Manhattan's Ecstasy

 

Flagrant Delit by Madelon Vriesendorp for Delirious New York

Jones' article on "The Irrational Exuberance of Rem Koolhaas' in Places" critiques Koolhaas' ironic thought of global capitalism and juxtaposes his architecture and writing. His wife's provocative scene for the original cover of his writing Delirious New York highlights his contradictions. Koolhaas' argument of the "exhausted purist doctrines" that architects are restrained to is in immediate disarray due to the cover art of that writing. For, even Koolhaas is locked into the seduction and double standards of a grid and other architecture fundamentals. With the rest of Manhattan looking in on these two buildings, it represents this desire for others to watch, critique but never participate in the movement of Junkspace. Koolhaas fails in argument about the idea of surrealism in Manhattan, it is a push that he tries to make but the rest of the city is unwilling to join in.