Possibly more than any other practicing firm, Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitian Architecture should be judged by the projects that they were unable to get built. Recent projects like additions to the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum were smart, well thought out designs that captured the true essence of the buildings and took that to an all too logical conclusion. OMA's rejected design for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City included a tower that read "MoMA, Inc.", a statement far too true for the museum to accept. The design for the LACMA expansion built on the fact that the museum needed something to unify such a disjointed campus, while OMA's design for the Whitney would have built on the idea and spirit of the much loved Breuer building in a way that would have not just preserved it but brought it back to life. At both the Whitney and LACMA, OMA was fired and replaced by Renzo Piano, their designs proved too expensive, too ambitious, or more likely too true to proceed.

Seattle Public Library
(2004) Seattle, Washington, United States

More than just a library, the new downtown central library in Seattle is an actual reason to go to downtown. Like all OMA projects, the building is terribly well thought out, it draws you in and gets you where you want to go before you even realize it (although it is a bit harder finding your way out from the upper floors). Well worth a visit.

Click here to go to the Seattle Public Library site. Free tours and free architectural tours are offered, just ask any of the way too friendly staff members.

McCormick Center at I.I.T.
(2003) Chicago, Illinois, United States

All that reverence to Mies at the Illinois Institute of Technology was redefined when Rem Koolhaas' McCormick Student Center opened. A fun building and (probably) the only orange one on campus.

Click here to start learning about IIT. The best was to the McCormick Center is the Green Line, letting you ride through the big tube before looking back at it in wonder.

CCTV Building
(2008) Beijing, China

Even if it doesn't get built, it's amazing to think that that the CCTV building was able to even get engineered and designed. A 49 story tower unlike any other, it consists of two legs that turn to bridge together. The future headquarters for China state run television could very well end up as one of the coolest looking buildings ever.

Click here to go to the Tall Buildings exhibition site at the Museum of Modern Art, then click on number 12 to see images of the CCTV project frozen in time.

Slideshow | McCormick Center at I.I.T.

See more of the McCormick Center (and fifteen more places) at the ArBITAT Places page... (go to places.ArBITAT.com)

ArBITAT FutureWatch

Rem may get fired more often than he gets hired, but he OMA still manages somehow to get some damn cool looking buildings finished. Follow their progress (or lack thereof) at ArBITAT FutureWatch... (go to ArBITAT FutureWatch)