His early experience as a journalist gave Koolhaas a keen insight into social changes and needs. He thinks that the library is facing a revolution today with advanced information. He and his team not only discussed the challenges that libraries may face in the future with scholars and experts, but also consulted major leaders in the information industry, including Microsoft, Amazon and MIT. [2] After comprehensively analyzing all kinds of information, the design team came to the conclusion that even in today's network popularization, people still tend to read paper books, and cities still need libraries, but the future libraries should not only be passive collection spaces, but should be active windows to display new information. Under the guidance of the research conclusion, the functional space required by the main building gradually becomes clear and becomes a space block on the architectural drawing, and the best scheme is formed through the arrangement and scaling of the blocks. Among them, the spiral library is a spatial form to solve the problem of finding and returning books for borrowers and administrators. [3] It is precisely because of Koolhaas' rational thinking about the general library and his unremitting pursuit of its architectural practicality that the Seattle General Library has become an indispensable part of Seattle citizens' life.
Taking "Big" as Beauty and "Crazy new york"
DeliriousNewYork and Small, Medium, Big and Super (S, M, L, XL) are two of Koolhaas' most influential works in the field of architecture. In these two books, he not only put forward the important concept of "ordinary city", but also believed that modern cities have gradually fallen into the chaos of fragmentation and diversification, forming many unrecognized "ordinary cities", and "big" is one of the main strategies to resist the fragmentation and chaos of modern cities. [4] Therefore, architecture must have the characteristics of "big".
"Big" refers not only to volume, but also to linking the building with the city where it is located and overlapping various functions in one building, thus giving birth to more valuable information than the building itself and bringing more opportunities and possibilities to the design. In the process of designing the urban master plan, Koolhaas first paid attention to the surrounding environment of the building, the characteristics of Seattle city and the lifestyle of the citizens. He tried to design a library that can integrate different functions and people's diverse lifestyles with his unique architectural aesthetic thought of "taking' big' as beauty". Therefore, he provides a large indoor open space for Seattle people who don't like umbrellas but love reading in rainy days, and calls it "living room". As long as there is no noise, anyone can read, drink coffee, chat with friends or even sleep in a daze. He also does not exclude the homeless from taking the "living room" as a shelter from the wind and rain and the cold, and thinks that it is these individuals who have expanded the social function of the library and made the overall urban planning a space for all citizens regardless of class or race.
Philosophical perspective of paranoid criticism
Koolhaas was deeply influenced by surrealism, but he said that he was more keen on surrealism's analytical ability of things than surrealism's artistic products and subconscious, especially impressed by the "paranoid criticism method". Based on various explanations, "paranoid criticism" can be understood as a creative interpretation of the world based on sufficient facts, [5] and an attempt to get rid of its own needs from a paranoid world view. This unique philosophical perspective is contrary to the theory of emphasizing order, structure and systematicness and seeking spatial continuity and unity in traditional architectural design and urban planning, but Koolhaas does not question it and it is reflected in his own architectural works.
The architectural skin separated from the indoor space and the fragmented functional space connected by elevators all embody the paranoid criticism advocated by Koolhaas. Bright fluorescent yellow escalators and strange red corridors are particularly abrupt and free in the grand and calm indoor space of the overall urban planning. Being in these spaces, the completely different spatial forms and characteristics will even make users have illusions that are not found in the library, and also reflect the philosophical perspective of surrealism and paranoid criticism rooted in his thoughts.
Imperfection of architecture
As one of the deviant architects in architecture, Koolhaas has his own definition of architectural beauty. He thinks that architecture can be imperfect. Some people also criticized him: the building lacks the necessary decoration and details, and it is dull and unsightly. However, he is noncommittal about this, and still insists on expressing the imperfection of architecture in his architectural works, which obviously deviates from the aesthetic thought of pursuing perfection in western architecture for many years. In my opinion, Koolhaas's so-called "architecture can be imperfect" does not pay attention to the details that architecture should pay attention to, but expresses respect for architectural structure, materials and construction methods by accepting possible "contingency". He also infiltrated his understanding of "imperfection" into the details of urban master planning and design. According to the routine practice of American architects, the concrete wall after formwork removal should be treated as necessary to ensure its beauty.
Therefore, the American architect of the design team suggested that the air holes in the concrete wall of the city master plan should be repaired and the corners of the wall should be chamfered at 45 to prevent the edges from being damaged. However, Koolhaas thinks it is not necessary to repair those air holes, let alone chamfer them, and explains that those air holes are accidental phenomena formed in the way of building construction, and they are also the true texture of building materials, and should be kept as they are. The damage of wall corners is naturally formed in the process of building use. In his view, bubbles and damage do not affect the normal use of the building, but can present the real state of the building. When discussing with the team whether to decorate the columns in the urban master plan, Koolhaas expressed his recognition of the imperfection of the building with the same attitude. A senior American architect once said to his peers: Only after cooperating with Koolhaas did he understand that the imperfection of architecture is also a kind of beauty.
Today, architectural critics and the public still have different opinions about the headquarters of Seattle City Library designed by Koolhaas, and some even sharply criticize Koolhaas as just a grandstanding architect. "Architecture needs controversy" is Koolhaas's answer to these criticisms. But in any case, he not only built an unprecedented library for Seattle, but also showed his unique architectural aesthetics, which promoted the innovation and development of library architecture around the world.
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