Koolhaas, Rem

(born Nov. 17, 1944, Rotterdam, Neth.) Dutch architect. After studying architecture in London and working in New York City, in 1975 he opened his own firm in Rotterdam and London. He first achieved recognition with his book Delirious New York (1978), which profiled Manhattan's architectural development, suggesting that it was an organic process created through a variety of cultural forces. His best-known projects are large-scale structures, including the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, the Grand Palais exhibition hall in Lille, Fr., and a master plan for the MCA/Universal Studios site in Los Angeles. His book S, M, L, XL (1996) addressed the theme of size. In 1998 he won the design competition for a new campus centre at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000.

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