“People never notice anything.” -Holden Caulfield

A staple piece of literature that all architects read is Rem Koolhaas' Delirious New York, a history of Manhatanism, Decongested Congestion, and skyscrapers.  Koolhaas is arguably the greatest architectural theoretician of our time, and it's no wonder people think this.  Delirious New York is written in a deceivingly vernacular tone stating moments in architecture exactly as they are, in plain speech for all to understand.  Yet beneath these truths are layers of meaning and symbolism that explain his main points about New York.  My only real qualm is that the book seems outdated; it chronicles a history of New York and makes conclusions about urban trends based off of what happened decades ago, and though it may have been important at the time, much of the city has undergone changes that negate some of the points.  That being said, the ideology and history Koolhaas lays out is still relevant in architecture.

I've never been a fan of skyscrapers, but they are obviously a huge part of New York.  Koolhaas wastes no time in praising certain buildings and explaining the changes in skyscraper design.  Sleek, modern, cutting-edge, or what-have-you, skyscrapers represented progress in city architecture, especially in New York.  I still do not really understand what is so great about a tall rectangle, but Koolhaas certainly helped me understand the importance on this theoretical level, where the city represents where the people themselves are progressing, and how that can be manifested in a form that is both aesthetic, function, and utilitous in continuing these ideas.

"Only the lingering imperfection of the human race itself casts a shadow in this arena of ecstasy; the architecture is superior to its occupants."  People always talk about how arrogant architects are, but I guess you really have to be confident in your work if you want to have any chance of succeeding, even if we are only human.  In a general sense, New York is entirely an architecture that includes the masses of people on the subway, the parks scattered across the city, the boardwalk of Coney Island, and so on. Despite noting the failures over time of places like Coney Island, Koolhaas maintains hope that people and architecture will evolve such run-down spaces into something spectacular.  Even if it changes, people never notice anything and probably don't care if they did.  You have to be able to make something out of nothing.  After all, Le Corbusier did say that New York was such a "beautiful catastrophe."