Architecture is a hazardous mixture of omnipotence and impotence. It is by definition a c h a o t i c a d v e n t u r e... In other words, the utopian enterprise.
Rem KoolhaasRead
Manhattanism is the one urbanistic ideology that has fed, from its conception, on the splendors and miseries of the metropolitan condition—hyper-density—without once losing faith in it as the basis for a desirable modern culture. Manhattan's architecture is a paradigm for the exploitation of congestion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote explores the complex relationship between urban density and modern culture in Manhattan.
Rem Koolhaas highlights how Manhattan embodies both the delights and struggles of urban life through its extreme density. He suggests that this hyper-density is not just a challenge but also a foundation for a vibrant and desirable modern culture, indicating that the architecture and urban planning of Manhattan reflect the potential benefits of a crowded metropolis.
Themes
UrbanDensityCultureArchitectureMetropolis
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about architectural design, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of urban density.
More from Rem Koolhaas
All quotes →What is now called 'green architecture' is an opportunistic caricature of a much deeper consideration of the issues related to sustainability that architecture has been engaged with for many years. It was one of the first professions that was deeply concerned with these issues and that had an intellectual response to them.
Rem KoolhaasRead
The acceptance of certain realities doesn't preclude idealism. It can lead to certain breakthroughs.
Rem KoolhaasRead
Architecture is a dangerous mix of power and importance.
Rem KoolhaasRead
Japan lives with drastic segregation between the sublime, the ugly, and the utterly without qualities. Dominance of the last 2 categories makes mere presence of the first stunning: when beauty 'happens', it is absolutely surprising.
Rem KoolhaasRead
We live in an almost perfect stillness and work with incredible urgency.
Rem KoolhaasRead
Similar quotes
I do not believe in God, because I believe in man. Whatever his mistakes, man has for thousands of years been working to undo the botched job your god has made.
Emma GoldmanRead
Humans are, by nature, pattern-seeking, storytelling animals, and we are quite adept at telling stories about patterns whether they exist or not.
Michael ShermerRead
When...we, as individuals, obey laws that direct us to behave for the welfare of the community as a whole, we are indirectly helping to promote the pursuit of happiness by our fellow human beings.
AristotleRead
The American 'unum' has been lost since the Sixties. If this continues, there will soon be no unifying American identity and vision to balance the 'pluribus,' and the days of the Republic will be numbered.
Os GuinnessRead
What strikes the historian surveying anti-Semitism worldwide over more than two millennia is its fundamental irrationality. It seems to make no sense, any more than malaria or meningitis makes sense.
Paul JohnsonRead
I do feel that evolution is being controlled by some sort of divine engineer. I can't help thinking that. And this engineer knows exactly what he or she is doing and why, and where evolution is headed. That's why we've got giraffes and hippopotami and the clap.
Kurt VonnegutRead