Rem Koolhaas

'Architects — by and large old-fashioned utopian liberals who want to save the world — have trouble when faced with someone who says the Enlightenment is dead. Koolhaas’s glee for shopping, consumerism and big fat capitalists — he sees China as capitalism’s front line, where a new society is being formed in instant cities — attracts accusations of relativism, nihilism and cynicism. 'I’m not cynical about anything,' he says, amazed. 'I’m critical. A cynic could not be this industrious. A cynic is someone who doesn’t believe in anything.” Tom Dyckhoff

Rem Koolhaas at the Serpentine
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,585-1012507_2,00.html

Pavilion with Thomas Demand Frieze

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)

Think-tank: AMO

“Catholic, shapeless educational establishments”

I am interested in the priviledge of Koolhaas' position. Genuine authenticity seems to be tied up with a less inspiring ambition for the bombastic, and an embracement of capitalism as theatre. To be in the position of a designer outside of patronage, and a thinker who can look past the 'Ground Zero' project and shun instant household famedom. Some actors are applauded for their ability to look past a paycheck and a chewing gum satisfaction in order to 'hold out' for a big break in an authentic production, to achieve critical fame and acceptance. The genuine article. Like Ricky Gervais' character in 'Extras' or current media testaments of the recently departed Heath Ledger; the performer of craft craves to be taken seriously at the cost of poverty and fame. And that is why Koolhaas is such a mix of contradictions, tautology, and oxymoron. Simultaniously he gives clear attention to subtlety, modestness, and presents diatribes on authenticity and awareness, whilst at the same time taking on projects that simply seem to add a further layer of icing on already sugar-heavy environments and companies. Postmodern decadence, or a realistic manifestation of the split human concerns in all of us?