D Koolhaas goes Nude

Nope he is not the wrinkly one. We are talking about the nephew who is able to call a Star Architect, his Uncle and use his name with a big Duh...

Years ago, Rem "Dawwwg Koolhaas" was featured in Architectural Record. If I am not mistaken, the headline was "Shoe selling like hotcakes." He was already associated with the famous uncle and was asked why he opted to design shoes rather than pursue his architecture profession. I remember him saying that the fulfillment is faster because a building takes so long to finish. "Look at my uncle, isn't he too old to be called Kool? I had to put the "D" in my name because I am so trendy I watch Sex and the City. He is already competing with Zaha, I want to compete with Manolo." ...fine, he didn't say the last quote.

Architect Rem D Koolhaas has completed the interior of a new flagship store in Amsterdam for his shoe brand. Called United Nude, the brand was founded by Koolhaas with shoe manufacturer Galahad JD Clark. Shoes are displayed inside back-lit recesses in an undulating wall, which continuously changes colour. Others are presented in glass cases on wooden plinths, or positioned along wooden steps. The store opened last week....(excerpts from Dezeen)

The LED wall changes color like a discotheque space would. Men would imagine silhouettes of naked women behind the light (like a James Bond video). Rem D prefers shoes.... hmmm, tendencies.

PRADA NY....esdatchu?
Rem D: it runs in the genes

I love the brand (name and store interior) because it has no insinuation on sex whatsoever.

A reaction to a post in Dezeen

Here’s some text from United Nude:

–

United Nude Opens a new Amsterdam flagship store

A new milestone for the architectural shoe brand United Nude, a brand founded by architect Rem D Koolhaas and Galahad JD Clark opens a flagship store in Amsterdam on October 22, 2009. Located in the prestigious city center address of Spuistraat 125, United Nude presents their concept, the Wall of Light™.

United Nude is distributed in over 300 points of sale worldwide in over 30 territories. Up next for the brand in early 2010, are flagship stores in Shanghai and New York.

The Store Concept

From injection moulded shoes to high-end carbon fiber heels, United Nude is a brand founded on conceptual design, elegance and innovation.

The characteristics of the brands products and DNA are also evident in the interior design of the flagship store, designed by brand Creative Director and architect Rem D Koolhaas.

The store is a “dark-shop” concept which means the store is completely dark in all areas other than those where the products are showcased and literally highlighted.

The most important and prominent element of the store design is the Wall of Light™, a computer-controlled LED wall which displays the United Nude products as a work of art encapsulated in geometric frames.

At the store opening in his hometown of Amsterdam, Creative Director Rem D Koolhaas reflected on the completion of the store design by saying “This opening is one of the proudest moments of United Nude this far. It completes the representation of the brand..”

Ferrari excitement deflates

This was the rendering of the Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, planned to be the largest indoor theme park in the world. It will feature 20 rides and attractions including the world's fastest roller coaster...124 mph...woot woot! It will have a humongous Ferrari logo, 215 feet in diameter, the largest in the world. And the design? Inspired by the classic Ferrari GT's double curve side profile.

I have always been unsure of the Blob movement. Does this even fall under blob?Maybe it does, in the deflated excitement category. The rendering is not far from it's almost completed stage....
A red fabric....a deflated parachute or a limp starfish trying to survive in the desert?
This building resembles an HQ in a Robot Anime series.I want to raise a point since the WORLD, and The Palm at Jumeirah Dubai were built. Why build something so huge, when it is inaccessible to the human experience? I am not referring to Dubai or those oil rich countries as playgrounds of the rich and who can afford. Not even they can appreciate these developments unless they are in a chopper or in space. When you visit this place, it is not the fluid red thingy statement you will experience, but the underbelly of this over sized red tent.

It would have made sense if people can slide on its surface. Like a starfish, those tentacles curve inward so we slide down toward the center where we get eaten.

A reaction to a post in Carformance