Substituting Nature
Koolhaas points out that the natural elements that brought people to Coney Island could be recreated, but also made better. How is it possible to think that humans can make something, that nature has given us, better? He states that, “ as compensation for this loss of nature, a battery of new technologies was developed,” which shows, with that kind of thinking, that we use resources to create a more comfortable environment for humans no matter what destruction follows. Humans only make up a portion of the planet and it is selfish to think that we can use up all the resources just for us.
Nature has provided everything that we need, both emotionally and physically, and is one of the most beautiful things. In a metropolis it is easy to lose the connection we make to nature. It’s easy to accept riding from a mechanical horse and to drink milk from a fake cow. With all of the natural elements that originally attracted the public to go to Coney Island were being replaced, it took away the essence of what brought people out there in the first place. It seems that Koolhaas feels that humans were put on this earth to take and use everything this earth has, but in reality we must give back to the earth so that all things can live.
Nature can’t be recreated; it can only be imitated.
This is also shown in Bladerunner, where they depict a world that has to create "fake" animals in order to replace the ones that went extinct. The movie seemed to show the result of the destruction of nature by depicting every scene as dark and nowhere in the streets of future LA do you see any kind of plant.
ReplyDeleteI think there are still elements to the city that humans need in order to better appreciate nature. There is no denying that nature has provided everything that we need, emotionally and physically. However, I feel nature provides more adequately (in a physical way) once it has been altered. A found cave could be a a shelter, but a better shelter would be a structure enclosed by walls, a roof, and doors. Maybe Coney Island is taking this "alteration" too far, but I believe that, to some extent, humans need a built environment to better interact with nature. Without a boat, a person would have limited means of experiencing a river. Instead it would be something dangerous and therefore avoided. But a boat (altered pieces of the environment) we can safely float down the river and experience it in a way we couldn't before.
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