1257. Rotterdam

Dear Reinier,

"The reason that the De Rotterdam is where it is, is simply because it became important for the city to project the phase of its existence and to undo the ghost town. This is not simply architectural ambition, but part of the ambition of the city" (Rem Koolhaas)

Best wishes,
R

862. Lille Grand Palais, Lille, France

Dear Bruce,

"Only through bigness can architecture dissociate itself 
from the exhausted artistic/ideological movements of 
modernism and formalism to regain its instrumentality as 
vehicle of modernization" ("Bigness" R. Koolhaas)

Best regards.
R

472. Educatorium, Utrecht, Netherland

Dear Shoei,

"Raw material worth just what you do with it"
(Mies van der Rohe)

Best.
R

368. CCTV Building. Beijing

Dear Jan,

"Early 2002 we received two invitations, one to apply to
consider what should happen at Ground Zero, the other
for the headquarters of China Central Television in Beijing.
We discussed the choice over a Chinese meal. The life of
the architect is so fraught with uncertainty and dilemmas
that any clarification of the future, including astrology, is
disproportionately welcome. My fortune cookie read,
"Stunningly Omnipresent Masters make minced meat of
memory" (Rem Koolhaas)

Cheers.
R

266. Kunsthal. Rotterdam, Netherlands

Dear Peter,

"We would keep the same square as a general
envelope. The square would be crossed by two routes:
one the existing road running east-west; the other, a
public ramp running north-south, the entrance to both
the park and the Kunsthal.
These crossing would divide the square into four parts.
The question then became:
How to imagine a spiral in four separate squares?"
(From S,M,L,XL by Rem Koolhaas)

Regards.
R

253. Netherlands Dance Theatre. The Hague

Dear Zoe,

In my opinion Madelon should have worked in this
space to add more of her "circular thinking". I know
her largest painting is on the stage tower, but that is
outside. When I was in there last night and saw the
wonderful dancers performing I couldn't stop myself
imagining the scene of the "Flagrant Delit". Then the
famous buildings were also dancing in the walls...

Regards.
R

247. Nexus Housing, Kashi District, Fukuoka, Japan

Dear Sven,

"In each house we tried to offer a rich
variety of spacial conditions and tectonic
contrasts: enclosed vs. exploding, intimate
vs. open, public vs. private, high vs. low,
rough vs. refined, dark vs. light, concrete
vs. abstract." (R. Koolhaas talking about
his Nexus housing project in Japan)

Regards.
R

99. Scale Model Kunsthal. Rotterdam

Querido Manolo,

"En el Kunsthal las columnas inclinadas desafian las
lineas de atraccion gravitatoria para alinearse con la
topografia generada en el proyecto, en una radical
declaracion de libertad e independencia de los
ordenes naturales" (Alejandro Zaera)

Un abrazo.
R

64. Interior, The Seattle Public Library

Jan,

To visit the new OMA's Seattle Central Library has
been an amazing experience for me. The building
indisputable rationality is fantastically combine with
voluptuous and dramatic spatial concepts. The
overwhelming all red corridors (floors, walls and ceilings)
of the meeting room level are able to make you feel as if
you were inside a monster mouth. Every space here is
absolutely magnificent.
It's a shame this building wasn't built in San Francisco...

Cheers.
R

63. Detail, Southeast Facade, Seattle Public Library

Querida Luz,

Juan Luis y yo nos vimos en Seattle.
Fuimos a visitar juntos la nueva biblioteca
de Koolhaas. Aqui hay tantos libros como
buenas ideas de proyecto. Es increible!
Me dijo que el bebe viene pronto.
Suerte y felicidades!
Y por supuesto mucho cariño, para ti,
Manolo y el pequeñin.

R