Nigeria was a blank on the map - there weren't even any maps. The US State Department, everyone said don't go there. It was courageous of Harvard University: the notion was that we would match Harvard students with Nigerian students,… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
The real thing we tried to look at is what happens to a society when the state is absent. At that point, the state had really withdrawn from Lagos; the city was left to its own devices, both in terms… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city [Lagos] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit. — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
Manhattan has generated a shameless architecture that has been loved in direct proportion to its defiant lack of self-hatred, has been respected exactly to… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
In a script, you have to link various episodes together, you have to generate suspense and you have to assemble things - through editing,… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
The beauty of my profession [architecture] lies in its randomness and surprise. And don't think I can choose my projects. I have to build… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
Our office acts like a kind of educational establishment and we are very careful who we educate. — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
We discovered a person in Lagos who had a fish stall, and within a single square metre she carried two children all the way… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
Nigeria [in 1990] was all rumour, an unbelievable amount of rumour - largely about crime and almost mythical manifestations of evil. — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
Let's put it this way: One can be happy or unhappy in a building. But some buildings make us more depressed than others. — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
Nigeria was a blank on the map - there weren't even any maps. The US State Department, everyone said don't go there. It was… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
The work in S, M, L, XL was almost suicidal. It required so much effort that our office almost went bankrupt. — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
Manhattan has no choice but the skyward extrusion of the Grid itself; only the Skyscraper offers business the wide-open spaces of a man-made Wild… — Rem Koolhaas Copy Share Image
![“That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city [Lagos] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/61e/rem-koolhaas-5371_cities_that-has-been-another-interesting-discov_15915.jpg)
![“The beauty of my profession [architecture] lies in its randomness and surprise. And don't think I can choose my projects. I have to build what's offered to me.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/712/rem-koolhaas-5371_architecture_the-beauty-of-my-profession-architecture_97486.jpg)
![“Nigeria [in 1990] was all rumour, an unbelievable amount of rumour - largely about crime and almost mythical manifestations of evil.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/72f/rem-koolhaas-5371_amount_nigeria-in-1990-was-all-rumour-an-unbeli_125862.jpg)
