Dossier OMA / American Projects. Founded in 1975 in Rotterdam, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture of Rem Koolhaas has offices today in New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Doha, and Dubai, in charge of a growing num- ber of international projects across three continents. Shohei Shigematsu (Fukuoka, 1973) directs OMA’s New York office, which currently has under way cultural buildings like the recently opened Pierre Lassonde Pavilion at the MNBAQ and the Faena Forum in Miami; skyscrapers in Manhattan like 23 East 22nd Street; and also studies and masterplans like the comprehen- sive urban strategy in New Jersey, a food port in Kentucky,11th Street Bridge, and RFK Campus, these last two in Washington D.C. Droneport. Drones for Africa. A droneport project for Africa with an initial plan for three buildings to be completed by 2020, and a larger network so that every small town in Africa can have its own droneport by 2030: this is the ambition of the first project of the foundation created by Norman Foster and recently established in Madrid. The EPFL approached Foster with the concept because of his combination of airport design experience and knowledge of flight as a pilot of sailplanes, helicopters, and aircraft. The Droneport is devised as a ‘kit-of-parts’ including the basic formwork and brick-press machinery. Built by the communities, the raw materials are locally sourced, reducing transport costs and making it more sustainable. Acoustic Works. Just like light, sound plays a key role in the design of architectural spaces. The following small pavilions built around Europe pay special attention to this parameter, directing or amplifying sounds of nature or functioning as music installations. The three wooden megaphones built by students in a forest in the south of Estonia, the acoustic shells of concrete in a landscape of dunes in southern England, the five music domes on the coast of Iceland, and the Aeolus wind harp in Bristol: all of these projects pursue the objective of generating spaces that are articulated by sounds, inviting to reflect upon the relationship between space, sound, and architecture.
