Elements: Rem Koolhaas - Softcover

Koolhaas, Rem

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8831720198 ISBN 13: 9788831720199

Publisher: Marsilio, 2014

Synopsis

Architecture is a strange mixture of persistence and flux, an amalgamation of elements -- some that have been around for over 5,000 years and others that were (re)invented yesterday. The fact that these elements change independently of each other, according to different cycles and economies, and for different reasons, turns each building into a complex collage of the archaic and the current, the site-specific and the standard, mechanical smoothness and the spontaneous. Only by looking at the elements under a wide lens can we recognize thecultural preferences, forgotten symbolism, technological advances, mutations triggered by intensifying global exchange, climatic adaptions, political calculations, regulatory requirements, new digital regimes, and, somewhere in the mix -- the ideas of the architect that constitute the practice of architecture today. A collection of these essential elements into 15 books in a package launched at the 2014 Venice Biennale that allows us to look through a microscope at the real fundamentals of our buildings and see again the essential design techniques used by any architect, anywhere, anytime.

About this title

About the Author

Rem Koolhaas, winner of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Biennale Architettura 2010, and the Pritzker Prize in 2000, founded OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) in 1975 together with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. Recently completed OMA buildings led by Koolhaas include the new headquarters for China Central Television in Beijing, a new headquarters for Rothschild Bank in London, the Wyly Theatre, Dallas, and Milstein Hall, an extension to Cornell's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.

From the Back Cover

"A follow-up to Rem Koolhaas s iconic S, M, L, XL, this encyclopedic tome illustrates the research project lying behind the 14th International Architecture Biennale. The focus of this book is the evolution of the elements used by architects of every age throughout the history of architecture. Doors, windows, ceilings, floors, stairs,balconies, and other basic elements of architecture often overlooked but universally familiar are studied,analyzed, and cataloged by means of an endless variety of visual references, from ancient times to modern developments. By looking at the evolution of architectural elements that are common to all cultures, this exploration avoids the classical Eurocentrism that often still characterizes architectural discourse. National identity has seemingly been sacrificed to modernity. Nevertheless, unique national features and mentalities continue to exist and flourish just as international collaboration and exchange intensifies."

About the Author
Rem Koolhaas, winner of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Biennale Architettura 2010, and the Pritzker Prize in 2000, founded OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) in 1975 together with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp. Recently completed OMA buildings led by Koolhaas include the new headquarters for China Central Television in Beijing, a new headquarters for Rothschild Bank in London, the Wyly Theatre, Dallas, and Milstein Hall, an extension to Cornell's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.

Edition details

• Publisher: Marsilio
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8831720198
• ISBN 13: 9788831720199
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 2336