The Large Cookie Under Your Eggplant

When I first read the word “Junkspace,” I assumed Koolhaas was either:

 a.) talking about how to design better closets, or

 b.) giving a commentary on the misuse of architectural space.

While I have no doubt that Koolhaas has some great designs for a magnificent walk-in closet, the latter of my assumptions seemed to hit closer to the point. Koolhaas was not referring to Junkspace as the misuse of architecture, but rather that architecture itself has turned into junkspace. I’ll be the first to tell you that I was somewhat stumbling through this reading not really grasping what he was trying to say, (I may still miss the boat entirely) until he mentioned junkspace is like the lunchbox, “slabs of eggplant, topped by thick layers of goat cheese – cancelled by a colossal cookie at the bottom…” The creation of architecture today comes close to achieving what modernism set out to do – the enhancement of life as we know it- but still comes up short, misses the point, or is entirely devoid of meaning all together. Through technology, have we ruined what architecture is supposed to be? Has the creation of air condition nullified what we can achieve through design? Is convenience to blame for the way buildings are today? I believe the constant drive to “perfect” or “enhance” something about the architecture around us has created the “junkspace” problem. We spend more time at the office than at home – make the office more like home. Our airport terminals seem a bit empty, we activate them with shops and seating.

A space that has meaning one day and none the next does not make it junk, in my opinion. Flexibility should be celebrated. No longer a need for that old abandoned warehouse? I know an artist that would love to turn that into an “edgy” exposition space. He sold all of his art?

That would be a great project to create an urban condo. With that being said, is junkspace truly a problem? Architecture is a service after all. It is designed to serve a need or want for the user. You can get all philosophical or political as you want; sure a small number of critiques and architects will enjoy your concept – but to the average person, if your building is hot and uncomfortable I doubt they are going to care about the sunset you recreated with the ceiling plane. In fact, I don’t think most architects will care either.