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Via Dutch Profiles we found this interesting interview with Rem Koolhaas, principal at OMA, the interview has english subtitles.

The iconic buildings of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA, and its core principles as embodied by Rem Koolhaas, have gained worldwide attention since it’s foundation in 1975.

The philosophy and aesthetic developed for competition submissions for and the Centre for Art and Mediatechnology in Karlsruhe, La Villette, the Jussieu campus and the Très Grande Biblioteque in Paris, garnered frenzied international attention and were finally realised in De Kunsthal in Rotterdam.

Rem Koolhaas’ intensive conceptual thinking about architecture and social circumstances ran simultaneously from the very early stages of his career. With a background in journalism and scriptwriting – his curiosity, research and urge to analyse are basics of his and OMA’s working process.

It is this approach that makes him a highly debated thinker and architect – although he staunchly refutes the label “Starchitect”. This image, he feels, blinds the public to a clear view of what his and OMA’s work is really about.

Casa da Musica in Porto provides a valuable steppingstone for one of OMA’s latest commissioned projects, the Taipei Performing Arts Centre. Treatment of form, innovative techniques, and the celebration of context are key elements of the design. Rather than relocating the roaring Shilin night market from the site of the forthcoming Taipei centre, OMA will instead build its 3 theatres above the market.

The vibrant, dynamic culture of the East forms a crucial element in Koolhaas’ pre-occupation with Asia. As a child he lived in Indonesia for several years. This experience is central to his current fascination with the region –  and its architecture.

Koolhaas’ seminal 1978 book Delirious New York, a Retroactive Manifesto, explores the Culture of Congestion in the big city. Nowadays, his focus is shifting to the wider consequences of the rapid growth of mega-cities.

During September we announced the shortlist for the Stadskantoor, a mixed use building with public and administrative facilities and a residential program at Rotterdam’s City Hall. After a process of public feedback, the five projects went on public display at the NAI and through the competition website, and also a presentation to the jury, OMA in collaboration with Werner Sobek and Engineers ABT was awarded with the first prize.

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The City of Rotterdam held a competition for a extension for the City Hall, the program includes a mixed used building with public and administrative facilities and a residential program. The building most become “the most sustainable building in the Netherlands”. The shortlist has been announced and five designs were presented by the City. The projects will be on public display until September 13th at the NAI and through the competition website. The winner will be announced in October.

The finalists: Mecanoo + Kossmann.deJong + Wubbo Ockels, CLAUS EN KAAN ARCHITECTEN, Meyer en van Schooten Architecten + architectenbureau Fritz, Search + Christian Müller Architects, OMA + ABT
More images about the projects after the break.

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After almost 12 years in the boards dutch architects Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA, have announced the start of construction on “De Rotterdam” a complex of three stacked towers with a total height of 150m, a gross floor area of 160,000m2, and mixed use program (offices, apartments, hotel, conference facilities, gym, shops, restaurants) with an investment of €340m De Rotterdam will be the biggest building in the Netherlands. Completion is expected in 2013
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