These two events do not have a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but they clearly characterize the complex worldview and the tendency to shock this Dutch architect.
The project for Shenzhen is a 250m high building in the city's new financial district. Its distinctive feature will be a "floating base": the structure will be raised above the ground on a system of supports that will support a wide platform, from which, in turn, the exchange tower itself will grow. An area for holding public events will be arranged under it, as well as a space for posting information about trading on the stock exchange. Such a formal decision should symbolize more virtual than real financial transactions carried out on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It is one of only two such institutions in mainland China, along with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and trading on it can influence the economic situation in the country. Construction of the new building should begin this year.
Koolhaas put forward his proposal to fellow architects, in particular, the so-called "stars", to boycott major international competitions in connection with reports that Norman Foster, Rafael Vignoli and Kisho Kurokawa left the jury of the competition for the Gazprom City project in St. Petersburg. Seeing this as an expression of a certain unity of opinion, Rem Koolhaas decided to give it a more organized character.
In an exclusive interview with the British weekly Building Design, he said that such competitions only consume a huge amount of resources and ideas of the best architects in the world, without bringing, as a result, any benefit. According to Koolhaas, it is necessary to carry out an annual boycott of such competitions, which will help architects to get out of the dependent position in which they find themselves.
Let us remind you that Koolhaas himself also took part in the Gazprom-City competition, although he did not achieve victory. In the past, he received the opportunity to implement the largest currently implemented projects - the "House of Music" in Porto, the building of the Central Chinese Television in Beijing, the Seattle Central Library - thanks to various architectural competitions.
