ABOUT OMA

The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practicing contemporary architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis.

The office is led by six partners – Rem Koolhaas, Ole Scheeren, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu and Managing Partner, Victor van der Chijs – and employs a staff of 300 people of more than 30 nationalities. Architects, researchers, designers, model makers, industrial designers and graphic designers of multinational origin work in close collaboration and expert consultants are intimately involved from the beginning of the design process.

OMA has completed numerous projects including the Zeche Zollverein Historical Museum and master plan in Essen (2006), the Seoul National University Museum of Art (2005), the much acclaimed Casa da Musica in Porto (2005), the Prada Epicenter in Los Angeles (2004), the Seattle Public Library (2004), the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (2004), the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003) and the IIT Campus Centre in Chicago (2003).

The work of Rem Koolhaas and OMA has won several international awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000, the Praemium Imperiale (Japan) in 2003, the RIBA Gold Medal (UK) in 2004, the Mies van der Rohe – European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (2005).

To accommodate a diversity of projects throughout the world, OMA maintains offices in Europe (OMA Rotterdam), North America (OMA New York) and Asia (OMA Beijing).

AMO

The counterpart to OMA’s traditional architectural practice is AMO, a design and research studio based in the company’s Rotterdam office. While OMA remains dedicated to the realization of buildings and master plans, its subsidiary AMO is a think tank that operates in areas beyond the boundaries of architecture and urbanism - including sociology, technology, media and politics.

AMO’s resume includes work for Universal Studios, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Harvard University, Condé Nast, Heineken, and Ikea. Recent works include the development of in-store technology, fashion shows, pavilions, exhibitions and websites for Prada, a strategy for the future of Volkswagen, a strategy for a new organic fast food chain and work for a new design institute in Amsterdam, a think-tank in the Middle East and for the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

FIRM HISTORY

OMA was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas, Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp as a collaborative office practicing architecture and urbanism.