发自内心深处的声音

Rem Koolhaas’ Philosophy on His Own Creations

Traditional architecture criticism tends to draw connections to each individual building practice. In addition, each criticism will reflect on each individual’s practice and his or her investigation techniques. These criticisms will always invite either generic praise or even renewed attention towards their own practices. Each of this research will never fail to address social, political and cultural issues and responsibilities. Moreover, it is from all these investigation pronouncements would sum up its contents, accumulation of essays, manifesto, diaries, fairy tales and travelogues[1].

Rem Koolhaas (born on November 17, 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands) is a Dutch Architect, former journalist and screenwriter who then studied Architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He is the principal of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture or OMA for short. He founded the research arm of OMA’s counterpart AMO. He is also the “Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design” at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He has numerous of publications including Delirious New York and S, M, L, XL, collaboration with the graphic designer Bruce Mau published in 1995. Koolhaas’ work form mostly on emphatically embraces the contradictions of a regulation that struggles to maintain its humanist ideals, illustration disguise of matter honest and the human balance, which in turn carefully drafted and crafted its meaning into the rapidly globalize globe that espouses on material economy, machine scale and random meaning.

Many times, we ask ourselves how we understand the role of aesthetics in the works of the practitioners. For instance, in the work of Rem Koolhaas, majority of his works subscribes to the highly visual logic, where painterly writings are inserted within a seamless landscape of illustration ad manuscripts. Koolhaas is often painted as a contemporary “painter of modern life[2]”. His emphasis on visual could not be seen only as the strength but also expose his potential weakness in his methodology approaches.

“Architects, for the first time in several decades, are being solicited for their power to physically articulate new visions,” says Mr. Koolhaas, in person charming, unassuming, hyper articulate. “Once again one feels a belief in the propagandistic nature of architecture.”

— Rem Koolhaas quoted in “Rem Koolhaas, Post-Nationalist Architect”, The New York Times, September 11, 1994.

His methodologies approaches may on one hand allow him to articulate on his graphic visual approach, which in terms clarify the complex structure of the social community. On the contrary, this slant traps him in exactitude within the dominion of visual styles and as a result, representation leads him to the charges of anesthetization[3]. The outcomes from these research tactics are on the other hand seductive products with visual enhancements. However, in the contradictory, take for instance on Rem’s AMO’s consistent methodological approach on the Lagos. Lagos has been seemed as the “hell on earth[4]”. Lagos is a dysfunctional, chaotic city but once it is subjected the “penetrating” gaze of the AMO’s think tank.

Serpentine Gallery during daytime

Serpentine Gallery at Night

During every summer, the Serpentine Gallery in London will appoint an internationally applauded architect to conceive a provisional marquee for its home turf. Envisaged by Cecil Balmond and Rem Koolhaas. Serpentine Pavilion 2006 is helium filled canopy launched on July 6^th July.

Illustrated as the ‘Cosmic Egg’ by Balmond due to its irregular ovoid shape, the 2006 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion perches 5m above the ground level. On top the structure sits a 21m diameter translucent polycarbonate hub which would multitude a cornucopia of art experiences.

The Pavilion’s spectacular 7500m³ canopies will take approximately 10hours to inflate with helium gas and pressurized gas, controlled at the control room of the structure. It will be topped up as required throughout its sojourn on the Gallery lawn over the summer. Between the ‘balloon’ and the hub there is a 10m x 4m high volumetric ceiling space sealed with a clear ETFE window giving views up to is vast interior.

Inflating of the ‘Balloon”, London

The materials used are pretty common. The corrugated boards, that provides the translucency of the entire pavilion. The steel structures that held the entire elements together.

View from Interior of the Pavilion

Koolhaas extensive usage of translucent materials had allow him to create a illusion, between his architecture and the people using the space.

The ‘balloon’ like structure in this serpentine pavilion can be traced back from to the 1970s. And it was a popular structure back then.

Setting up of the underside of the transparent balloon

Inflation of the transparent balloon in process

Actually it is a customized – and intentionally imprecise – helium air-filled balloon that acts as the roof to this year’s Serpentine Pavilion.

Inflation of the transparent balloon in process

It can rise into the air on calm summer days, or snuggle against its substructure when it is wet, cold or windy. It is one of the odder buildings to emerge from the usual creations of Rem Koolhaas, and one of its odder statistics is that it occupies the same capacity as the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The architectural heavyweight has gone lightweight in this year Serpentine Pavilion.

How light is the structure? Has Rem managed to create a zero-gravity infrastructure? The answer to this question is yes. If calculations are computed correctly, on the moving top part of the structure, which includes an aluminium-framed rectangular frame work designed by Thomas Demand let into the transparent underside of the balloon. The weight of this top half is at least three tonnes, and the lift generated by the balloon is about six tonnes. The end result: a building with a weight of minus three tonnes. But only if you don’t count the bottom section, which looks very light – it’s interior is walled in translucent polycarbonate – but has a lot of steel in it. Perhaps we should regard this bottom half as the airship’s mooring mast.

Underside of the balloon and the interior of the pavilion interior.

The design brief to be used for its interior is that they must act as a lecture space and café. Despite this speed, there is time for the occasional exquisite detail: here it is the vertical steel tension cables bracing those polycarbonate walls. The cables run fully encased in moulded grooves in the transparent stiffening fins.

Wallpapers installation

Rem sees it as being about the activities that will take place there, rather than being a building in itself. With the Thomas Demand frieze, it incorporates art but also – since the frieze is one of Demand’s “wallpapers” – it “avoids an encounter with art”.

This is the first buoyant structure we’ve realized and it is a structural form without precedent.

Rem mumbled on at the launch as he does, munching grapes constantly. He sees it as an extension to the existing Edwardian Serpentine Gallery rather than as a separate entity. And so on.

Details

It was left to Arup’s Chris Carroll to be a bit boosterish about it. “This is the first buoyant structure we’ve realized,” said Carroll, buoyantly. “It is a structural form without precedent.” The edge of this creation is just a bit nearer that old idea of the flying building, the ultra-minimal structure, the feather light footprint. I’m glad the Serpentine continues with this series of short-life modern follies. They serve to advance the art and science of architecture.

[1] As Neil Leach observes “charges of anesthetization” (Considering Rem Koolhaas and The Office for Metropolitan Architecture 2005 :89)

[2] As Neil Leach observes “hell on earth” (Considering Rem Koolhaas and The Office for Metropolitan Architecture 2005 :89)

[3] As Neil Leach observes “painter of modern life” (Considering Rem Koolhaas and The Office for Metropolitan Architecture 2005 :89)

[4] Considering Rem Koolhaas and The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (2005) NAi Publishers, Rotterdam

http://www.0lll.com/archgallery2/koolhaas_serpentine/index.htm#id=060703b&num=1