A New Urban

7/24/2019 A New Urban

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A GRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE WORKS OF REM KOOLHAAS

REGARDING THE IDEA OF THE GENERIC CITY

A NEW URBAN

To the extent that identity is derived from physical substance, from the

historical, from the context, from the real, we somehow cannot imagine

that anything contemporary made by us contributes to it. But the fact

that human growth is exponential implies that the past will at some point

become too small to be inhabited and shared by those alive

- Rem Koolhaas, Generic Cities

AIDAN HOGAN 40100974 Words: 983


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1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Koolhaas argues that the evolution of architecture is inevitable.

Why are we so afraid of change that every contemporary build is met with criticism

Fig 1.The Generic City: a place where the sentimentality of identity is no longer allowed to

restrict the citys evolution.

2. KOOLHAAS

and dismay? In S,M,L,XL, Koolhaas proposes the idea of The Generic City, comparing

the contemporary city to a contemporary airport, designed with the goal of universal

familiarity. 2.1 Koolhaas hopes to distinguish OMAs CCTV building,

Beijing from the usual towers designed by high-proile architects, claiming that it is:

not the predictable 2-dimensional tower soaring skyward, but a truly 3-dimensional

experience, a canopy that symbolically embraces the entire population an instant icon

that proclaims a new phase in Chinese conidence. (2004, pg. 349)

Fig 2.CCTVs unusual form on the Beijing skyline.

Fig 1a. The past will at some point become

too small to be inhabited and shared by

those alive (Koolhaas, 1995)

Fig 1b. The city liberated from the

straitjacket of identity. (Koolhaas, 1995)

source: skyscrapercity.com


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2.2 In Generic Cities, Koolhaas describes a desire to emancipate urban

design, expressing his distaste for the sentimentality shown towards a

citys character. He suggests that a city devoid of individuality would be

liberated...from the straitjacket of identity. (1995, pg. 1249)

an urban scale. The design strategy taken by Koolhaas is fuelled by the idea of

liberating the television industry from its slow and over-cautious evolution. Koolhaas

claims that the form of the building has a deeper meaning than to become an icon:

Fig 3. Instead of replicating the existing model for television towers, Koolhaas

aims to design for, and inspire, a new generation of television technology.

Historically, the television industry has not provided change. Due to TVs

dependency on fail proof technology, allowing it to broadcast around the clock,

the medium has evolved in small increments. (Daalder in Koolhaas, 2004)

2.3 In The Enemy (2004), the arrangement of reviews from selected positive critics,

accompanied with the careful language used by Koolhaas, suggests an intention

(through his work on the CCTV building) to inspire a new way of designing at

The consolidation of the TV program in a single building allows each worker to be

permanently aware of the nature of the work of his co-workers; a chain of interdependence


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Fig 4. In a conventional tower, aspects of research and business are traditionally

detached, but in the CCTV, each department is joined in a closed-loop system.

promotes solidarity rather than isolation, collaboration instead of opposition. (Koolhaas,

2004, pg. 489)

3. DE BOTTON 3.1In The Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton displays a more

sensitive approach to the design of cities, stating:

Architecture should have the conidence and kindness to be a little boring, (2006, pg.183)

in regards to the growing boldness of contemporary architecture, criticising the insensitivity

in the development of Londons skyline. 2.2 In School of Lifes How to Design an Attractive


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the sameness of cities is a problem, because it reveals just how far each must be from

engaging with a speciic character of its own place. (School of Life, 2015)

Fig 6. With 3 of Beijings 12 tallest buildings dedicated to television, what

effect does this have on the inhabitants of the city? De Botton believes

that the towers we build are shrines to unworthy causes. Towers should be

representative of our best ambitions and long term needs. (School of Life, 2015)

Fig 5.What happens when a city loses its identity? With next to no restriction, Londons

skyline has become a competition between developers for the most impressive and bold form.

City, de Botton approaches a citys identity conservatively, suggesting methods of preserving a

citys character. He explains that

source: skyscrapercity.com

4. A NEW NEW URBAN 4.1 Through writing, Koolhaas proposes a freedom from the

restraints of identity, but in practice this intention is lost. He solves the issue not by rethinking

the way we design, but by proposing a new identity instead. Koolhaas justiication of the

CCTV buildings function becomes irrelevant, as there is no denying that its primary function


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is as an icon. The CCTV building adds to the Beijing skyline, it makes it distinctive and deines

an urban fabric of its own - traits Koolhaas argues against in The Generic City. 4.3Koolhaas is

correct, however, when he refers to the past becoming too small to inhabit. Change is often met

by fear, but we must acknowledge the many advantages offered by an evolution in design. 4.4Is

the generic city the correct solution? Should every city sacriice its individuality in an attempt

to achieve liberation? Vernacular architecture does not come from a pre-conceived attempt to

deine a city: it is predominantly determined by local climate and the availability of materials.

Fig 7. The CCTV building is ground-breaking in its form, but not in function. The closed

loop has not been done in such a format, but can be achieved through more eficient, less

extravagant means.

Fig 8a. Locally sourced

materials

Fig 8b.Windows utilising

scarse sunlight

Fig 8c. Terraced housing

helps to insulate heat

Fig 8.How context has shaped the Irish terraced house


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4.5If it were agreed that Koolhaas proposal was justiied, it could be argued that he should have

gone further. The liberation from identity does not have to be limited to form. It could provide

an opportunity to implement schemes overlooked for being too bold. 4.6 Koolhaas dismisses

sustainable architecture, claiming

but sustainability on an urban scale becomes more sincere. If a city were liberated as Koolhaas

proposes, it would be free to make a genuine difference. Proposals for a fully-pedestrianised or

zero-commission city would be far more justiied than designing a 44-storey loop in an attempt

to revolutionise the television industry.

its become an empty formula, and because, for that reason, its getting harder and harder

to think about ecology without becoming ironic, (Koolhaas, 2008)

Fig 9.What if the New Urban were not to build towers in a new style, but to produce bold and

meaningful spaces that change the way we live?

source: fickr.com


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CITED REFERENCES

OTHER REFERENCES

ALL GRAPHICS ARE AUTHORS OWN, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED

Berman, M. (1982). All That Is Solid Melts Into Air. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Boccioni, U. (1910). Manifesto of the Futuristic Painters. New York: Viking Press.

Castells, M.(1989). The Informational City. Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell.

Eisenman, P., Koolhaas, R.andSteele, B.(2010). Supercritical. London: AA Publications.

Graham, S. andMarvin, S. (2001). Splintering urbanism. London: Routledge.

Koolhaas, R. (1994). Delirious New York. New York: Monacelli Press.

Koolhaas, R.(2008). An Obsessive Compulsion towards the Spectacular. [interview] Available

at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/rem-koolhaas-an-obsessive-compulsion-

towards-the-spectacular-a-566655.html

Hajer, M.(1999). The Generic City. Theory, Culture and Society, 16(4), pp.137-144.

De Boton, A.(2006). The Architecture of Happiness. New York: Pantheon Books.

Koolhaas, R.(2004). Content. Kln: Taschen.

Koolhaas, R.(2008). An Obsessive Compulsion towards the Spectacular. [interview] Available

at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/rem-koolhaas-an-obsessive-compulsion-

towards-the-spectacular-a-566655.html

Koolhaas, R.andMau, B. (1995). S, M, L, XL. Rotterdam: 010.

The School of Life, (2015). How to Make an Attractive City. [video] Available at: https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=Hy4QjmKzF1c

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