The idea that Rem Koolhaas and his firm, OMA, staunchly advocate preservation might come as a surprise. His large-scale buildings, such as CCTV in Beijing; or the Seattle Central Library attest to a "starchitect" at work, one who pushes for the new and unique, not the old and historic. Koolhaas, not surprisingly, abhors this hackneyed epithet. And now, two of his past lectures-assembled with a concluding essay by Jorge Otero-Pailos, associate professor of historic preservation at Columbia University-make a strong case for Koolhaas's being a "preservationist." Koolhaas gave the lectures at Columbia in 2004 and 2009.
The title of the book comes from Koolhaas's observation in 2004 that the interval of time keeps narrowing between the decision to save a building and its age: when preservation took off as a serious effort in the early 1800s, its targets were monuments about 2,000 years old. In 1900, they were often just 200 years old; and by the 1960s, the gap was as short as 20 years. Similarly, the definition of architecture worth keeping has become more inclusive-from Classical temples to department stores, amusement parks, even concentration camps. "We are living in an incredibly exciting and slightly absurd moment, namely [one in which] preservation is overtaking us," Koolhaas says. But he maintains the movement is limited by being "dominated by the lobby of authenticity, ancientness, and beauty."
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