Böcker av Christophe van Gerrewey

"A meditation on certain cliches of Belgium-ness as a way to explore the explosion of its recent contemporary architectural output"--

The most incisive texts on Rem Koolhaas / OMA The activities of Rem Koolhaas and his staff were widely discussed even before the foundation of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in 1975. Today, many contributions on the work of OMA can be found in the international architectural press, including Koolhaas' own writings. The book contains about 150 selected texts-interviews, feature articles, essays, lead articles, reviews, letters, introductions, appraisals, and competition reports that have been compiled for the first time. This compilation not only provides a fresh and critical view of the oeuvre of one the most important contemporary architects, but also represents an account of the debate on architectural and urban design in recent decades. The most incisive texts on the work of OMA/Rem Koolhaas, with many articles that have never before been translated into English An overview of notions, ideas, and debates in architectural discourse, theory, and criticism, from the 1970s until 2000, that remain relevant today Illustrated with more than 100 cover shoots

For as long as there have been buildings, architecture has been a major subject of public discussion, considered and argued about not just by architects or residents, but also by critics, theoreticians, historians, and writers. This book offers an overview of these discussions in the Western world by means of four thematic trajectories, focused on housing, society, history, and art. Each of these four chronological paths starts in the nineteenth century, traverses the twentieth century, and ends as closely as possible to the contemporary moment. The stepping stones that Christophe Van Gerreway uses are historical documents--texts, books, essays, and articles--that are analyzed, interpreted, criticized, and compared. The aim of the book is to show that architecture remains a vital subject matter for anyone interested in our contemporary world and its recent history. Reading, inquiring, and thinking are essential for making substantiated choices, and, Van Gerreway shows, architecture can be a useful starting point.