Rem Koolhaas is celebrating his 66th birthday

On the state holiday of November 17, when we commemorate the Day of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy, Rem Koolhaas, one of the most significant architects of our time, is also celebrating his birthday. His masterful works have already made their way into most textbooks and cannot be missing from any lecture on modern architecture.
Koolhaas was born into a family of writers during the last year of World War II in war-torn Rotterdam. However, he spent a large part of his childhood and youth with his parents in Indonesia. After returning to the boringly built Rotterdam, he began to engage in architecture. Initially, Koolhaas earned a living as a journalist and screenwriter. After studying architecture at the AA in London, he gained visibility with the book Delirious New York, which should still be present in any modern urbanist's library today. At that time, Koolhaas described the apparent urban chaos as a valuable living space and a catalyst for social development. The book's success helped attract the first clients to his Rotterdam office OMA, who, however, found Koolhaas's projects mostly too bold. Success came many years later. Today, investors line up at Koolhaas's door, yet they are somewhat wary of his obstinacy and inflexibility when it comes to making his buildings more comfortable for their users. Koolhaas still has plenty of desire to provoke and engage in everyday battle just as he enjoys his favorite daily swims.
Some of his admirers see him as a visionary yearning for untouchable beauty, while his opponents criticize him for his tendency towards grandiosity; however, American theorist Charles Jencks best captured Koolhaas's nature when he wrote: “Rem has a heart, but he has decided to put it on ice.”