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Reinier de Graaf on OMA’s preoccupations
In this interview we filmed at the opening of OMA/Progress at the Barbican in London, OMA partner Reinier de Graaf talks about the architecture firm's current preoccupations, including the city of...
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Reinier de Graaf on OMA, the megacity and its hinterland
In this next movie from our series filmed at the OMA/Progress exhibition at the Barbican in London, OMA partner Reinier de Graaf talks about the Dutch architecture studio's preoccupation with the...
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Reinier de Graaf of OMA presents "architecture with a social conscience"
Reinier de Graaf of OMA talks to Dezeen about "architecture with a degree of social conscience" by anonymous local authority architects in France and Italy in the second of three movies we filmed at...
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"An underdose of utopia can be as dangerous as an overdose" - Reinier de Graaf
In the final movie we filmed with Reinier de Graaf of OMA at the Venice Architecture Biennale, he discusses the firm's fascination with architecture of the late 1960s and how there is an "inherent...
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At your service: 10 tips for becoming a successful urban consultant
Opinion: OMA partner Reinier de Graaf offers his top 10 tips for architects interested in branching out into urban consultancy, including "avoid writing" and "invoice early and invoice often". Once...
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"Definitely not a bridge"
Opinion: Dutch architecture firm OMA was among 74 entrants for a competition to design a new footbridge across London's River Thames – but its entry was more about making a statement than trying to...
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"The same architecture that once embodied social mobility now helps to...
Opinion: the ideals of Modernism can't survive the pressures of a voracious market that views buildings purely as capital, says Reinier de Graaf. How modern is Modern architecture? Modernism had a...
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"More than just a political system, Europe is a form of modernisation"
Opinion: in the noughties, architects OMA worked on a series of optimistic projects for the European Union, including a proposal for a colourful EU Barcode flag and an exhibition suggesting that a...
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"The smart city blinds us to the possibility of political action"
Opinion: the limitless prosperity once promised by urbanisation has failed to materialise, leaving rapidly growing inequality in its wake. It will take more than some clever technology to solve the...
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"Charisma allows the architect to speak with authority, even when he has no...
Opinion: charisma can't be learned, but it is often the architect's last line of defence against demanding clients and unsavoury economic realties, says Reinier de Graaf. A former employer (shortly...
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"Academics need to break out of their loop and get back into the real world"
Opinion: dominated by old boys who think their view is the only one that matters, architecture academia in the US has become insular and out of touch, says Reinier de Graaf, who finds a perfect...
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"The smart city is the ultimate free-for-all"
Opinion: is the idea of the smart city really just another way for big businesses to make even more money, asks Reinier de Graaf, who revisits the subject against his own better judgement. I don't know...
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"Smart devices introduce a fundamental ambiguity over who is in charge"
Opinion: "smart" technology promises to make our lives easier by learning what we like and giving us more of it, says Reinier de Graaf. But who will really be in control when the machines know...
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London's new Design Museum by John Pawson and OMA unveiled
The Design Museum's new £83-million London home by John Pawson and OMA is set to open next week at the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington. Dutch architecture practice OMA worked with...
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"Can a house be beautiful simply because of what we know, not because of what...
A simple house features on the cover of Reinier de Graaf's new book, Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession. In this extract, the OMA partner reveals the building's secret,...
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"Too much is at stake to leave architecture to architects"
The emotional and economic impacts of cities are closely connected, but this is lost in a proliferation of meaningless phrases like "healthy placemaking" and "human-centric design", says Reinier de...
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"The current crisis has exposed the structural shortcomings of our healthcare...
The coronavirus has exposed fundamental problems with our healthcare systems that we should not forget once the pandemic passes, warns Reinier de Graaf in a letter to the present from the future. How...
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"Hospitals in drastic, drastic need of innovation" says Reinier de Graaf
Dutch architecture studio OMA has produced a film exploring hospital design as part of its research into its first hospital buildings. Partner at the studio Reinier de Graaf tells Dezeen how he...
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Live panel discussion with OMA's Reinier de Graaf about his novel The Masterplan
Dutch architect Reinier de Graaf talked about his latest novel The Masterplan in this live panel discussion by Dezeen for Architecture Matters. De Graaf, who is a partner at architecture firm OMA,...
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Covid-19 has helped kill "indiscriminate international architecture" says...
The coronavirus pandemic has helped encourage a return to regional architectural styles, according to OMA partner Reinier de Graaf. The Dutch architect said Covid-related travel restrictions have...
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"Listening to any contemporary conversation on architecture is like being...
Architects must stop using the vacuous buzzwords that dominate the profession if they are to make a positive difference in the world, writes Reinier de Graaf. "A civilizational revolution that puts...
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The Line architects explain Saudi mega city in Discovery Channel documentary
Architects including Thom Mayne, Peter Cook and Reinier de Graaf have explained the thinking behind planned megacity The Line in a recently released 45-minute documentary. Numerous architects feature...
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"I have a confession to make: I have no idea what placemaking is"
Discussions about planning and urbanism are awash with talk of "placemaking" but the term remains strangely and troublingly opaque, writes Reinier de Graaf. UK housing secretary Michael Gove is backing...
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