Reinier de Graaf's 'Architecture Against Architecture' Calls for Radical Overhaul of the Profession
Reinier de Graaf, a 62-year-old architect from the Netherlands, has been with Rem Koolhaas's Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) since 1996 and has served as the director of AMO since 2002. He recently released his fourth book titled 'Architecture Against Architecture: A Manifesto' (Verso, 2026), which is divided into two parts: 'Architects' and 'Architecture,' each containing seven essays. The first part supports labor unions, cooperative businesses, mandatory retirement at 67, the elimination of authorship, and the integration of AI in architecture. The second part contends that architecture should not be viewed as art or a speculative market, emphasizing community collaboration and climate change solutions. De Graaf points out the 11 million empty homes in Europe and critiques architecture schools for their focus on activism. His AMO initiatives include 'Zeekracht' and 'Roadmap 2050.'
Key facts
- Reinier de Graaf is a 62-year-old Dutch architect who joined OMA in 1996 and has directed AMO since 2002.
- His book 'Architecture Against Architecture: A Manifesto' was published by Verso in 2026.
- The book contains two sections of seven essays each: 'Architects' and 'Architecture'.
- Proposals include ending the cult of the founding figure, promoting labor unions, cooperatives, retirement at 67, abolishing authorship, using AI, and recognizing architects as working class.
- The second section advocates no new construction as speculation, demolition moratorium, ephemeral construction, and confronting climate change as perpetual emergency.
- Statistics cited: 11 million vacant homes in Europe, 15 million in the US, 2 million in Germany (2022), 6.2 million in Mexico (2024).
- De Graaf criticizes architecture school courses on activism, colonialism, decolonial ecologies, spatial justice, queer design, and gender as 'theater of the absurd'.
- The book avoids naming capitalism despite referencing Marx's 'Capital' and David Harvey's lecture at Harvard in 2016.
Entities
Artists
- Reinier de Graaf
- Rem Koolhaas
- David Harvey
- Karl Marx
- Lucien Kroll
- Giancarlo De Carlo
- Walter Segal
- Buckminster Fuller
- Charlotte Malterre-Barthes
- Benjamin Bratton
- Oscar Wilde
- Pyotr Kropotkin
- Donald Trump
Institutions
- Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)
- AMO
- Verso
- Harvard University Graduate School of Design
- Columbia GSAPP
- MIT
- TU Delft
- UCLA
- Architectural Association (AA)
- Princeton University
- Monash University
- Strelka Institute
- University of Pennsylvania
- Berlage
- World Wildlife Fund
- Swiss Institute of Technology Zurich
- Coneval
- La Jornada
- Fortnightly Review
- Taschen
- Arquine
Locations
- Netherlands
- China
- Southeast Asia
- Africa
- Europe
- United States
- Germany
- Mexico
- Manhattan
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Ukraine
- North Sea
Sources
- Arquine —