18 Exhibitions Designed by OMA

Written by Romullo Baratto | Translated by Tarsila Duduch
Published on July 04, 2021

Among the most renowned and well-established offices in the world, OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture, founded in the 1970s by Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp, and Zoe Zenghelis, is definitely part of the pantheon of the most famous. Curiously, although it receives large commissions and has already built several emblematic works in different countries, the office is often associated with an approach that is less focused on architectural design, going beyond the strict limits of the disciplinary field and encompassing other areas of practice.

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The fact that the office has a department dedicated exclusively to interdisciplinary research and practices that transcend architecture contributes to this perception. AMO carries out everything from trend investigations and printed publications to curation work (the 14th Venice Biennale of Architecture, for example) and exhibition projects, having contributed to the consolidation of Koolhaas' dismissive portrayal towards architectural projects and, consequently, of OMA as an office that is permeable to the influence of other arts/areas.

Over the last few years, OMA/AMO's number of exhibition commissions has increased, as shown on the office's website. The largest and possibly most famous of them is the 2014 Venice Biennale exhibition, under the name Elements of Architecture. Below are eighteen exhibitions designed by the office – some of which have been curated by OMA/AMO itself.