Koolhaas, Superstudio, and the paradox of their affinity: Researching a friendship that emerged through misunderstanding by juxtaposing their professional- and personal relationship

In the winter of 1970, Rem Koolhaas visited the architecture collective Superstudio, and he expressed great appreciation towards the studio’s founders Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia. What ensued was a long time of correspondence, especially between Koolhaas and Natalini. They gravitated toward each other, and they celebrated their shared perspectives on architectural design. That is until Koolhaas found out that they silently disagreed in critical moments, and their friendship began to cool off.This thesis recounts the story of Rem Koolhaas and the architecture collective Superstudio. It delineates how the two crossed paths, how and why they sympathized, what their greatest contradiction was, and how their mutual affinity was partly based on a misunderstanding. Their greatest contradiction regarded the grid and their diverging position was informed by disagreements on multiple levels, on the value of history for example. In this thesis, the juxtaposition of their positions is combined with recently published archival material, giving insight into their personal relationship as well. It appears that in architecture, affinity can start with misinterpretation and it does not have to end with a stupefying consensus either.AR2A011Architectural History ThesisArchitecture, Urbanism and Building Science