Rem Koolhaas

Remment Lucas "Rem" Koolhaas, born Remko L. Olhaas, Rotterdam on 17 November 1944. Architect, urban planner and architectural theorist.

Koolhaas studied at the Nederlandse Film en Televisie Academie (Dutch Film and Television Academy) in Amsterdam. In 1968 he began studying architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. In 1972 he continued his studies at Cornell University in New York and was a student of Peter Eisenman.

He first came to public and critical attention in 1975, when, together with architects Madelon Vriesendorp (his wife), Elia Zenghelis and Zoe Zenghelis, he founded the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in London, and later its research-orientated counterpart, AMO, now based in Rotterdam. They were later joined by Zaha Hadid, one of Koolhaas' students, and other partners such as the Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting

Over time, he has operated in diverse fields such as architecture, media, politics, renewable energy and fashion. He was a professor at several institutions, such as: Columbia University; AA London; Technical University of Delft; Harvard, taught "Architecture and Urban Design" and conducted the "Project in the City".

He won the Pritzker Prize in 2000.

Architect Rem Koolhaas was responsible for the design of the Casa da Música in Porto, 2005.