For 33 days per year the new Jeddah Airport will host the influx of two million Muslims for the holy Hajj period in Mecca. No other airport in the world can claim such overwhelming specificity of its use. These programmatic requirements form the base for a new approach to both the organization of the airport and its architecture.
The commission for the renovation of the Breuninger department store in Stuttgart originates from OMA's 1995 competition-winning scheme. The brief called for a new outside appearance of an existing 1970s building in the center of Stuttgart, Germany, home of Mercedes, Porsche and the Weissenhofsiedlung; representing the flagship-store of a company with 14 stores in southern Germany.
The Serpentine Pavilion 2006 is co-designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and structural designer Cecil Balmond. The centrepiece of the design is a spectacular ovoid-shaped inflatable canopy that floats above the Serpentine's lawn. Made from translucent material, the structure is illuminated from within at night. The canopy will be raised into the air or lowered to cover the amphitheatre below according to the weather.
Koningen Julianaplein has long been a vacant transition area between The Hague's historic city centre, a modern office quarter, Malieveld park in front, and the central station behind. OMA has designed a large three-legged structure, 93 metres tall, that gives definition and identity to this in-between urban space.
To stay viable after the opening of the tunnel between England and the continent, the ferry companies operating across the channel propose to make the crossing more exciting. Not only would the boats turn into floating entertainment worlds, but their destinations – the terminals – would shed their utilitarian character and become attractions.