Rem Koolhaas returns to Alma Mater

OMA has signed with Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. to design the new Millstein Hall.

The new building will be used by the College of Architecture, Art and Planning and will accommodate classrooms, studios and office spaces for each of the College's departments. The building will also offer a major lecture hall, as well as a boardroom.

OMA's design will enable integration with an already existing building, which in previous design concepts had been earmarked for demolition. The project budget is estimated at US $34 million and groundbreaking will start in 2007.

Joshua Prince-Ramus, OMA partner and head of the firm's New York office, will lead the design team, together with Rem Koolhaas, who is a 1972 AA graduate, and one of the department's visiting lecturers since 2005.