Generic City – Extremely Large & Extremely Small

- Introduction

Enlightened by Rem Koolhaas’s “Generic City,” I’d like to borrow his idea as a departure of my own thoughts. What “Generic City” means, in my opinion, is neither about a prediction nor a metaphor for the future, but an emphasis of the present situation. Generic or not, only relies on the scope we look at our city. To me, the way we should look at the cities is no longer through different scales but either scale of extremely large, or extremely small.  

- Diversity 

No place is generic yet everything looks gray. When a city is divided into pieces and each piece becomes so rich in its own content without interrelations, this is the generic city- the city without a color in large. This is many of our cities today, and I would add, especially in Asian modern cities. We've been eager for the city’s diversity, but afraid of losing its own characteristic. Isn't that ironic in a sense? Take China for instance, rapid-growing cities often suffer under criticisms of deconstruction and massive development that lead to the city's no-roots, no-history, no-culture and losing control. We need to face the fact that these cities born with missions, like all cities do. They grow fast, change fast, people come and leave. These are the cities of capital flow, come with it and die with it. No pity, they are so rich in their own “fuck context”. What are good cities in essence anyway? 

- Cities with color

On the contrary, many cities in Europe, which some may call the “frozen” cities are indeed with their own colors. It’s really good to walk in a city with clear characteristic. These cities were in many ways successful therefore they have to be preserved somehow. Too good and too bad once a city becomes simply an ornament or monument. 

The United States is another kind of generic city. One of the few nations with vast territory and short history. The US suffered city sprawl and urban dreams became mystery. What we have to acknowledge is that the sprawls ARE the real cities and they have their unique colors which the previous central ones don’t offer their residents. 

- The Extremely Large and Small/ the Limits and Rules/Generic and Diverse

What are the essences of urban life? When cities become uncertain and unclear, what is left for us to seize on? I would argue that it is the essence of how buildings are built; how they serve people’s needs; and under what circumstance they become meaningful, functional, or even dissolveable; and why this door fits mine not next door. This essence, from extremely localized point of view, of all the origins of architecture/ living/ function, I call it the Extremely Small.

On the other hand, once we understand the fundamental rules of the formation of a city, we no longer need masterplans and are able to set all constructions free from presumptions, just like some economists believe in free market. What we need to know is the “limits” of cities, which are in fact possible to predict and control. Cities may be just like fungus that grow and consume everywhere with nutrition. And the edge of this nutrition- the natural resources and geographical limitations- will be the boundary of cities. This is the scale of  Extremely Large.

( final assignment for Urban Design Pro-seminar, GSD 2010, Fall )