The CCTV Headquarters in Beijing has joined at the top; the most crucial stage in one of the most audacious construction projects in modern history. I love it - even if it is for Chinese State TV. Does the amazing quality of this building outweigh the moral argument?

(see the latest photos of construction on Flickr here; most of them are not hotlinkable.)



What about the rest of Rem Koolhaas' work? 'Delirious New York' is a great book, in my view; and from afar I admire the Seattle Public Library.

The attitude and audaciousness of the practice, and the style of Koolhaas himself, earn a not crap from me. Waffles for the 'superstar architect' excess which seems to afflict many practices these days.

'Round these parts, I call him Rem Kool-ass.

Koolhaas is an inspired guy who always seems to have a striking observation or two up his sleeve. That he started his career as a script-writer for the movies is perhaps telling.

Last thing I saw of him was a documentary about auto-generative systems of trade and market protection in Lagos, Nigeria. Like he goes there and points out how people will build a grass-root market infrastructure, in the absence of any state regulation or control whatsoever, and how that reflects upon his personal political thinking.

Someday I will read his OMA: S,M,L,XL.

Pretty buildings too. I once played a Rem Koolhaas designed rock club.

Not Crap.

I was walking by the CCTV building the other day when they joined it at the top. Pretty amazing seeing the huge shower of sparks flying down. Even more amazing considering they've constructed half of the thing in the last three months.

Chicagoans would do well to check out the Koolhaus designed student centre at IIT. Good stuff, his first building in the U.S., if I'm not mistaken.

Dangerously close to outsider engineering.

I prefer Frank Gehry.

decent. his building on my campus is reasonably clever, though not nearly as much of a student hub as he may have intended.

ubercat wrote:outsider engineering.

Nice! I have seen Koolhaas use the phrase 'homicidal architecture'. I love that the CCTV building could only be joined in the hour before dawn in Autumn, otherwise the effects of temperature would warp the steelwork and that tension would be locked in the building forever.

And I'm glad that I won't be working on that floor.

I'm not gonna vote on Rem, because I'm not that familiar with his stuff , but I will give the EA forum a huge NC, no waffles; where else can you find discussions of all this cool stuff, including architecture, football, cool bands, microphone selection, and how best to cook a duck, all with a minimum of online goonery? It's why I come here and check in every day. Thanks for the thread, DRC.

Frank

Beck Dudley (from M.O.T.O.) went to the Netherlands to work for him for a spell. He is known as "the Remster" in the Mohr/Dudley household. Apparantly it was a fascinating, intense, exhausting experience.

I have his coffee table book/rant on New York City. He seems to be a genuine crank, but an inspired one.

I watched a Nightline episode talking about Samuel "Sambo" Mockbee, and the work he did in rural Alabama and was forever inspired. There's a book on his work - this thread reminded me I need to pick it up.

Thanks, this thread.