Two weeks ago I was in Seattle for just a day, but thankfully I managed to find time to tour Rem Koolhaas’s Seattle Public Library, which opened last year. This is the second Koolhaas building I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing. The other was the Prada store in New York’s SoHo, which is truly a stunning piece of work, with its dramatic “wave” cascading down the middle of the store. It was such a fun space to experience that anytime a friend or family member came to visit, I’d take them there, regardless of their feelings on fashion or architecture. Now that I’ve seen the Seattle Public Library, I recommend the same for anyone headed to Seattle.
I was not terribly enthused about the building based on the photos of the exterior, which I find a bit gawky. But like the Prada store, it is the interior that really stuns you—the “book spiral,” hidden artworks in the escalators, ceilings made of fabric.
Ultimately it was, for me, the exact opposite of experiencing Frank Gehry's Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. That building is breathtaking from the outside—the best moment for that building is when you are approaching it by car. Inside, most of it is rather ho-hum (though the auditorium itself is quite nice).
Now Koolhaas is in the news as he prepares to unveil this year’s Serpentine Gallery in London. For the last six years, the gallery has commissioned an architect (always in collaboration with the engineer Cecil Balmond) to build a summer pavilion. Last year was Alvaro Siza, and before that, Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid, among others.
Judging by the rendering at the Serpentine Gallery’s website (shown above), the airy cloudlike structure looks phenomenal. Of course, renderings are supposed to be grand and gorgeous. Here are a couple photographs of the actual structure (first, via the Telegraph; second, via the Londonist).
Not as interesting. Nonetheless Koolhaas has proven to me that his structures are well worth investigating up close, and he’s just about the last person who should be casually dismissed just because his building looks like a boring hot air balloon.
The pavilion officially opens next week, July 13. Anyone in London out there? Do report back if so. Meanwhile the Times and the Telegraph have some interviews with Koolhaas about the building.
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