Rem Before Koolhaas: Journalism by an Architect

A compact primer on Koolhaas' early, lesser-known journalistic career

Before the Dutch architect Rem Koolhass (born 1944) cofounded the architectural firm OMA in 1975, published seminal works of postmodern theory, such as Delirious New York (1978), gained a professorship at Harvard University and cofounded Volume Magazine (2005), he was a journalist. Between 1963 and 1968, Koolhaas regularly contributed to the Dutch weekly, Haagse Post. His specialty was the interview. Through his deft powers of observation and analysis, the young Koolhaas employed the form to make visible power dynamics and cultural shifts.
This pocket-size volume is the first to compile Koolhaas' interviews for the Haagse Post, reproducing their original layouts. Rather than treating this period as a mere precursor to his architectural career, Rem Before Koolhaas presents it as culminating in a valuable body of critical work that lent itself to his later endeavors.