LIVING, VIVRE, LEBEN

The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his famous Rotterdam Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) have rightfully gained global acclaim and respect with their complex building tasks (e.g. the Dutch Dance Theater in Den Haag or the Rotterdam Art Museum), and with large-scale urban plans such as for Melun-Senart, Euralille, and Seoul. Less known but just as fascinating are Koolhaas' apartment buildings. Our publication for the first time makes this important aspect of his oeuvre a theme: with texts, plans and photographs, it presents the Patio Villa in Rotterdam, the Villa Dall'Ava in Paris, the Dutch House in Holten, the Maison a Bordeaux and the Nexus Housing in Fukuoka/Japan. Their common theme is an intense search for freedom. A clever play with openings, transparencies and translucent and opaque surfaces makes these living spaces permeable to the variations of the light and weather. Nine of Rem Koolhaas' most important realized buildings from 1987 to this day are presented: Netherlands Dance Theater, Patiovilla Rotterdam, Nexus Housing Fukuoka, Villa Dall' Ava Paris, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Dutch House, Lille Grand Palais, Educatorium Utrecht, Maison a Bordeaux. Each project is illustrated with two postcards; a separate text booklet contains OMA Rem Koolhaas' descriptions of the nine buildings, including technical descriptions as well as a short biography on the architect. The architecture documented in this publication clarifies how Rem Koolhaas excitingly expands his creative limits with each new realized building. This case with postcards makes an excellent gift for anyone interested in architecture.