OMA AMO
“OMA is a leading international partnership practicing architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis.” “AMO operates in areas beyond the traditional boundaries of architecture, including media, politics, sociology, renewable energy, technology, fashion, curating, publishing, and graphic design.” -OMA|AMO mission statements. -oma.eu
The Office of Metropolitan Architecture, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, is an “architectural” firm in the broadest sense of the word. The firm prides itself in radical new ideas concerning how the world can experience a space once thought familiar. Through incredible and extreme research methods and a burning desire to challenge our notion of how we feel a building should behave and operate; OMA has begun to redefine both the world of architecture and the everyday world we all occupy. Their reach is global, knowing no borders nor boundaries – physical or otherwise-in an attempt to change the world.
spin-offs
rem koolhaas: founder, lecturer iyad alsaka: partner in charge of OMA North Africa and Middle East victor van der chijs: Managing Partner david gianotten: partner in charge of OMA Asia reinier de graaf: director of AMO ellen van loon: partner in charge of De Rotterdam shohei shigematsu: partner in charge of OMA North America 300 employees
bahamas canada china eastern europe india japan south korea kuwait malaysia mexico nigeria saudi arabia singapore taiwan thailand tunisia united arab emirates united states of america vietnam western europe
built projects
rotterdam, netherlands new york, united states beijing, china hong kong, china doha, qatar*
all projects
structure
offices
firm details beijing, china hong kong, china berlin, germany essen, germany shingu, japan amsterdam, netherlands groningen, netherlands the hague, netherlands rotterdam, netherlands utrecht, netherlands porto, portugal seoul, south korea belvedere, switzerland london, uk seattle, usa los angeles, usa dallas, usa chicago, usa ithica, usa new york, usa
zaha hadid architects mvrdv rex big workAC *The Doha office is set to open in the near future, at an unidentified time
rotterdam of¿ce de rotterdam_rotterdam, netherlands commonwealth institute_london, uk fondazione prada_milan, italy projects: 10 employees: 120
amo_rotterdam, netherlands strelka institute for media, architecture, and design_moscow, russia projects: 3 employees: 15
doha of¿ce* doha airport city_doha, qatar projects: 2 employees: 30
beijing of¿ce cctv: china central television headquarters_beijing, china projects: 2 employees: 60
new york of¿ce musée national des beaux-arts du québec_québec, canada projects: 3 employees: 40
hong kong of¿ce taipei performing arts centre_taipei, taiwan projects: 3 employees: 50
locations OMA|AMO has worked on a project (installations, competitions, research, built work, etc.) on almost every continent in the world. And while not every project has come to fruition, Koolhaas asserts that each one has contributed to the further development of the firm.
Upon zooming in to Rotterdam-the headquarters of OMA – one can observe the density of built projects in the area as compared to the rest of the world.
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OMA: genesis
elia zenghelis
madelon vriesendorp
rem koolhaas
zoe zenghelis
OMA was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas, his professor, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp, and Zoe Zenghelis. Despite their desire to design as their motivation for the creation of the firm, the first project ot come out of the collaboration was Koolhaas’ Delirious New York, a “retroactive manifesto” for the city of New York and it’s unbridled, unregulated expansion. Koolhaas’ previous experience in journalism has greatly influenced his work, which has inevitably influenced OMA’s work. Over the course of OMA’s immense history in the world of architecture and design, OMA has redefined what it means to be a design firm. Along with it’s counterpart -AMO- OMA has branched out into nearly every possible field of design ranging from libraries, international graphic design, Prada fashion shows, a renewable energy network for all of Europe, and recently, their own school for where creative minds come together to attempt to solve major world issues. In addition to these fascinating works, Koolhaas has taken under his wing some of the most influential designers of the modern era. “Starchitects” such has Zaha Hadid (Zaha Hadid Architects), Winy Maas and Jacob van Rijs (MVRDV), and Joshua Prince-Ramus (REX-formally OMA:NY), to name a few, can all trace their genesis as a major player in architecture to their beginnings at OMA.
1975-1993 elia zenghelis
madelon vriesendorp
zoe zenghelis
rem koolhaas
zaha hadid
Delirious New York
checkpoint charlie police station_ apartments_berlin, almere, germany netherlands
1975: Rem Koolhaas, his professor, Elia Zenghelis, along with Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis start the Office of Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Zaha Hadid joined in 1977 as a full partner and left in 1980 to start Zaha Hadid Architects. Of the few projects the firm worked on during her time there, none came to fruition.
