The Un-city

Koolhaas’s ‘Junkspace” left me wondering if architects, designers, or planners have a place in the modern era. Is there architecture anymore? It seems as if the shift toward globalization and the age of information have collided to strip away architectural grandeur that once was. Big buildings are commonplace, identifying each city in the same way. Homogenous cities may be comforting to all visitors, he alludes, yet they lack in character and cultural richness. I would tend to agree that the blurring between consumer demand and a lost civilization has stripped the architectural context of many cities across the globe. Take, for example, Calatrava’s work that alienates itself from its context and could be transplanted to any city, country, etc. without question.