REM RUNNER

Rem Koolhaas: continuously pushing the buttons of critique and conversation in the art of architecture.  Through “Life in the Metropolis’ or ‘The Culture of Congestion’” or “Bigness” or even “S M L XL,” Koolhaas never states a critique for mere self-gratification; what he says is often to get a response.  So what response will the user (humans) give to the end result of drastic Bigness & Congestion ?

Materialized in form, we see Koolhaas’ critique of expansive architecture in analogous representation in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.”

"BIGNESS is where architecture becomes both most and least architectural: most because of the enormity of the object; least through the loss of autonomy it becomes instrument of other forces, it depends. BIGNESS is impersonal: the architect is no longer condemned to stardom. Beyond signature, BIGNESS means surrender to technologies; to engineers, contractors, manufactures; to others. It promises architecture a kind of post heroic Status a realignment with neutrality. Even as BIGNESS enters the stratosphere of architectural ambition the pure chill of megalomania, it can be achieved only at the price of giving up control, of transmogrification.”

Where and when does the idea of Bigness stop...and what stops it?  Do we, as users of architecture on a daily basis need to insert our self as a driving force in the decision making of 'Bigness' architecture to stop the congestion that may run wild?

We may find that the omittance of the user's experience on a human scale is the most important factor in any scale of architecture that can sway the end result to something that is considered a success, or out of control failure.  Architecture requires restraint.