Abstracting the Hell out of Architecture

The palpable juxtaposition between Denise Scott Brown’s review of Las Vegas and Rem Koolhass’s evaluation of New York City converges in a moment of expected insanity.  Their non-critical approach to architecture tore down any remaining barrier preventing the master craftsman from devolving into absurdity.  It stands to reason that the reluctant-to-be-named ‘Post Modernist’ chose Las Vegas, the love child of that fantastically terrible philosophy, as the archeological dig site of her non-critical approach.  Sin City, proven popular by the parading masses, demonstrates that a caricature of the old order may suffice, and surpass the base desires of the populous.  By treating the Neon Capital of the World with the utmost seriousness, Denise Scott Brown abstracted that symbolism, rather than form, would rule the day.  

Koolhaas begins at a much different place, but reaches the same conclusion.  Embracing Post Modernism much more readily, he uses lessons learned from the congestion of New York to flip barriers of program on its head.  Rather than containing abstract programs within custom building forms, he materializes program itself while at the same time removing all formal methods for ordering them.  What remains is an unrecognizable and inhuman blob of materials seemingly mixed together at random.  Observers would not be able to tell the difference between a Rem Koolhaas building and a pile of refuse.  Interestingly enough, Koolhaas admits this himself in his article Junkspace stating that, “Junkspace is the sum total of our current achievement…It was a mistake to invent modern architecture for the twentieth century. Architecture disappeared in the twentieth century.” Now all that remains is ugliness and a couple of Roman Columns.