REX (architecture firm)

REX is an architecture and design firm based in New York City, whose name signifies a re-appraisal (RE) of architecture (X). Seminal projects include the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas, Texas; the Vakko Fashion Center in Istanbul, Turkey; and the Seattle Central Library. The work of REX has been recognized with accolades including two American Institute of Architects' National Honor Awards in 2005 and 2011,^[1] a U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology National Honor Award, an American Library Association National Building Award, and two American Council of Engineering Companies' National Gold Awards.

History

Seattle Central Library, Seattle, Washington

REX's think-tank of 30 designers is led by Joshua Prince-Ramus, who was founding partner of OMA New York—the American affiliate of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture/Rem Koolhaas—until he rebranded that firm as REX in 2006.^[2]

While REX was still known as OMA New York, Joshua was Partner in Charge of the Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum in Las Vegas and the Seattle Central Library, hailed as Time's 2004 Building of the year and by Herbert Muschamp in The New York Times as "the most exciting new building it has been an honor to review in more than 30 years of writing about architecture."^[3] In 2005, the Seattle Central Library was awarded the top honors bestowed by the American Institute of Architects, the American Library Association, and the American Council of Engineering Companies. The Library was one of seven finalists for the inaugural Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize, awarded in 2014 to the best architectural work in North and South America completed from 2000 to 2013.^[4]

A former member of the TED Brain Trust, Joshua has shared REX’s design methodologies at the TED2006 and TEDxSMU conferences. He is the most recent recipient of the Marcus Prize, bestowed upon architects "on a trajectory to greatness.” Joshua has been credited as one of the “5 greatest architects under 50” by The Huffington Post,^[5] one of the world’s most influential young architects by Wallpaper*,^[6] and one of the twenty most influential players in design by Fast Company;^[7] he was also listed among “The 20 Essential Young Architects” by ICON magazine^[8] and featured as one of the “Best and Brightest” by Esquire magazine.

Joshua is a frequent contributor to architectural academia—he has been Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor at Yale University and Cullinan Visiting Professor at Rice University, and has been a visiting professor at Columbia University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Syracuse University. He lectures frequently in universities and symposiums around the world.

Projects

AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, Dallas, Texas

Current Projects

Current projects include the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (PACWTC), a 7,400 m² (80,000sf) building for the production and premiering of theater, dance, music, musical theater, opera, and film works; the Mercedes-Benz Future Lab in Stuttgart, Germany, a 10,200 m²(110,000 sf) public showcase for the brand’s impact on state-of-the-art mobility and a factory for creating, debating, and presenting the indeterminate future; a 4,300 m² (46,300 sf) private residence on Long Island for a patriarch, his four children, and each of their four future families; the re-cladding and interior renovation of Five Manhattan West, a 140,000 m² (1.5 million sf) Brutalist landmark straddling Penn Station’s rail yard in New York City; and 2050 M Street, a new, approximately 37,100 m² (400,000 sf) office building in Washington, DC that will host the CBS Washington Bureau, amongst other tenants.

• 2050 M Street (2019 completion), Washington, DC
• Necklace Residence (2018 completion), New York, New York
• Five Manhattan West (2016 completion), New York, New York
• Museum of the 20th Century (invited competition 2016), Berlin, Germany
• Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center (commenced 2015), New York, New York
• Mercedes-Benz Future Lab & Campus Extension (invited competition 2012), Stuttgart, Germany

Additional Projects

Within the past few years, REX was declared winner of a limited competition for a $480 million, 80-story tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and has been a finalist in limited international competitions for the new Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway; the Finnish Innovation Fund’s Low2No sustainable development in Helsinki, Finland;^[9] the new Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland;^[10] and the New Central Library for Calgary, Canada.

Amongst REX's recently completed work, the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in Dallas received the American Institute of Architect's 2011 National Honor Award, the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology's 2012 National Honor Award, and the American Council of Engineering Companies' 2010 National Gold Award. The Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center in Istanbul, Turkey, was presented Archdaily's 2010 Office Building of the Year,^[11] Wallpaper* magazine's Design Award 2011 for Best Workspace,^[12] Architizer's 2013 A+ Award for Low-Rise Office Building, and was nominated for the 2013 Aga Khan Award.

