The Rotterdam Kunsthal, OMA and the Process of European Integration in the Late 1980s

The paper focuses on the Rotterdam Kunsthal by OMA and its relation to a double shift during the second half of the 1980s: the process of European Integration gaining momentum, and, with not much delay, a new approach both within the thinking and the work of Rem Koolhaas. Drawing on recent literature on European Integration as well as Koolhaas' essays, statements and architectural production of this period, the study points out a series of parallels between the economic restructuring of Europe and the simultaneous reorientation of OMA. On this basis it is being discussed in how far the design of the Kunsthal was akin to the "New Europe" and OMA’s response to its advent, or, instead, to Europe’s waning condition and OMA’s architectural repertoire from the eighties.

La densification des espaces urbains, une problématique contemporaine interrogée par le logement collectif

Frédéric Frank

The modern and contemporary city has given birth to vast peripheries due to rapid growth. A first glance at these areas reveals that architectural theories and urbanism paradigms encounter each other without fixed rules or regulated planning. Moreover, these sectors located close to city centers are often still considered as lifeless and without interest, even by building professionals, despite an intense debate on the topic since the 1960's. Nevertheless, it seems appropriate to explore in greater detail the question of this suburban phenomenon. These areas provide numerous advantages, giving the opportunity to enjoy the proximity of the city centers and its corollaries (jobs, culture, mobility, education, leisure activities) without living in dense and saturated places like those in urban centers. In the first section, the dissertation explains the historic and present evolution of the periphery, as well as new forms of urbanization over the last fifty years. A case study explores the evolution of perceptions on the periphery from distinct architects and theoreticians from the 1960's until today, leading to a new critical vision (Aldo Rossi, Robert Venturi & Denise Scott Brown, Rolf Keller, Rem Koolhaas, Stefano Boeri, Mirko Zardini). In the second section, the dissertation regards the vast debate on sustainable development by analyzing the densification possibilities of the periphery and the compatibility of preserving its characteristics, such as building and lifestyle heterogeneity, landscape qualities, and the permeability between building complexes. This offers lower density than city centers, which provides an alternative to peri-urban urbanization and, consequently, a contrast to sustainable development. A case study of three Swiss agglomerations analyzes the innovative strategies in current urban planning initiatives (Lausanne, Lugano, and Zurich). In the final section, the dissertation investigates collective housing in peripheries that are currently increasing their density. Therefore, the present debate is examined by accentuating the questions of collective housing within the context of suburban development. A case study is dedicated to the architectural specificities of this topic, analyzing a corpus of six residential complexes built or being planned since 2000 (Les Carolins/Bachelard-Geser, Sunnige Hof/Burkhalter+Sumi, Katzenbach/Zita Cotti, Leimbach/Galli-Rudolf, Triemli/von Ballmoos-Krucker, Burriweg/Frank Zierau). This architectural case study is conducted with not only typological and morphological tools, but also perceptive ones.

EPFL2009

Inventory of Problems: The Genesis of the Rotterdam Kunsthal by OMA/Rem Koolhaas, 1987-1992

Tibor Bonaventura Pataky

The Kunsthal in Rotterdam is a key work in the oeuvre of OMA/Rem Koolhaas that marks the threshold between the firmâs architectural production of the decades before and after 1990. This doctoral thesis aims at a deeper and comprehensive understanding of this work of architecture. It gives a chronological account of the entire process of planning and design from the origins of the commission in 1987 to the completion of the building in 1992. The process is being discussed in a series of pertinent contexts, such as the site and its history, the architecture and the theory of the late 1980s, and contemporaneous political events like the Fall of the Iron Curtain and the dynamics of European Integration so as to reconstruct the historical moment the Kunsthal emerged from. The thesis combines archival research on the Kunsthal and the two closely connected projects of the Museum Park (1987-94) and the competition for the Netherlands Architecture Institute (1988) with text based research on a series of related fields: next to the literature on the production of OMA/Rem Koolhaas and the publications by Koolhaas himself, selected literature on the projectâs historical backdrop and its above mentioned aspects. Major attention is being dedicated to the relation between Koolhaasâ writings and statements, OMAâs architectural production and its reception. In the field of architectural history, both scholarly research and in-depth studies on OMAâs architecture are scarce to this day, while its reception is partly overshadowed by Koolhaasâ own exegesis. Both the focus on a single building and a methodological distinction between primary and secondary sources are to counteract these tendencies. The study of the primary sources â archival material, the existing building â follows the principle of an immanent reading, in order to re-enact the logic of the project and its development as well as how it âreflectsâ the requirements, conflicts, intentions and historical events that conditioned it. The study of the secondary sources â literature on/by OMA, interviews with former team members â compares the logic of the project and its âreflectivityâ to the theoretical discourse and interpretations of the Kunsthal put forward by Koolhaas himself, critics, academics and others. The account is divided in two parts. Part 1 draws a line from the origins of the commission to the first project of the Kunsthal (I) which was abandoned in autumn 1988. Focal themes are: the situation of OMA in 1987; Rotterdam and the history of the site; contemporary movements of urban renewal and Koolhaasâ take on urbanism at the time; the brief and the museum architecture of the 1980s; the Museum Park from the first studies to the final project by Yves Brunier; OMAâs competition entry for the Netherlands Architecture Institute, and the MoMA exhibition Deconstructivist Architecture in 1988. Part 2 is focused on the second project of the Kunsthal (II) which was eventually built. Next to the inception of the scheme and the completed building, several stages of the design are being discussed in detail. Other focal themes are: the concept of the circuit and architectural precedents; the impact of Ove Arup and the client on the design; the revision of Koolhaasâ architectural approach from 1989 onwards and how it relates to the events of European Integration and the Fall of the Berlin Wall; fragmentation as an issue that is key both to this shift and the Kunsthal in terms of design.

EPFL2021

La densification des espaces urbains, une problématique contemporaine interrogée par le logement collectif

Frédéric Frank

EPFL2009

Inventory of Problems: The Genesis of the Rotterdam Kunsthal by OMA/Rem Koolhaas, 1987-1992

Tibor Bonaventura Pataky

EPFL2021