Rem Koolhaas/O.M.A.

Rem Koolhaas (1944) is one of the worlds most intriguing architects. In 1975 Koolhaas founded the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (O.M.A.) with Madelon Vriezendorp and Elia- and Zoe Zenghelis. In the first decade O.M.A. produced mainly "paper architecture". In 1978 Rem Koolhaas won international fame with his book Delirious New York. From the same year dates the competition design for the new Dutch Parliament in The Hague (second price). Essential part of both Delirious New York as the design for the Dutch Parliament are the strangely beautifull, surrealist paintings by Madelon Vriezendorp.

Towards the end of the 1980's Rem Koolhaas shifts it's focus from "paper architecture" to the art of building. The first realised buildings were small scale gems like the Vila dall' Ava in Paris (1984-1990) and the Kunst Hal in Rotterdam (1988-1992). During the past two decades O.M.A's building commissions grew in number, size and importancy: Dutch Embassy in Berlin (2003), Seatle Central Library (2004), Casa the Musica Porto (2005). Today O.M.A. works on a wide range of building- and planning commissions around the world. The preliminary peak is the construction of the China Central Television Headquarters (CCTV) in Bejing.

The Cityscapes Collection includes a number of vintage silkscreen prints from Koolhaas era of "Paper Architecture" in the 1980's. Most of these vintage prints originally come from the former Luce van Rooij Gallery in Amsterdam.