Like many professions, architecture has its superstars -- big names who
bound from one worldly hot spot to the next. They joust in competitions
and confound expectations, time after dazzling time.
One of them is Rem Koolhaas, who stopped by San Francisco last week for
a lecture filled with cynical wit and visual flash. He also stirred my
doubts about the entire global game -- where the stars often seem to
work harder at one-upping their rivals than at creating buildings that
will improve our cities and lives.
"Architecture has to become more extravagant, more exceptional, more
unique to play its assumed role as icon," said Koolhaas, 62, black-clad
and droll. "I'm never quite sure if I'm supposed to present an
intellectual discourse or be a salesman. The line between is very thin."
Koolhaas is best known in these parts for a building that never was: the
Prada he designed for a corner near Union Square, a 10-story boutique
clad in bead-blasted steel, with 8,000 portholes instead of windows.
cont'd....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/06/DDGFOOEIVL1.DTL&hw=John+King&sn=001&sc=1000