REM KOOLHAAS

born 1944 in Rotterdam, where he lives and works
Rem Koolhaas first became known for his cult theoretical book “Delirious New York” (1978), which presented the building of Manhattan as a carefully controlled development operation. The work of his agency OMA – Office for Metropolitan Architecture, set up in 1975 – drew attention with its entries for the Parc de La Villette (1982), ZKM (1989), the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (1989), and the Euralille complex competition, which he won with Christian de Portzamparc. In 2004 Koolhaas entered – but failed to win – the competition for the major urban planning venture that was the redevelopment of Les Halles, in Paris.
OMA is currently involved in one of its most legendary projects: the headquarters of CCTV (China Central Television), an enormous Möbius loop more than 100 metres high and scheduled for delivery in 2008, in time for the Olympic Games. In 1995 Koolhaas outlined his main theoretical concerns in the bestselling “S, M, L, XL”, written with Bruce Mau. In 2000 he was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the architectural equivalent of the Nobel. For the Biennial he has worked with Rosemarie Trockel on Michel Houellebecq’s installation.