Rem Koolhaas
Rem Koolhaas, 65, is one of the most important architects of our time. In China, the Dutch master is most famous for his CCTV Headquarters in Beijing. He recently opened an office in Hong Kong, to work on a bid for the West Kowloon Cultural District project. He tells Winnie Yeung why he resents being called a star architect.
I was born in 1944 in Rotterdam, right before World War II ended. Our family moved to Indonesia for three years when I was eight. It’s my first experience of Asia, which led to my interest in Asia in my later life.
I became a journalist in Holland at 17 although I‘d had no training. I was also writing screenplays.
Journalism is the most underestimated and underrated profession. You need to be incredibly intelligent for it; generous for letting people speak their minds; and genuinely interested in people.
I interviewed Federico Fellini when I was 21—it pretty much tells you how easy it was to do anything back then.
Fellini’s interview was odd because he was incredibly human. He offered me a role as an apostle because I had a very severe face.
Journalism is a lot more similar to architecture than most people think—they both demand a great deal of curiosity. Curiosity is what drives me to do most things in life.