Koolhaas’ first novel, Delirious New York, is a manifesto of the uniqueness of New York as it pertains to the explosion in population and industrialization
The apartments built for customs workers at Checkpoint Charlie, these weren’t completed until shortly after the Berlin wall fell.
1977
1978
OMA’s first built project. The firm researched typologies in order to create a space that best-served the police in Almere.
OMA receives first major commision, the Netherlands Dance Theater.
OMA projects AMO projects publications 1975
1976
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
winy maas
lintas_amsterdam, netherlands
uithof_utrecht, netherlands
Lintas, a major advertising agency, asked OMA to design the interior for their Netherlands headquarters, which occupies the top three floors of the World Trade Tower in Amsterdam.
A parody of the The Uithof master Completion of plan aims to OMA’s first major classic Dutch section of houses represent the two commission. in the slope of a main qualities dike. of the area: the old underlying park meadow landscape and the remains of the orthogonal grid of the original plan.
1984
1985
1986
the netherlands patio villa_rotterdam, dance theater_the netherlands hague, netherlands
1987
1988
1989
6 projects
jacob van rijs
A French publication documenting 6 projects of OMA, all centering around “congestion.”
Winy Maas and Jacob van Rijs began their careers at OMA but left in 1991 to begin their own firm, MVRDV, another Netherlands-based firm, similar in style and execution to OMA but on a smaller scale.
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994-2013
euralille_ lille, france
S,M,L,XL
alliance française_ educatorium_ rotterdam, utrecht, netherlands netherlands
With the completion of the Euralille, OMA completes a 4-year period of major projects and commissions gaining them international fame.
S,M,L,XL is one of the most famous publications to ever come out of OMA. It is a compilation of 20 years of work, organized by size, as well as terrific insight into office life and the changing world of architecture.
Renovation and interior design of classical 19th century Dutch residence into a small study centre.
1994
1995
1996
Living Vivre Liben OMA 30 : 30 Colours
breda chassé campus_breda, netherlands
The Educatorium A collection is composed of two of domestic/ planes which fold residential to accommodate works from Rem a range of Koolhaas and distinct programs, OMA. including an In 1998, Koolhaas outdoor plaza, two lecture halls, founds AMO, a thinktank for OMA. cafeteria, and exam halls.
A range of A masterplan for projects from OMA the Breda Chassé interpreted through Campus. Within their use of color. the plan OMA also designed a parking structure and an apartment complex.
1997
1999
1998
eu barcode_ rotterdam, netherlands
Project on the IIT mccormick tribune City I: Great Leap campus center_ Forward chicago, usa
AMO’s first completed project, a graphic design competition for the EU to create a flag that represented all nations in the EU.
A joint project between OMA and the Harvard GSD, examining the Pearl River Delta in China, an are projected to become a megaopolis of 36 million people by 2020.
The IIT campus center is a conglomeration of several programs all attempting to reinvest in the “urbanism” Mies originally intended for IIT.
2001
2002
2003
The OMA: New York branch is founded.
2000
AMO atlas_ worldwide
casa da musica_ porto, portugal
A visual representation of existing data to show political, economical and social trends.
2004
joshua princeramus
prada catwalk wyly theater_ Unveiling The women f/w 2008_ Prada Foundation dallas, usa milan, italy
strelka_ moscow,russia
A musical center in Joshua PrincePortugal. Ramus, who helped found the OMA: NY office, renames the same office REX and breaks off from the OMA franchise.
One of many collaborations between AMO and Prada.
Documenting the history of the Prada Foundation, which was founded in 1993.
A famous theater in Dallas, Texas that challenges the typology of the typically theater by organizing it’s program vertically.
Strelka is an OMA redesigned education program the consulting developed by firm’s office space AMO that to allow for better challenges a collaboration and few creative communication. professionals to research aspects like design, energy, preservation, public space, and “thinning.”
AMO designed this De Rotterdam, special pavilion for scheduled to be the debut of Kanye completed in 2013, West’s film, Cruel is set to be the Summer, which tallest tower in the premiered at the Netherlands (150 Cannes meters). Film Festival.
