If you Can't Beat Them, Join Them?
In “Junkspace”, Koolhaas describes how the contemporary architecture of shopping malls and business centers degrades architectural contexts. Massive and deep of absence, Junkspace follows no rules; it has no fundamental order, and no connections between its parts. In Junkspace, cities of fabrication and consumption develop to reach the pinnacle of modernism, leaving the inhabitants no chance of escape.
While the conglomeration of spaces like malls are adored by tons of people every year, should we as architects be sitting back and condemning this kind of Junkspace, or do we need to acknowledge the reality that a massive portion of our culture wants and reveres these forms of experiences. Can we locate an approach to accept this Junkspace philosophy, but design in a better manner that can still satisfy our architecture history, theory, and aesthetic needs? Or is there indeed no chance left and we should turn our efforts to other markets in architecture or leave the profession?
Erin, I found your approach to the idea of Junkspace very interesting. I think that people are extremely quick to condemn it as a dead space and in doing so fail to realize the potential that Junkspace offers us. I think if we as architects can learn to harness it, it might result in the creation of some extremely interesting spaces
ReplyDeleteI like that you brought up the fact that there is still a demand for certain spaces. Shopping malls and shopping centers are only on the decline in certain areas, in others, they are still thriving. I am unsure if we should be building new ones, however, I think that we should be careful in how we view them before we decide to talk about them negatively.
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