A former screenwriter and journalist, Koolhaas was once better known for his polemical writing on architecture (and, for the most part, culture in general) than for anything he and his practice OMA actually built. His book S,M,L,XL, a 1995 collaboration with graphic designer Bruce Mau, remains one of the most important architectural publications of recent times, and even if the 2003 compilation Content, was no where near as good, Koolhaas continues to push our understanding of contemporary culture with essays such as ‘Junk Space’. Although OMA are currently working on a series of large-scale projects such as the CCTV building in China, it’s no surprise that Koolhaas’s major impact on the art world is as a thinker rather than a doer: his analysis of contemporary museum culture featured in last year’s Venice Biennale, while this year, having designed its summer pavilion, he co-curated a 24-hour lecture marathon at London’s Serpentine Gallery.