The relationship between drawing and writing in Rem Koolhaas' training as an architect (1968-1972)

Abstract

This article explores the training Rem Koolhaas received during his early student years, his evolution in architectural drawing, and his use of writing as a tool in the design process. We will examine his initial works as a student. The first, titled The Surface, was a reaction to his first teacher's recommendation he should be expelled from architectural studies due to his shortcomings in drawing. In the second, The Berlin Wall as architecture, aware of his lack of drawing skills, he resorts to the use of images and collages. In the third, Exodus, Koolhaas, now married to Madelon Vriesendorp, returns to drawing and painting to illustrate his architectural thinking, but in this case with illustrations drawn by his wife. We examine the three projects evidencing Koolhaas' deficiencies, and demonstrate that the relationship between drawing and writing plays a major role in creating a new way of looking at architecture.