Is Rem Koolhaas Channeling Gordon Matta-Clark?
A recent press release on OMA’s website for the mixed-use building in Coolsingel, Rotterdam’s shopping district, suggests a new direction in form-making for the man least obsessed with it.
[Image: A view of the plaza at the foot of OMA’s new design for Coolsingel. Courtesy of WAN.]
In my mind, it bears a striking resemblance to the work of Gordon Matta-Clark.
According to OMA’s website, the design is a result of the following…
The design for the project is triggered by two strong observations of site and height. The site is positioned in what is regarded as the true centre of Rotterdam, where the city’s most important streets: Coolsingel, Lijnbaan, Binnenweg and Beurstraverse merge. The second observation is on Rotterdam’s current construction development that almost entirely consists of tower projects. This can create an impressive skyline, but limited functionality and lack of engagement with the surrounding public can fail to enhance or enliven the centre.
Rather than a tower project competing for height, this design aims to change the identity of the city centre by inserting the pure form of a cube into existing buildings. Voids within the cube introduce configurations that bring daylight into the cube whilst providing views to the surroundings.
If you are familiar with Gordon Matta-Clark’s work, then you know he was famous for his “building cuts” which served as site specific interventions. Looking back at OMA’s reasoning, it is this notion of voids/cuts and site specificity where I see a link between the two.
More specifically, I am thinking of Conical Intersect, a piece Matta-Clark did for the 1975 Paris Biennale, to which OMA’s new design most resembles.
[Image: Matta-Clark’s piece, Conical Intersect, for the 1975 Paris Biennale. Courtesy of Lightning History.]
[Image: OMA’s new concept for a mixed-use building in Coolsingel. Courtesy of OMA.]
To help you further understand the interior workings of Conical Intersect and a further resemblance between the two, relative to the first image from OMA…
[Image: Interior shots of of the construction/demolition for Conical Intersect. Courtesy of Automatico, Robotico, Codificado.]
This may just be coincidental in the form of visual effect, but perhaps there is more to it. Tracing the timelines of each, there are two significant similarities.
- Matta-Clark attended Cornell from 1963-68, shortly followed by Rem Koolhaas in 1972.
- Both were studying in Europe during the “events of May” in 1968 - Matta-Clark was studying French Lit in Paris, Koolhaas had started architecture at the AA.
Whether this means anything 40 years later is highly suspect, but interesting nonetheless. What do you think?
***As a side note, I was recently reminded of another project that is/was slightly more inline with the work and methodology of Gordon Matta-Clark - Inversion, by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck in Houston.
[Image: A tunnel was created through two houses with their own siding. Courtesy of CubeMe.]
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Comments
I am one of the artists who created “Inversion”, pictured on your blog site in July 2007.
I would like to invite you and your blog audience to watch a short documentary film about the “Inversion” project created by Houston artist and filmmaker,
Mark Larsen
Go to:
http://www.arteryhouston.org/video/visual_performance.htm
Also watch other videos in the Artery archive. They are very entertaining.
Pass this link onto other interested parties……DH
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