The Related Companies, a New York–based private real estate firm, has hired Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, Hon. FAIA, founding partner of Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), to design their newest High Line project on West 18th Street, reports The New York Post.
Although OMA has carried out several interior projects in the city, it will be the first “ground-up” site for Koolhaas’s firm, which is based out of Rotterdam, Netherlands but also has a satellite office in New York. The project will join the ranks of other big name architects such as Frank Gehry, FAIA, Jean Nouvel, Hon. FAIA, and Shigeru Ban, Hon. FAIA, on the highly successful elevated park. London-based Zaha Hadid Architects will also join the High Line starchitects, under the same developer, with the 20 West 28th Street project.
In 2008, OMA had designed a white tower with an adjacent lean for the same area, at 23 East 22nd Street, but had to rescind the building plans due to the recession.
Currently, the New York office is working on an urban water strategy for Hoboken, N.J., as one of the winners in HUD’s Rebuilding by Design competition.
