The House of Doctor Koolhaas
GVA Gemeinsame Verlagsauslieferung Göttingen
GmbH & Co. KG
P.O. Box 2021
37010 Göttingen
Germany
+49 551 384 200 0
info@gva-verlage.de
Gumshoe is a new series of architectural books that introduces an original approach to the writing of architectural history. It returns the focus of architectural discourse back onto buildings in a style and form that is fresh and scholarly but also easy and enjoyable to read. It emulates the detective novel—a form of writing beloved by many, but also one that has enjoyed a parallel academic life in disciplines and by writers in fields as diverse as psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud), film (Sigfried Kracauer), and art history (Carlo Ginzburg)—but, significantly, not yet by architecture. Each volume will investigate a singular building as if it were a mystery waiting to be solved.
Written by distinguished French architectural critic and historian Françoise Fromonot, the first case—The House of Doctor Koolhaas—is about the Villa dall’Ava, a private residence in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris. Fromonot brilliantly unpicks, explains, and interprets this very first building completed by Rem Koolhaas, who is universally regarded as the world’s most celebrated architect, and his Rotterdam-based firm Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The house is resolutely part of a modern architectural canon, but until now has not been the focus of a dedicated book or analysis.
"Much like a detective, Fromonot questions everything—everything that has been said, written, drawn, and photographed by Koolhaas and his collaborators around the villa. She delves into history, art, cinema, literature, and even cartoons, peeling away the layers and digging beneath the´false leads´ to discover Villa dall’Ava’s hidden meaning. It’s an enjoyable book that is as much about the journey as the destination." John Hill, A Weekly Dose of Architecture Books
"Ce qui miroite dans la villa dall'Ava, c’est précisément cette acuité critique propre à Koolhaas. L’ouvrage de Fromonot se dévore d’une traite, au bord d’une piscine, comme un roman estival." Christoph Catsaros espazium.ch
"The narrative is dominated by the surrealist drift and by cultural personalities (numerous but necessary to an understanding of the Koolhaas complex), yet the result is hypnotic." Fase Rem, Arquitectura Viva
"Dat is deverdienste van de auteur en van de architect, die hun werk zo rijk hebben opgeladen. Hetplezier van de intellectuele inspanningen door beide spat van de pagina’s af. Lees dit boek,dit is Architectuur." Marina van den Bergen, Archined