I asked myself if we could make a whole new city this way. At one point in almost every OMA project the models were constructed to be transparent. It was like X-raying the program arrangement. Price's presentation begins with a slide of Europe at night, taken by satellite. When we were working on the Porto concert hall, I started thinking about how the complex might be seen from above.
Translucent concrete is more of an embryo than a grown child.
The first samples were produced in September 1999. Last September he began sending discreet inquiries to commercial manufacturers in hopes of expediting his research. Yet aside from those manufacturers, and a few trusted friends and associates, Price has not publicized or published his research. Koolhaas may have been the first to utter the words, but there's no question that it's Price's baby. Only someone like Price, with an architect's broad vision and an artisan's narrow focus, could tinker with the composition of a new material while simultaneously exploring its applications in building and design.