By Holger Schurk

In 1989, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture developed a new architectural typology helmed by the Dutch architecture firm's founder Rem Koolhaas (born 1944). The goal of this endeavour was to enact a "project without form" as part of an international competition to build a new national library in France. In the OMA laboratory in Rotterdam, experts from multiple different disciplines were able to work on this challenge at the same time. This volume presents the planning, progress and legacy of the project, drawing from interviews with various participants.

The publication illuminates the hybrid processes of production and representation as part of the development of OMA's design for the Très Grande Bibliothèque in Paris. These are documented in numerous previously unpublished sketches, drawings and photographs, as well as sequences of video stills.