• Media Headquarters Buildings (invited competition 2013), Middle East
• Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center (2010), Istanbul, Turkey
• AT&T Performing Arts Center Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre (2009), Dallas, Texas
• Munch Museum (limited competition 2009), Oslo, Norway
• Munch Area Master Plan (limited competition 2009), Oslo, Norway
• Kortrijk LLLibrary (limited competition 2009), Kortrijk, Belgium
• Kunsthaus Zurich Extension (2008), Zurich, Switzerland
• Madison Avenue (Doll)House for the Calvin Klein Collection storefront on Madison Avenue (2008), New York, New York
• Forward Residence for the Forward Building (2008), New York, New York
• Yongsan Experiment (competition 2008), Seoul, South Korea
• Vestbane (2007), Oslo, Norway
• Governors Island (competition 2007), New York, New York
• Walter & Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology II at the California Institute of Technology (2006), Pasadena, California
• Museum Plaza (2005), Louisville, Kentucky
• Seattle Central Library (2004), Seattle, Washington
• Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum and Guggenheim Las Vegas Museum (2001), Las Vegas, Nevada

Awards

• 2016 Architect, Progressive Architecture Award (Yongsan International Business District "Project R6")^[13]
• 2015 AIANY, Honor Award in Architecture Category (Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center)^[14]
• 2014 Architizer, A+ Award in Architecture + Technology (Equator Tower)^[15]
• 2014 AZ, Best Unbuilt Competition Entry, Jury Award and People's Choice (Media Headquarters Buildings)^[16][17]
• 2014 Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, American Architecture Award (Yongsan International Business District "Project R6")^[18]
• 2013 Architizer, A+ Awards for Low Rise Office Building (Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center)^[19]
• 2012 U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology, National Honor Award (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)^[20]
• 2012 AZ, Best Unbuilt Competition Scheme, People's Choice (CLC & MSFL Towers)^[21]
• 2011 ICON magazine, Award for the World's Coolest Office (Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center)
• 2011 AIA, National Honor Award (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)^[22]
• 2010 American Council of Engineering Companies, Engineering Excellence Grand Award (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)^[23]
• 2010 ArchDaily, Office Building of the Year (Vakko Fashion Center and Power Media Center)^[24]
• 2010 TEXO, Distinguished Building Award (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)^[25]
• 2010 Architype Review, Performing Arts Center: Most Notable North American Project (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)
• 2010 American Council of Engineering Companies, National Gold Award (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)^[26]
• 2009 ArchDaily, U.S.A Building of the Year (Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre)
• 2005 Wired magazine, Rave Award (Seattle Central Library)^[27]
• 2005 Travel + Leisure magazine, Design Award (Seattle Central Library)^[28]
• 2005 GQ magazine, 25 Buildings Every Man Should Know (Seattle Central Library)^[29]
• 2005 Condé Nast Traveler magazine, Design Award (Seattle Central Library)^[30]
• 2005 SPACE magazine,Design Award (Seattle Central Library)^[31]
• 2005 ASCE, Honor Award for Excellence in Engineering (Seattle Central Library)
• 2005 AIA/ALA, Library Building Award (Seattle Central Library)^[32]
• 2005 ACEC of Washington, Gold Award (Seattle Central Library)^[33]
• 2005 ACEC of Washington, Platinum Award (Seattle Central Library)^[34]
• 2005 AIA, National Honor Award (Seattle Central Library)^[35]
• 2004 LEED, Silver Certification (Seattle Central Library)^[36]
• 2004 TIME magazine, Building of the Year (Seattle Central Library)^[37]
• 2004 Los Angeles Times, Best Reviewed Buildings (Seattle Central Library)
• 2004 The New York Times, Most Exciting Building Ever Reviewed (Seattle Central Library)^[38]
• 2003 Canadian Institute of Steel Construction, Krentz Award (Seattle Central Library)^[39]
• 2001 Seattle Design Commission, Design Excellence Award (Seattle Central Library)^[40]

Videos

• Joshua Prince-Ramus at TEDxSMU, 2009, 18 minutes, 58 seconds, color.
• Joshua Prince-Ramus: Building a Theater that Remakes Itself, 2009, 18 minutes, 42 seconds, color.
• Joshua Prince-Ramus: Behind the Design of Seattle's Library, 2006, 19 minutes, 58 seconds, color.

References

External links

• Official website
• REX Facebook
• REX Twitter
• REX LinkedIn
• REX Instagram