4
MEP/FP Design Engineer: Transsolar Energietechnik, Germany
MEP/FP Engineer of Record: Cosentini Associates, New York
Structural Engineer of Record: Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Seattle
Theatre Design: Theatre Projects Consultants, Connecticut
Acoustics: Dorsserblesgraaf, Netherlands
ADA: McGuire Associates, Massachusetts
Construction Management: McCarthy Construction
Cost: Donnell Consultants, Florida
Facades: Front, New York
Furniture: Quinze & Milan, Kortrijk Belgium
Graphics/Wayfinding: 2 x 4, New York
Life Safety: Pielow Fair, Seattle
Lighting: Tillotson Design Associates, New York
Vertical Transport: HKA, California
Project Area: 7,700 sqm
Project year: 2006-2009
Photographs: Iwan Baan, Tim Hursley, Jeffrey Buehner

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We invite you to watch an intriguing lecture Rem Koolhaas recently gave at the Berlage Institute. The lecture covers three interrelated topics: the growth of Preservation, and its blind spots; architecture and democracy; and the ongoing development of the office itself. The video has become extremely popular since it was posted 3 days ago on OMA’s vimeo channel (more views in the first 24 hours than any other of their videos). Check it out.

Image courtesy OMA

OMA‘s exhibition (IM)PURE, (IN)FORMAL, (UN)BUILT opened today at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Made in collaboration with students at the Paris Malaquais School of Architecture, the exhibition focuses on three French libraries designed by OMA, two of them unrealized but crucially important in the development of the typology of libraries, and one about to go under construction.

The featured libraries, explored in a range of archival and new materials, are the Très Grande Bibliothèque in Paris (1989), with its “strategy of the void”; Jussieu (1992), with its continuous, ramped floors; and the Bibliothèque Multimédia à Vocation Régionale in Caen, scheduled for groundbreaking in 2012. (IM)PURE, (IN)FORMAL, (UN)BUILT opens today in the Amphithéâtre d’Honneur at the École des Beaux-Arts, with a discussion between OMA Associate-in-charge Clément Blanchet and co-curators Nasrine Seraji and Thierry Mandoul from the Paris Malaquais School of Architecture. The exhibition runs until 22 July.

Photos by Philippe Ruault courtesy OMA

The design by OMA for the new McKinsey & Company Hong Kong office caters to the consulting firm’s need for a more intimate space that offers a greater sense of collaboration and community.  McKinsey confronted OMA with the following design question: How to rethink their work space in a way that is innovative and enhances the McKinsey experience?

Architects: OMA
Location: Hong Kong, China
Client: McKinsey & Company
Project Year: May 2011
Photographs: Photos by Philippe Ruault courtesy OMA

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