A Dutch friend (not this one) told us the other day that Holland is in a "post-post-post-post-Rem" period—translation: more Joep, please—and RK's stock here has fallen in direct proportion to the number of jobs he's gotten and botched. Even Terry has been dissing. But they heart him bigtime in Istanbul. At a lecture on Tuesday, more than 2,000 star-deprived Turks turned out to hear Rem riff. Naturally, The Gutter was there. Our correspondent's unconscionably breathless and hamfisted report (he's fired too) follows.

Dear Friends at Gutter,

Everybody knew that it would be a massive event but nobody expected this much. Rem Koolhaas' three-day visit to Istanbul had a huge impact on cultural and architectural agenda of Turkey. Over 2200 participants at his lecture were just one of the signs of impact.

In the press conference just before the lecture, Rem Koolhaas answered many questions. Most of them were asked in attempt to clarify stand between the practice and theory. However, Rem Koolhaas was quite sober in his approach even if the questions had implication on his past statements regarding "context". He explained that he always preferred to work with mixed teams including the architects of the country he is working in. What he was against regarding context, was the sacred and dogmatic position of context. He said that since only %2 of the buildings are realized by architects, architects had to be modest in their self-definition. Based on a question asked, he went on stating that architects should work as early warning mechanisms for the evolution of cities.

The lecture started with 2200 people watching the presentation of Rem Koolhaas in two separate halls. He started presenting projects consequently giving details of the evolution of the projects, their data-based experiences with diagrams and schemes. In all projects, the questioning of inside and outside was striking. The mobility, routing, dialectic between the building and the city supplied significant inputs for the emergence of designs. The presentation techniques and graphics were as impressive as the buildings themselves. Bright collages made out of the grey historical facts.

The question and answers section of the lecture lasted longer than anticipated time. Again questions focused on Rem Koolhaas' work in different regions of the world and his impressions on the identity of European Union.

Koolhaas' journalistic wit, versatility and the cross-cultural issues he is dealing with, have made and will always make him a source of inspiration for various people. Everyone who was present at the lecture that day tried to grasp a bit of Koolhaas, be it a diagram, a word or a sketch. And Istanbul was more than happy to host this great thinker architect.

Kisses,

Your Istanbul Friends

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