Delirious New York：A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan

Sinceitsoriginalpublicationin1978,DeliriousNewYorkhasattainedmythicstatus.Backinprintinanewlydesignededition,thisinfluentialcultural,architectural,andsocialhistoryofNewYorkisevenmorepopular,sellingoutitsfirstprintingonpublication.RemKoolhaas'scelebrationandanalysisofNewYorkdepictsthecityasametaphorfortheincrediblevarietyofhumanbehavior.Attheendofthenineteenthcentury,population,information,andtechnologyexplosionsmadeManhattanalaboratoryfortheinventionandtestingofametropolitanlifestyle--"thecultureofcongestion"--anditsarchitecture."Manhattan,"hewrites,"isthe20thcentury'sRosettaStone...occupiedbyarchitecturalmutations(CentralPark,theSkyscraper),utopianfragments(RockefellerCenter,theU.N.Building),andirrationalphenomena(RadioCityMusicHall)."KoolhaasinterpretsandreinterpretsthedynamicrelationshipbetweenarchitectureandcultureinanumberoftellingepisodesofNewYork'shistory,includingtheimpositionoftheManhattangrid,thecreationofConeyIsland,andthedevelopmentoftheskyscraper.DeliriousNewYorkisalsopackedwithintriguingandfunfactsandillustratedwithwittywatercolorsandquirkyarchivaldrawings,photographs,postcards,andmaps.ThespiritofthisvisionaryinvestigationofManhattanequalstheenergyofthecityitself.