OMA: (im)pure, (in)formal, (un)built at école des beaux arts

(im)pure, (in)formal, (un)built école des beaux-arts, paris june 17th to july 22nd, 2011 OMA: (im)pure, (in)formal, (un)built at école des beaux-arts in paris images © clement guillaume

OMA‘s latest exhibition (im)pure, (in)formal, (un)built opened today at école des beaux-arts in paris. produced in collaboration with students at the paris malaquais school of architecture, the exhibition focuses on three french libraries designed by the internationally recognized firm.

view of exhibition

explored in a range of archival and new materials, the exhibition features the très grande bibliothèque (1989), jussieu (1992) – neither of which were ever realized – and the bibliothèque multimédia à vocation régionale in caen, which is set to break ground in 2012. these concepts – built or not – defined a new library typology that was ultimately adapted and reinterpreted around the world.

rem koolhaus along with curators and member of the OMA team

running through to july 22, 2011, the exhibition reflects on the importance of theoretical work in the history of OMA, who has only seen realization of four out of 45 proposed buildings in france. relating the significant framework determined by the studio, the exhibition explores the phases of architecture, the nature of the work, and the impact within the architectural domain.

(im)pure, (in)formal, (un)built is the latest of a string of exhibitions curated by OMA, includingOMA with/for prada at the venice art biennale, and cronocaos at the new museum, new york.

detail view of physical model