Scholarly record

REM AT BOTH SIDES OF THE MIRROR

B. Butragueno

Abstract

When talking about Rem Koolhaas, the mirror reflects multiple images. We can find Rem the media celebrity, the intellectual, the conceptualizer, the builder, the analyst, the journalist, the actor... This research sets the spotlight on Rem, the communicator. "Rem at both sides of the mirror” belongs to a research on architectural media, its influence on the architectural production and vice versa. The aim is to discern whether communication and architectural production collide and converge in the case of great communicators such as Rem Koolhaas, and whether the message and transmission media acquire the same features. Focusing on the figure of Rem Koolhaas, the research addresses the evolution of his communicative condition and the successive transformations in the field of architectural communication, simultaneously with the conceptual evolution he developed throughout his career. The research makes a comparison among his most relevant publications, starting with “Delirious New York” and “SMLXL”. Afterwards, the analysis is focused in “Content”, establishing three hypotheses: the convergence between the VISUAL language and the project, the application of a language based on a maximal communicative congestion and the subsequent transformation of the communication codes in architectural communication. In short, the research seeks to value the role of the architectural communication in the creative process. The goal is to prove that it is in “Content” where the object of communication and its expression become a single element, ruled by similar laws. In this case, the fundamental law is to implement the "culture of congestion" to its maximal consequences in both the message and the media, leading to what we call "congestive communication”. It represents the opposite to “SMLXL” in many senses: it is a cheap, ephemeral, light and "disposable" experiment. This research suggests that "Content" contains the essence of Rem Koolhaas’ greatest contribution to the world of architecture: the deep and definitive transformation of architectural communication through the convergence of the architectural production and its transmission: the design of the information. His architectural and conceptual legacy has left an indelible mark on all subsequent generations. There is no doubt his essays, theories, projects and buildings already belong to the history of architecture. But it is his review on the concept of communication in architecture that has had and shall have an immediate influence on future generations, not only in their communication but also in their architecture, through a bijective exchange. This research provides a new perspective on extremely well known issues. Its most specific and original contribution is the analysis of the communicative strategies, especially in “Content”, focusing on “how” and not exclusively in “what”.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2017/52/S21.084

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