OMA/Progress
Thu 06 Oct 2011 to Sun 19 Feb 2012
Barbican Art Gallery
Silk Street
London
EC2Y 8DS
T: 020 7638 8891
Visitor Information
Daily 11am-8pm (except Wed until 6pm; Thu until 10pm)
Tickets: £8 online, £10 on the door; concs £7 online, £8 on the door; under 12s free
From their controversial projects to their curiosity about contemporary life, global architecture practice OMA is known for its daring ideas, extraordinary buildings and obsession with the pulse of modern life. Founded in 1975, OMA currently comprises seven partners, headed by its founding partner, polymath Rem Koolhaas, and a staff of around 200 architects, designers and researchers working in close collaboration from offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing and Hong Kong.
This exhibition of the firm's work is the first major presentation of OMA’s work in the UK and coincides with the opening of their first buildings here, Rothschild Bank HQ in the City of London and a Maggie’s Centre in Gartnavel, Glasgow. The show opens up the west entrance to the Art Gallery for the first time and guest curators Rotor collective have have brought together a wide range of materials, documentation, imagery and models yielding fresh insight into OMA’s built and unbuilt projects and conceptual work.
The exhibition includes photographic, filmic and written material generated by OMA, from the 1970s to the present day and a 1:1 footprint of OMA’s design for the next Maggie’s Centre in Glasgow will be installed on the Barbican’s sculpture court. A programme of live events will look at progress in architecture and society and illuminate the work of OMA.