Natural elements replaced by machinery
Rem Koolhaas describes Coney Island as the miniature of Manhattan, culture of congestion. With this congestion comes a disappearance of the existing nature that once made up a place. To bring back the natural elements that were lost due to congestion, Coney Island replaced the natural with machinery. Horseback riding use to be a fun activity individuals would enjoy before the built environment took over. To bring back this once natural activity, George Tilyou developed an automatic racetrack called steeplechase to mimic the motions of riding a horse. On the one hand, it is sad that the built environment and congestion of a place can disrupt and take away the once beautiful, existing nature that makes up a place. Then on the other hand, it is almost inevitable that buildings and people are going to disrupt the natural elements of a place in some form or another. I like what Coney Island was trying to do, due to rapid congestion of the island, a lot of the natural elements were lost and they replicated some of those lost elements with machinery. But I do think there is a way to think about preserving some of the natural environments of a place while still implementing infrastructure and congestion.
It's very interesting to me that we choose to re-create nature when we no longer have it. This feels like a very strong case for the importance of protecting natural elements of a cities context while urban planning.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to agree, I think it is a folly of human thought that nature can be reproduced or closely equated mechanically. It's a nice idea... oh we'll make some robot horses on a track and it'll be great... it may be nice but there's no substitution for what nature provides, great post.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mention the importance for us to try not lose all of the natural aspects of a place in the midst of development and congestion. Coney Island ended up having to utilize machinery in order to recreate the elements that were lost. I wonder if there is a way that we can build such that we use the natural environment as our infrastructure rather than substituting one for the other.
ReplyDeleteThis may be a stretch but this makes me think about how contemporary architecture attempts to place "natural" elements onto buildings and use mechanized systems within the building the water it. It seems a new trend is to do this, especially, on high-rise buildings.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the point of the racetrack was to recreate or reconnect to nature. It wasn't a cry out from humanity to reconnect with the natural environment and escape the city. It was an attempt to commercialize and make a profit on an activity that was previously unattainable because of the investments involved. Namely, the actual horse and the property to have a horse, the ability to take care of such an animal, etc... All of that led to a pretty exclusive activity for city dwellers. This was just a way to introduce a novel experience and make money.
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