Solving Problems with Problems
As architects, we have an influential role to play in society because we create the spaces that people inhabit on a daily basis. With this power to create, there comes a lot of responsibility to better society. In order to do this, we must first understand the condition of society, and, more specifically, the impact of those conditions on the specific culture and site that we are trying to "fix" and implement our design in.
One of the things that I found most interesting and beneficial from the Koolhaas reading, is his ability to not only clearly and eloquently describe the problems (like the congestion on Coney Island), but to take something that is seen so negatively in society and exploit it to better their living conditions. Who would think to alleviate congestion we must add more congestion? It seems borderline crazy. Less is more? more is more. Too many people on the streets? Let's stack more congestion on top of each other. Too many people on the beach? Let's add nighttime beach time so more people can come at night.
Koolhaas is solving problems with problems. It's great! As architects we have to be optimists, so that we can embrace the problems that define the identity of a place, and, re-actively, turn it into a positive that the community can then begin to identify as a positive. For example, in our school designs, how do we turn negatives like security and traffic congestion into something positive? I don't have an answer yet, but hopefully by the end of the semester I will.
One of the things that I found most interesting and beneficial from the Koolhaas reading, is his ability to not only clearly and eloquently describe the problems (like the congestion on Coney Island), but to take something that is seen so negatively in society and exploit it to better their living conditions. Who would think to alleviate congestion we must add more congestion? It seems borderline crazy. Less is more? more is more. Too many people on the streets? Let's stack more congestion on top of each other. Too many people on the beach? Let's add nighttime beach time so more people can come at night.
Koolhaas is solving problems with problems. It's great! As architects we have to be optimists, so that we can embrace the problems that define the identity of a place, and, re-actively, turn it into a positive that the community can then begin to identify as a positive. For example, in our school designs, how do we turn negatives like security and traffic congestion into something positive? I don't have an answer yet, but hopefully by the end of the semester I will.
Your title attracts me a lot, solving problem with problems, such an interesting title, which reminds me of the one of architecture designed by Koolhaas, that is, CCTV Headquarters. As you said above "alleviate congestion we must add more congestion？", I also agree that he is crazy and can not tell it is good or not. Finally I have a question, do you think the world with congestion is a beautiful world? I think the answer from Koolhaas is YES. Hope we can create the world as we imagine in our mind. Thank you for your article, it inspire me a lot, it ask me to think about the theory of Koolhaas in a critical way, that is, the solution is also a new problem.
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