Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre / REX | OMA
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
Video: OMA Lecture “Three in One”
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.
Exhibition: (IM)PURE, (IN)FORMAL, (UN)BUILT
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.
McKinsey & Company Hong Kong Office / 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
OMA collaborates with Prada and the Hermitage at the Venice Biennale
Coinciding with the start of the Venice Biennale, OMA and Prada open an exhibition surveying recent collaborative works. The exhibition appears at Ca’ Corner della Regina, a former palazzo, alongside highlights from the Prada Fondazione collection. More images and information after the break.
OMA breaks ground on new Chu Hai College campus in Hong Kong
Groundbreaking takes place today for the new campus of Chu Hai College of Higher Education in Hong Kong, designed by OMA. The campus will facilitate encounters between students from different departments in verdant surroundings, and offer a new identity for the college. The campus will open its doors in 2013. More images and complete press release after the break.
‘On Hold’: OMA at the British School in Rome
The exhibition will show ten of OMA’s Masterplanning commissions which are now either on-hold or discontinued: an urban regeneration project in White City, London, a project for the ‘Nuova Bovisa’ science city in Milan, and a selection of projects in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Conceived in the virtual space of the computer, and with no imminent prospect of realization, these projects remain virtual in every sense. By retroactively creating physical originals, this exhibition hopes to make the virtual tangible. Prints on canvas, paper or card show the imagery as if dug up from some dusty archive – history with a message for the future, looking back as a way of looking forward.
The Architecture Programme British School at Rome curated by Marina Engel presents “On Hold” at the British School at Rome, Via Gramsci 61, from 4th May through 25th May 2011. Opening times are from Tuesday to Saturday from 17.00 to 19.30 pm
OMA’s Shohei Shigematsu to Lecture at Northeastern University
This evening Northeastern University will be hosting Shohei Shigematsu of OMA New York. Shigematsu has acted as lead architect for many projects in various phases including the Whitney Museum Extension in New York. The lecture begins at 6pm and will focus on OMA’s recent work.
Video: Le Dauphin / Rem Koolhaas and Clement Blanchet
Chef Fre Peneau’s new restaurant, Le Dauphin is an 80 sqm ‘obsession in white’. OMA‘s Rem Koolhaas and associate Clement Blanchet received the Fooding 2010 award for their interior design of the restaurant that opened December 2010. Predominant materials of marble, mirrors and wood enlarge the space through reflection, and blur the boundary between interior and exterior.
Architecture City Guide: Seattle
Our Architecture City Guide series heads to the northwest this week featuring Seattle. The futuristic Seattle Space Needle, designed for the 1962 World’s Fair – Century 21 Exposition, is just one of the many can’t miss buildings on our list. What others do you think should be added? Visit our comment section to share your favorites.
The Architecture City Guide: Seattle list and corresponding map after the break!
Architecture City Guide: Dallas
Dallas is hosting both the Super Bowl this coming Sunday and this weeks Architecture City Guide! If you are heading there for the big game be sure to take a look at our list of buildings featured after the break. We want to hear from you, so take a minute to add your favorite can’t miss buildings in Dallas in our comment section below.
The Architecture City Guide: Dallas list and corresponding map after the break!
Architecture City Guide: Chicago
We are headed to the windy city of Chicago for this weeks Architecture City Guide series. Jam packed with architecture from Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, here are our 12 recommendations if you are visiting Chicago. Head to the comment section and share your recommendations for additional buildings to include on our list!
The Architecture City Guide: Chicago list and corresponding map after the break!
AD Classics: Maison Bordeaux / OMA
With the ability to make even the simplest and straightforward programs spatially dynamic and in a constant state of redefinition, Rem Koolhaas and his firm OMA have redefined the term that “a house is a machine for living” in their design of Maison Bordeaux. Completed in 1998, Maison Bordeaux sits on a small cape-like hill overlooking the city of Bordeaux.
The house was designed for a couple and their family, but before Koolhaas and OMA were commissioned for the project in 1994 the husband of the family was in a life threatening car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Two years after his accident, the couple approached Koolhaas to design them a new home outside of Bordeaux. Despite having been paralyzed, the man did not want t straightforward house rather he wanted a complex design, stating: “Contrary to what you would expect. I want a complex house because the house will define my world.”
More on the Bordeaux House after the break.
In Progress: Shenzhen Stock Exchange by OMA
Continuing our coverage of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE), OMA recently shared the latest photographs of the building while under construction. The building, located in the downtown area of Shenzhen, China, is expected to reach completion in April 2011. The SSE, a new headquarters for China’s equivalent of the NASDAQ, is 132,000 sqm of offices, registration and clearing house, accessory area, securities information company, SSE office area, trading floor and technical operations. The floating podium design, which is suspended 36 meters over a public plaza, projects 54 meters from the base of the tower. The building broke ground in November of 2007, Rem Koolhaas along with local government and the officials from the SSE were in attendance. Check out our previous coverage here.
Follow the break for the latest photographs of SSE.
OMA Developing a New Vision for Transit Authority in Hong Kong
Earlier today it was announced that OMA teamed with AMO have been commissioned to develop a new vision, Railway Vision 2020, for Hong Kong’s MTR, urban transit authority. Together they will produce new branding and identity, site analysis, sustainability research, and usage patterns studies. OMA will also be designing two prototype stations that will eventually span the entire transit network in Hong Kong. The prototype stations are expected to open before 2014.
