Competition for the design of a new dance theater in The Hague

An architectural competition took place in The Hague for the 'Kulturforum Spui' - a new royal conservatory of music and dance center that should replace the existing hall designed by Rem Koolhaas from 1987. Public voting is currently ongoing for the sixteen competition projects, where people evaluate four basic parameters on a three-point scale: mass, height, architecture, and whether it fits in The Hague at all. Among the sixteen invited architects are prominent Dutch architects (Jo Coenen, Wiel Arets), as well as international stars (Zaha Hadid, Diller Scofidio + Renfro). The reason for demolishing the old dance center is that The Hague will be competing for the title of 'European Cultural Center' in 2018.
The Dance Theater in The Hague is one of the first works of the most famous contemporary promoter of Dutch architecture, Rem Koolhaas. Before this building, Koolhaas had only completed a police station in Almere and a bus station in Rotterdam. The building was created in the 1980s with a very limited budget, which was reflected in the quality of execution. The current urban situation is also unsatisfactory, as is the technical equipment. However, the interior with the hall is still in good shape, which is why OMA decided to preserve this part in their competition proposal and incorporate it into the new building rotated by 90°. This gesture is intended to express the thriftiness of the design (utilizing existing parts) but also serves as a small memory of the original building (and the first cultural building of the OMA office).