Junkspace: The ‘Human’ Layer

The more and more I read about Koolhaas’ junkspace, including his ‘exhuberant’ metaphors, the more I come to visualize the idea more simply as the ‘oh yeah, people do, whatever’ layer. As architects our projects always have an intent, a concept of how the building is supposed to function. We also are foolish enough to believe we understand how a building will mature with time, if only in a short-term sense. Junkspace, I’ve come to think, is when people say, “nah, we’re going to do this”, and time itself says, “that was a nice thought, but actually right now I really need to be so and so.” This ‘layer’ of chaos covers our nicely planned architectures and creates a place. Often times, especially in an urban condition, this layer is particularly radical or chaotic, and not all aligned with it’s ‘intention’, thusly creating junkspace. Perhaps, if your’e playing along, we can then view Koolhaas’ architecture in another light, an attempt to preemptively incorporate this ‘human’ layer, this chaos. Also, let’s quit being so pessimistic about our endeavors as architects.