Dutch architect, urbanist and professor Rem Koolhaas has legally changed his name to Rem Cool House.
The 71-year old Cool House told Bespokey that he had had enough of people pointing out to him that Koolhaas sounds like “cool house” which is “funny since he’s an architect”.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of people who tell me about the Koolhaas-Cool House link, as if they were the first to discover it. Bjarke, Tadao, the dude who handed me my Pritzker. Those were all their first words to me!”
Cool House has previously attributed his passion for architecture directly to his surname, saying that from a young age he thought he “may as well” become someone who designs cool houses.
Ironically, most of his best known designs today are public ones. Does his name change suggest a career move towards the domestic ? “No,” says Cool House, “It’s just because Cool House sounds like Koolhaas. Duh.”