The Railway Vision 2020 plan will be a collaborative effort between OMA (architecture) + AMO (design and research) with Stanford University, the City University of Hong Kong, and the University of Hong Kong.
This recent commission is a continuation of OMA’s ongoing success in Hong Kong. OMA unveiled their master plan design for the West Kowloon Cultural District in late August, and produced the winning design earlier last year for the new campus of Chu Hai College in Hong Kong.
For the complete press release click here.
AD Classics: Kunsthal / OMA
Arguably one of the most spatially innovative architects in the world, Rem Koolhaas, and his firm OMA, designed a cultural staple in the city of Rotterdam. Completed in 1992, the Kunsthal, in the Museumpark neighborhood of Rotterdam, is more of a cultural center that it is a museum. Dubbed as a collection-less museum, the Kunsthal is a compilation of several galleries and halls that allow for maximum flexibility and accommodate a multitude of exhibitions and activities that can coexist singularly or collectively.
More on the Kunsthal after the break.
OMA Announces New Partners
Today OMA announced the appointment of Iyad Alsaka and David Gianotten as new partners in the company. Architectural and research projects in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia have been increasing for OMA and this recent appointment signifies their investment to grow and develop projects within these regions.
Be sure to take a look at some of our featured OMA projects in these regions: Taipei Performing Arts Center, Mahanakhon, Prada Transformer, The Interlace, Edouard Malingue Gallery
Video: Shohei Shigematsu (OMA NY) at U Laval
A great lecture by Shohei Shigematsu (partner at OMA, in charge of the NY office) at U Laval in Canada. Shohei talks about architecture in the financial crisis (based on his research of how they have affected architecture in the past, also related to OMA’s projects in NY), the almost completed Milstein Hall at Cornell and OMA’s winning entry for the MNBAQ extension (skip to 7:00 for the english part).
You can also check our interview with Shohei previously featured at AD.
In Progress: Construction begins on Maggie’s Centre Gartnavel / OMA
Construction official begins today for OMA’s latest project, Maggie’s Centre Gartnavel. This facility is part of a pioneering project using thoughtful architecture and innovative spaces as tools for solace and healing. OMA’s design approach carefully composed a ring of interlocking spaces that provide moments of comfort and relief. With a flat roof and floor levels that respond to the natural topography, the rooms vary in height, with the more intimate areas programmed for personal uses such as counseling, and open spacious zones as gathering places creating a sense of community.
Located in a natural setting, like a pavilion in the woods, the building is both introverted and extroverted: each space has a relationship either to the internal, landscaped courtyard or to the surrounding woodland and greenery, while certain moments provide views of Glasgow beyond.
Architects: OMA
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Client: Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres foundation
Project Area: 534 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of OMA
Is China Architects’ New Dubai?
The latest buzz from China is all about the West Kowloon Cultural District, a large performing arts venue incorporating studios, theaters, performance venues, and cultural and public spaces. We’ve brought you coverage on OMA’s proposal as well as Foster+Partners‘ and Rocco Design Architects‘ schemes, and as the master plan develops, we’ll be sure to bring you the latest updates. As CNN reported, China has become “an increasingly attractive territory for leading architects.” And, we couldn’t agree more. Over the past few months, we’ve seen great projects from Holl emerging in China, such as his Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen, as well as Hadid’s Guangzhou Opera House, OMA’S CCTV Tower, Vector Architects + CCDIP’s Tianjin Elementary School, and, not to mention, Plasma Studio’s Flowing Gardens. Plus, in terms of experimentation, China’s recent Expo 2010 offered the perfect opportunity for architects across the world to demonstrate their newest concepts about space, materials and performance. This explosion of architecture in the West has brought with it a sense of fresh experimentation of form and analysis of programmatic elements and organization. Together, the buildings are forming a rich and diverse vocabulary of architecture sprinkled throughout China. Koolhaas commented to CNN, “I think that any architect today has to be interested in China.”
What do you think of this growing “architectural playground”?
Edouard Malingue Gallery / OMA
OMA’s first completed project in Hong Kong opened just last month. The Edouard Malingue Gallery is the city’s first gallery dedicated to Impressionist and Modernist masterpieces. The design juxtaposes two distinct environments: for the 750 square feet of exhibition space, an articulated sequence of three rooms encased in an aluminium volume visible from the street; for reception and administration, an open office area that reveals the original structure of the building.
More about the Edouard Malingue Gallery after the break.
Architects: OMA
Location: Hong Kong
Partner-in-charge: Rem Koolhaas
General Manager – Architect: David Gianotten
Project Leader: Giulia Foscari
Design Team: Jim Doson, Ekaterina Golovatyuk, Ravi Kamisetti, Katja Lam, Ted Lin, Betty Ng, Viviano Villarreal Bueron, Patrizia Zobernig
Contractor: EDM Construction Ldt
M&E Services, Fire Services and Structure: Arup
Acoustics: DVH Building and Industry
Lighting System: Zumtobel Ldt
Security System: ADT
Furniture: Cassina
Client: Edouard Malingue
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: OMA
