Carefully Reading the Generic City and Junkspace: From an affirmative description of urbanity to an experiential pessimism of our built environment

Abstract

Koolhaas wrote two enssays seven years apart; The generic City (1994) and Junkspace (2001). Both these works attempt to describe the contemporary city, yet even though they share a common object of study one can notice a clear change in the tone and in the descriptive method utilized. In the first, a descriptive almost affirmative approach to the contemporary city, and in the latter, a pessimistic and experiential appreciation.

One cannot help but think of the reason a shift like this might occur, be that to change gears for the sake of changing or because of an actual re-understanding of the city he attempts to analyze. By comparing points of convergence and of clear Contradiction this paper will attempt to highlight and understand Koolhaas approach to the contemporary city in both of these essays.