OMA's Kunsthal in Rotterdam

A grand portrait of Rem Koolhaas's iconic museum building and the surrounding park in Rotterdam.

Opened in 1992, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam is a key design in the portfolio of Rem Koolhaas and OMA, the renowned firm Koolhaas cofounded in 1975. It is part of the Museumpark, a park also designed by OMA and the location of the Nederlands Architectuurinstituut NAi, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, and the Museum of Natural History. The Kunsthal's exhibition space is divided into three large exhibition halls and two smaller galleries. The building also houses an auditorium and a restaurant.

This outstanding space for art is a prime destination for countless architecture fans every year, and is celebrated by Tibor Pataky, architect and architectural historian, in this inspiring book. He explains the history, the programmatic background, and the cultural references of the design, which has been adapted several times. He also places it in the context of OMA's work of the 1980s and the intellectual environment of Deconstructivism. Eight captivating series of illustrationshistoric and new photographs, plans and documents from OMA's archive, and other imagesfocus on the structure's outstanding qualities and its embedding within the park. A set of new plans, newly drawn for this book, illustrate the highlights of OMA's design. The volume is a hugely attractive tribute to one of the most significant works of post-WWII architecture in Europe.

• First substantial study on the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, a key design by Rem Koolhaas and OMA and one of the most significant works of modern architecture in Europe since 1945
• Recounts the entire design process and describes the fundamental characteristics of this outstanding museum building
• Places the Kunsthal in the context of Koolhaas's and OMA's oeuvre and the intellectual environment of Deconstructivism in the 1980s
• Large-format photographs especially taken for this book and newly drawn plans highlight the design's radicality and rich details

Auteur

Tibor Pataky is a Zurich-based architect, architectural historian, and fiction author.