Mutations

by Rem Koolhaas, Stefano Boeri, Sanford Kwinter

The acceleration of the phenomenon of urbanization constitutes one of the challenges of our time. In a world redefined by communication networks and by the progressive erasure of borders lead by economic forces, "Mutations" reflects on the transformations that the acceleration of these processes inflicts on our environment, and on the space left for architecture to operate. Introduced by charts and statistics on global urbanization and a series of essays describing the nature of the changes operating in our cities and in our economies, the book is organized as a highly illustrated atlas/survey of contemporary urban landscapes. The Pearl River Delta in southeast Asia (by Rem Koolhaas and the Harvard Project on the City) exemplifies the extreme speed of urbanization of former rural areas and highlights the role played by traditional infrastructures in this process. Europe (Uncertain States of Europe, a project by Stefano Boeri and Multiplicity) would describe the end of traditional urban models, the reality of a new configuration of European cities and of the states that evolved from them. A survey of American cities (by Sanford Kwinter and Daniela Fabricius) adds to this vision the reconsideration of the notion of infrastructure and of the powers that define urbanization. Lagos (a study by Rem Koolhaas and the Harvard Project on the City) is an unfamiliar territory that gives indications of new forms of globalizing modernity, and possibly of things to come elsewhere.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Urban Studies, Urbanism, Art, Cities

720 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2000

About the author

Remment Lucas Koolhaas is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.
He is seen by some as one of the significant architectural thinkers and urbanists of his generation, by others as a self-important iconoclast. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2008, Time put him in their top 100 of The World's Most Influential People. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014.

Reviews

[Yoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's fun. you don't have to finish the book to talk about it, but if you do, kudos for you! each chapter or essay has a good visual hook to it, and granted, it is a colorful book. if you find a cheap copy, buy it as if you are buying a cook book. not for a revolution, but it's tasty when you are ready to bite it.

[Sarah]

Aah! this book is so rich in its research of globalization and urbanization of third-world countries, and the changing and evovling of American cities... it could be its OWN thesis!

[Leandro Llorente · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best Rem Koolhaas book and could be ignored. There are a lot better Koolhaas books.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures; some mumbo jumbo. There are fascinating photo essays on urban development in Lagos, Shopping, China's Pearl River Delta, and development in the US. There are also small photo portfolios that are great to just thumb through randomly. I'd say it's more or less an interesting urban planning coffee table book that you can actually get something out of if you find yourself reaching over absentmindedly from the couch. Also comes with a compilation cd of sound artists organized around the theme of cities. The book itself is designed to illustrate one of its themes - reuse and adaptation. The cover is a rubber sleeve you can scrub and the titles are on a piece of foam pasted to the front that looks like it could be used as a mouse pad. Cheesy and clever.

[Rory Hyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did the 'amazing urban facts in big type' thing before The Endless City or Massive Change, which was cool at the time. The 'How to Build a City: Roman Operating System' stands out as still a great idea. Lots of good contributors, including Mirko Zardini, Thomas Keenan, John McMorrough, Stefano Boeri, Bart Lootsma. And has a big chunk on Lagos, which would inform the documentary. A mixed bag with lots of gold.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The middle sections hold the real meat of this book. The photoillustrations, graphs and factoids are complimented by shocking facts about the challenges our country faces. We are exposed to the consequences of unregulated free markets and hope to learn from our past mistakes. Though this book is thick, you can finish it in a matter of hours by skipping the beginning and end sections. I feel like I gleaned the best material from the middle.

[Mike Bularz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this exploring other aspects of urban planning and geographical philosophy, and it was a good launching point for more research and a real eye opener. Skip the Urban Rumors section at the end it was a waste of time.

[Sarah]

I am looking forward to reading this! I want to use Lagos in my thesis

[Vanlilith]

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[Ronny Gonzalez]

The opportunity to create links and networks between layers of information, covered by different codes that provide the event form to tackle a project