Reporter: Countryside, The Future


A peek at the new exhibition Countryside, The Future by Rem Koolhaas and AMO


Words by Sophie Tolhurst

Cities – with their dense grids, complex systems, and the landmark projects of the industry’s best-known architects – are often the focus of architectural debate, yet the 98% of the earth’s surface not occupied by cities is no doubt worth a good look too. Doing just that, in this new exhibition at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, is Rem Koolhaas, co-founder of the renowned practice Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and the team of AMO, its think-tank arm. Koolhaas himself is well-known for architecture in, and critical thought on, cities (an early publication, Delirious New York, dates back to 1978, and the word ‘Metropolitan’ even appears in the name of his practice).

Commenting on the decision to shift his gaze, Koolhaas says: ‘While much of our energies and intelligence have been focused on the urban areas of the world ... The countryside has changed almost beyond recognition. ‘The story of this transformation is largely untold, and it is particularly meaningful for AMO to present it in one of the world’s great museums in one of the world’s densest cities.’

Like the surface area it covers, the range of topics broached (with the aid of large numbers of volunteer students) is extensive, including artificial intelligence, automation, genetic experimentation, political radicalisation, global warming, migration, large-scale territorial management, human and non-human ecosystems, taxation, and the relationship between the digital and physical worlds. The exhibition also looks to the future, speculating on transformations still to come.

Case studies and original research are presented in a multisensory installation that mixes archival materials with new imagery and films, with a custom-designed wallpaper landscape interrupted by digital ‘disruptions’.

There is also an illustrated ‘report’ in book form – comically small for the scope of the exhibition – with texts by Koolhaas and other leading architectural thinkers, and designed by legendary book designer Irma Boom. 








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