REX is an architecture and design firm based in New York City, whose name signifies a re-appraisal of architecture. 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, 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
REX's 30 designers are 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. While REX was still known as OMA New York, Prince-Ramus 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." 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.
Projects
Recent projects
Current projects include the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, a 7,400 m² 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 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 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 Brutalist landmark straddling Penn Station’s rail yard in New York City; and 2050 M Street, a new, approximately 37,100 m² office building in Washington, DC that will host the CBS Washington Bureau, amongst other tenants.
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; the new Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland; 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 in Istanbul, Turkey, was presented Archdaily's 2010 Office Building of the Year, Wallpaper* magazine's Design Award 2011 for Best Workspace, Architizer's 2013 A+ Award for Low-Rise Office Building, and was nominated for the 2013 Aga Khan Award.
