Koolhaas plans a new school of architecture in Moscow

At the end of May, an ambitious project for the architectural school 'Strelka Institute' (the Russian word 'Strelka' means 'Arrow') was introduced in the former garage spaces of the 'Red October' chocolate factory on an island near the Moscow Kremlin. The new postgraduate school, which will focus on “research as the most important point of architectural education”, offered a teaching position to Rem Koolhaas and his Think-Tank AMO. In Moscow, where the real estate market is developing at an incredible pace, the president of the newly formed university sees the need for correction, and Koolhaas could contribute to initiating an open dialogue with his unorthodox judgments. The new school will involve architects, intellectuals, designers, and media professionals. Each year, 30-40 students will be selected, with ten percent coming from abroad. Students are expected to approach research projects innovatively, resulting in products like: books, websites, films, items, and more. Educators for the students will be chosen by AMO.
The main topics will be design, energy, preservation of original states, public space, and “streamlining.” By the last term, AMO means something similar to “shrinking,” the disappearance of entire cities, the devastation of rural landscapes, and simultaneously low population density in many new residential complexes. The direction of the work will be refined by questioning such as: 'What roles does public space have in an increasing digitalization era?' or 'What should Russia preserve from the Soviet era?'.
Currently, a workshop titled “Quick and Big: 3Day City” is underway at Strelka Institute, led by Sean Griffith and Charles Holland, where students are tasked with designing a city for 100,000 inhabitants in three days.

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