Erotomania: The paranoid-critical activity exerted by Rem Koolhaas on Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe

Abstract

The text investigates a singular aspect within the already solidly studied link between Rem Koolhaas’ architectural proposal and surrealism, with clear connections to automatism, dreamlike deformation or madness. In this case we will focus on analyzing how Koolhaas also uses the paranoid-critical methodology developed by Salvador Dalí, to reflect on two of the great masters of architecture of the 20th century, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, and how this analysis, as Dalí’s work with Velázquez, Vermeer or Rafael, allows the Dutch architect to consider the position of these masters, retroactively necessary to justify his own presence in the evolution of contemporary architectural thought and, furthermore, this intellectual friction feeds important examples of OMA’s built work.