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Essay / Rem Koolhaas' views on generic phenomena
The term “generic” appeared at the end of the last century and became linked to different discourses on modern architecture and urban planning. The cultural, historical and social aspects of the local ideograph, as well as the character of the city, are exponentially more changeable. These features are essentially interchangeable and could be localized worldwide. Only by repeating the same aspects and forms can we ensure the rapid expansion of the city. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayFor architect Rem Koolhaas, one of the main reasons for the generic phenomenon is globalization and increasing mobility. In his remarkable 1994 essay “The Generic City,” he brought many hypotheses about the global model city to the world architectural stage. He doubted that the modern city had begun to resemble a modern airport. "In their full capacity, airports are like parts of the city in general, sometimes even its raison d'être, with the added attraction of being hermetic systems from which there is no escape. 'exit, except towards another airport. Koolhaas looked more generally at the different functions of the modern metropolis with its immense airports, its shopping centers, its hotels, its theme parks, its air-conditioned offices and its glassy skyscrapers. describes it as "urban identity is like a bath in which more and more mice need to share an original bait, and which, upon closer inspection, may have been embroidered for centuries." The most important elements of the city become the infrastructure of bridges, tunnels and highways, rejecting the relationship with its historical identity. The public segment is less and less represented and the city takes the form of a “patchwork”. divided by the private sector. The distances between the center and the periphery have increased and populations have become victims of transport and traffic. For Koolhaas, a city with a strong identity has become too static, fixed and unacceptable. Losing the collective memory that is recognized in the action of constant change of the urban entity, as well as the possibility of using it as a mechanism of transformation: the various marks of the physical structure are part of the act of actualization of the architecture of the city as well as their displaced meaning. It seems that at times the city is more a product of anxiety than a process of cause and effect. Physical marks, urban elements, on the previous layer are always read through a new layer. Thus, in the existence of the city, the forgotten marks remain legible..