Literary Dose #48: Junkspace

On the occasion of Kenneth Goldsmith reading excerpts* from Rem Koolhaas's "Junkspace" today at 3pm at MoMA (in Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light, third floor), here is a snippet from the essay:

.... Junkspace is the sum total of our current achievement; we have built more than all previous generations together, but somehow we do not register on the same scales. We do not leave pyramids. According to a new gospel of ugliness, there is already more junkspace under construction in the 21st century than survived from the 20th.... It was a mistake to invent modern architecture for the 20th century. Architecture disappeared in the 20th century; we have been reading a footnote under a microscope hoping it would turn into a novel; our concern for the masses has blinded us to People's Architecture. Junkspace seems an aberration, but it is essence, the main thing....

- Rem Koolhaas, "Junkspace" from Project on the City 2: The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping, edited by Chuihau Judy Chung, Jeffrey Inaba, Rem Koolhaas, Tsung Leong (Taschen, 2001, p. 408-421)

*Uncontested Spaces: Guerilla Readings in the MoMA Galleries — "As part of Kenneth Goldsmith's 'Poet Laureate' program, he invites renowned writers to choose works in MoMA's collection, develop a response, and then select a space in the Museum galleries where they will perform the resulting readings and texts on Wednesdays. On selected Fridays, Goldsmith himself will contribute readings in the galleries.Visitors can meet the writers directly in their selected gallery."