Book cover for The Death of Urbanism

The Death of Urbanism

Transitions through five stages of grief

Description of the book

Koolhaas pronounced urbanism dead in 1995. Since then, urban design has struggled to come to terms with this and other losses including environmental stability, af- fordable housing, design control, and urban amenity. This book explores urban design paradigms transitioning through a misappropriation of Kübler-Ross' "five stages of grief" – from pro-sprawl 'denial', NIMBY 'anger', revisionist NewUrban, 'bargaining', 'depressed' starchitects, through to an optimistic manifesto of 'acceptance'.

English