Six Canonical Projects by Rem Koolhaas: Essays on the History of Ideas
Ingrid Böck, Rem Koolhaas
Jovis Publishing, 2015
Paperback, 368 pages, 165 x 225 mm
ISBN 978-3868592191
‘Six Canonical Projects’ is said to be a book that helps dissect the idea of six distinguished projects by Rem Koolhaas. This book takes us back to the genesis of Koolhaas’ career as an architect, when he was a student at AA (Architectural Association School of Architecture) in 1972 and examines his radical idea behind ‘Exodus, or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture,’ a thesis that is best known for its extreme example in designing a city (or a prison, to be honest) that is separated into two parts—a good half and a bad half. Following this thesis the book turns to 1987’s masterplan competition, ‘Ville Nouvelle Melun- Sénart’ and an ultramodern house, ‘Maison à Bordeaux’ in France that most people may recognize from Koolhaas Houselife, a documentary directed by Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine. We then step into the latter period of OMA in the 21st century with another three projects including ‘The Dutch Embassy in Berlin,’ ‘Seattle Central Library,’ which is considered to be one of the most interesting libraries in the United States, and, lastly, ‘CCTV Headquarters’ in Beijing, China — an architecture work that is still being talked about today and often used as a case study due to its many intriguing aspects.
Another interesting point is that each of Koolhaas’ canonical projects appearing in the book further references six different concepts in architecture including Wall, Void, Montage, Trajectory, Infrastructure and Shape, which are described laterally alongside the six mentioned projects, respectively. Frankly speaking, for all Koolhaas and OMA fans out there, this book is likely a must-have.
