Rem Koolhaas's Gravity-Defying Structures

Rem Koolhaas is renowned for striking, largely gravity-defying structures and is considered one of the most important architects of the 21st century. Born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Koolhaas worked as a journalist and screenwriter before attending the Architectural Association School in London. After graduating in 1972, he conducted research in America to write his book Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. In 1975, he founded the Metropolitan Architecture for Office (OMA) architecture firm with architect colleagues Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. Early projects for the firm included the Almere-Haven police station and the Dutch National Ballet Theatre in The Hague. In 1995, Koolhaas published S, M, L, XL with graphic designer Bruce Mau, a work reflecting the firm's previous work. Now, let us explore together some of Koolhaas's significant works including the CCTV Headquarters in China, De Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Casa da Musica in Portugal.

CCTV Headquarters

The China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters aims to create an alternative in the Beijing skyline filled with skyscrapers. Rather than competing in the ultimate height and style race between traditional two-dimensional towers "rising" into the sky, the CCTV loop presents a true three-dimensional experience resulting in a 75-meter cantilever. The CCTV building is visible from almost anywhere in Beijing; when viewed from one angle it appears massive and powerful, but from a different location it appears relatively small and soft, creating varying impressions depending on distance and angle. The form of CCTV facilitates a combination of all stages of the television broadcasting process that require interconnected activities. Two towers rise from the Plinth, a shared production studio platform, and each tower has a different character; the first tower contains editing areas and offices, while the second tower is the news broadcast facility. These are connected by the Overhang, a console bridge housing the management center. The building's innovative structure has created new possibilities for high-rise buildings as a result of long-term cooperation between European and Chinese engineers. Rather than creating regular diamond patterns on the facade, the internal forces working within the structure are concentrated in areas of greater stress, creating a network of triangulated steel tubes requiring less space and more looseness—visible through diagrams. The facade becomes a visual expression of the building's structure. The self-supporting hybrid facade structure features high-performance glass panels with 70 percent open ceramic frit and sun shading, creating a soft silver-gray color that renders the building as a surprisingly slender presence in the Beijing skyline.

De Rotterdam

De Rotterdam is conceived as a vertical city; that is, as three interconnected mixed-use towers containing offices, apartments, a hotel, conference facilities, shops, restaurants and cafes. The project drawing commenced in 1997. Construction began in 2009 and was completed in 2013. The towers were part of the redevelopment of the former harbor district Wilhelminapier, adjacent to the Erasmus Bridge, and aimed to re-establish vibrant urban activity including commerce, transportation and entertainment. De Rotterdam takes its name from one of the ships of the Holland America Line that carried thousands of Europeans departing from Wilhelminapier decades ago and emigrating to the United States. The three towers reach a height of 150 meters with approximately 162,000 m² of gross floor area, making De Rotterdam the largest building in the Netherlands. OMA's architectural concept brings far greater dimension: urban density and diversity—both in program and form—are the project's main principles. De Rotterdam's stacked towers are skillfully arranged in an irregular cluster that refuses to resolve into a single form and produces intriguing new views from different perspectives. Casa da Musica Over the past thirty years, architects have made frenzied attempts to escape the dominance of "shoebox"-shaped concert halls. Casa da Musica, rather than struggling against the inevitable acoustic superiority of this traditional form, has sought to revitalize the traditional concert hall. Redefining the relationship between the hollow interior and the exterior, Casa da Musica has become the new home of the National Orchestra of Porto in the historic Rotunda da Boavista plaza. Even in an era of many different icons, with its distinctive form in white concrete, it displays a solid and coherent presence. Within it sits a Grand Auditorium with 1,300 seats (shoebox-shaped), and on both sides the fluted glass facades present Porto itself as a dramatic backdrop. This architecturally innovative building is structured around an asymmetrical polyhedron spanning nine stories. Casa da Musica, through its scale and beauty, serves as a distinctive element in the region.

References • http://oma.eu/partners/rem-koolhaas • CCTV Headquarters Named Best Tall Building Worldwide". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). • Reading Rem Koolhaas by Verschaffel, Bart.