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2012
2006
mckinsey and company office_ hong kong
2011
7 screen pavilion_ de rotterdam_ cannes, france rotterdam, netherlands
2013
major themes rc h resea
There are three major themes that continuously shown up in OMA’s work, they are: research and collaboration, challenging typologies, and reductive forms. And while these themes permeate through the firm’s projects, they actually serve as more of a process than as individual ideas. This process can often be witnessed through OMA’s extensive diagraming of each of their projects. Worth noting is OMA’s level of devotion to “the diagram,” as the original sketches can often be linked into conceptual sketches which proceed to 3D diagrams and finally, a built form.
challeng i ng
an dc
olo typ
ollabo ion rat
gies
c redu
tive forms
research and collaboration Research and collaboration is the first step in the aforementioned process. It consists of the beginning stages of any project; where either a client seeks out the firm, or the firm bids on a project. Once this initial stage is completed the project enters into a developmental stage where it becomes subject to the ideas and criticisms of many individuals, groups, and other intangibles that effect the final outcome of any project. It is OMA’s desire that by incorporating all these moving pieces from the beginning the final product will be one cohesive idea where no final parameter had to be shoehorned into the design to meet all the demands of clients, architects, engineers, codes, etc. A consequence of such an ambitious design model is that the parties required from the beginning are unorthodox when compared to a typical brainstorming meeting for any kind of design; often times OMA employs outside professionals such as sociologists to help with the design process. Along with these unorthodox professionals, OMA incorporates professionals typically not seen until later in a design process. Engineers, contractors, the AMO thinktank, to name a few, are some of the groups brought in from the ground level to ensure the absolute success of every project. The perceived chaos of such a process can be likened to a Rube Goldberg machine, a deliberately over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. To compare the OMA design process to such a machine is not to say that their process is excessive or that the task of designing a successful building is simple. The comparison stems from the fact that OMA’s process is exhaustive and incredibly ambitious when compared to other firms.
“During...the design process, OMA leads a...series of collaborations—brainstorm sessions, presentations and workshops—between clients, engineers, architects and other...participants...such as curators, sociologists, and anthropologists mobilized by our AMO think tank; as well as...cost estimators, construction managers, contractors, and specialty consultants.” -american-architects.com
C A
B
F D
E
G
When Rem Koolhaas (A) picks up his coffee, the door opens up and the client walks in which triggers the knife (B) to cut the rope which lifts the gate for the mouse to escape. When the balloon pops it sends the bird (C) to the brainstorm session triggering the initial idea (D), this is discussed in AMO thinktank (E) where the mouse picks up the drawings and drops it off with the engineer and Rem (F), after which the drawings are sent to the contractor (G) at which point construction will be begin.
challenging typologies
Although challenging typologies is not necessarily an outlined goal of OMA when setting out on a new project, it is always hinted at and easily seen throughout their documented works. Their desire to “invent new possibilities” out of everyday functions stems more from the notion that with adequate research, a healthy desire to question the normal, and a little creativity a competent designer can re-imagine a building typology and challenge the way we all expect to experience the classic spaces we are confronted with each day. As previously mentioned, OMA often starts in a research and collaboration phase which produces a diagram that the firm will stay true to throughout the rest of the process. These diagrams are incredibly rich in information both about the beginning stages of the design as well as how the elements of the final project will relate to each other.
“[our designs] insist on intelligent forms while inventing new possibilities for content and everyday use.” -oma.eu
classic library typology
program diagram
procenium playhouse
grand theater
classic theater typology
program diagram
multiform theater
reductive forms
The term “reductive” when used to describe OMA’s built works can be a bit misleading. The idea of reductive forms in OMA’s designs appears to be more of a side effect of their own design process rather than an intended goal. Through the extreme process of refining ideas and applying rationalism to the design, often times the final product has very reductive forms placed into seemingly erratic assemblies. This has become somewhat of a trademark of OMA, buildings with highly resolved forms as a product of their own design process, then assembled from the reference of a new, separate design intent.
identifying program
optimizing program size/placement
final form
seattle central library_seattle, usa_2004
grand theater
procenium playhouse
multiform theater
taipei performing art center_tai pei, taiwan_2015
sources Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1978. Print. Koolhaas, Rem, and Bruce Mau. S, M, L, XL. N.p.: Monacelli, 1995. Print.
Koolhaas, Rem, and Véronique Patteeuw. Considering Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture: What Is OMA. Rotterdam: NAi, 2003. Print. “OMA.” OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2012. <http://www.oma.eu/> “OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture.” World-architects.com. World-architects, n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2012. <http://www.world-architects.com/en/oma/en/>.