Architects' Directory 2018

Our selection of next-level architects take centre stage at the OMA-designed Lafayette anticipations in Paris

- Ellie Stathaki

Architects often talk about flexible buildings, interiors that can easily adapt to different needs, ready to accommodate several functions. But you’d be hard pressed to find one that took the meaning of this as literally as Rem Koolhaas’ practice OMA did in its most recent project in Paris, its first finished building in the French capital.

Faced with a 19th-century industrial structure on a relatively modest site in the Marais, and a brief from Fondation d’Entreprise Galeries Lafayette to create an art centre fit to host three to four annual shows, plus performances and workshops, the architects approached the design with a truly open mind. The result, Lafayette Anticipations, is a ‘curatorial machine’ of a building, with an adaptable interior that gives spatial flexibility a new meaning.