NOVEMBER 2004

NOTED DUTCH ARCHITECT REM KOOLHAAS TO SPEAK AT THE LINCOLN THEATRE IN MIAMI BEACH DECEMBER 5, 2004

The Wolfsonian-Florida International University in collaboration with The New World Symphony will present a public talk by world-renowned architect Rem Koolhaas on Sunday, December 5, 2004, 2 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre in Miami Beach. Koolhaas will speak about recent projects. The talk is sponsored by the Raleigh Hotel and the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York. 

Koolhaas was born in Rotterdam in 1944 and attended the Architecture Association School in London. He settled in Amsterdam as a journalist for the Haagse Post after living in Indonesia for four years.

 In 1975 together with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp he founded the Office for Metropolitan Architecture with a focus on contemporary architecture, urbanism and cultural analysis. 

The office gained renown through a series of groundbreaking entries into major competitions: Parc de La Villette (1982), ZKM (1989), Très Grande Bibliothèque de France (1989) and Two Libraries for Jussieu University (1993). During these formative years, OMA also realized several ambitious projects, ranging from private residences to large scale urban plans: Villa dall'Ava in Paris (1991) overlooking the Eiffel Tower, Nexus Housing (1991), two apartment blocks in Fukuoka, Japan, and the Kunsthal and its Museum Park in Rotterdam (1992). 

In 1994, OMA completed Euralille, a 70-hectare business and civic center in northern France hosting the European hub for high-speed trains. The implementation of the masterplan in only four years, including individual buildings by architects such as Nouvel, de Portzamparc, Shinohara and OMA, gave the office's urban theories practical credibility. 

After many realized works during the nineties in the Netherlands and France, the office concentrated on urbanism and infrastructure projects in Asia. Urban studies such as the Hyperbuilding in Bangkok Thailand, Hanoi New Town, Vietnam and Song Do New Town and New Seoul International Airport City in Korea were completed through the latter half of the decade. 

At the start of the new century, the main activities in Europe are the construction of the New City Centre for Almere, Netherlands, the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin, Germany (completed 2003), an 1.850 seat concert hall for Porto, Portugal (completion 2004), the Cordoba Convention Centre, Spain, as well as a master plan and visitor's centre for the Zeche Zollverein in Essen, Germany. 

OMA is active in the USA with the design of the Multi-form Theatre in Dallas. The Seattle Public Library has recently been completed as well as the Prada Epicenter in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles (both 2004); other completions include the Prada Epicenter in New York (2001) and the IIT Campus Centre in Chicago (2003). OMA has been engaged in several museum projects for the Whitney Museum in New York, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and two Guggenheim Museums in Las Vegas (completed 2001). 

With a central focus on Asia, OMA is currently engaged in its largest project ever: CCTV, a 575.000m2 television station, headquarters and cultural centre for the national broadcaster (China Central Television) in the CBD of Beijing, to be completed in 2008 for the Olympic Games. Further projects include the design of the Beijing Books Building, and two buildings in Seoul, South Korea, with the H-Project cultural centre (completion 2004) and SNU, a museum for the National University. 

Koolhaas also created the Grosztstadt Foundation, an independent institution controlling the cultural activities of OMA such as exhibitions and publications. Koolhaas has been a professor at Harvard University since 1995. His publications include OMA: S, M, L, XL and his most recent book, Content. 

The first native of the Netherlands to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Koolhaas continues to define and expand the parameters of discussion on the relationship between architecture and contemporary culture. In this regard, his views on the state of the built environment, the rapid urbanization of developing regions, and the role of design education in preparing future architects to deal with these realities, provide a base for continued discussion within Miami's growing arts and design communities. 

"Exploring the relationship between architecture and contemporary culture is particularly relevant for the South Florida community, especially in view of the cultural and educational facilities that will be constructed as a result of the community's approval of the Building Better Communities Bond Issue. South Florida is destined to be an international metropolis that embraces architecture as a means of defining its future," observes Wolfsonian Director Cathy Leff. The Lincoln Theatre is located at 555 Lincoln Road. 

The Lincoln Theatre is located at 555 Lincoln Road. Event tickets are $15 for Wolfsonian members and New World Symphony subscribers, FIU faculty and staff, and university students; $25 all others. To order tickets, call 305.535.2680.

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