Following in the footsteps of the son-reflecting-on-father-architect sub-genre (à la My Architect) is a new film about Dutch powerhouse Rem Koolhaas directed by his son Tomas. Set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month, REM is an hour-long documentary that follows the 71-year-old architect as he jets around the world over a period of four years.
According to a preview by The Guardian’s Oliver Wainwright, the film is a "behind-the-scenes" look into the elder Koolhaas’s world, with a voiceover monologue stitched together from conversations on the road narrating the film—but decidedly not "architectural." Says Tomas, "I took a more humanistic, philosophical approach, so it should appeal to a wider audience. I want people to engage on a more emotional and instinctive – rather than cerebral – level."
Perhaps that is why a parkourist figures in the official trailer, free-running through the Casa Da Musica concert hall in Porto, Portugal, propelling himself off foam walls and leaping over auditorium seats until he reaches the top and lets the sun baptize him from a slowly-widening skylight?