 The cover of the first edition of the book, designed byMadelon Vriesendorp | |
| Author | Rem Koolhaas |
|---|---|
| Original title | Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan |
| Illustrator | Nigel Smith, Donald Chong, Bob Gundu, Chris Rowat, and Nazik Tahri |
| Cover artist | Madelon Vriesendorp |
| Language | English |
| Subject | New York City, architecture |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Set in | Franklin and News Gothic |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, The Monacelli Press |
Publication date | 1978 |
| Media type | Print, e-book |
| Pages | 320 |
| ISBN | 978-1885254009 |
| OCLC | 31765587 |
| 720.9747 | |
| LC Class | 94076577 |
| Preceded by | - |
| Followed by | S,M,L,XL |
| Website | oma |
Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan is a 1978 book, written by Dutch architectRem Koolhaas. The book serves as aretroactive manifesto forManhattan between 1850 and 1960, analyzing the development of architecture andurban design throughout New York's history from the founding ofNew Amsterdam by the Dutch, to the design of theHeadquarters of the United Nations byLe Corbusier. Rem Koolhaas describes the concept of 'Manhattanism', the theory of the creation and functioning of the city of New York, at length in the book.
The first drafts for the book originate from 1969 in a manifesto by Rem Koolhaas titled 'The Surface'. Koolhaas had been studying at theArchitectural Association School of Architecture in London since 1968 and wrote the manifesto as a reaction against lectures byTony Dugdale of the architectural collectiveArchigram.[1]
In 1972, after obtaining a grant to study atCornell University, Koolhaas moved to New York in an effort to research the city.[2] In doing so, Koolhaas collected magazines, books and postcards from Manhattan for research and joined a postcard collectors' club.[3] Furthermore, Koolhaas joined theInstitute for Architecture and Urban Studies. In an interview withRobert Venturi andDenise Scott Brown, Koolhaas cites their bookLearning from Las Vegas as being an influence on the writing ofDelirious New York during this period at Cornell.[4]
Delirious New York was published three years after Koolhaas founded theOffice for Metropolitan Architecture withElia Zenghelis,Zoe Zenghelis andMadelon Vriesendorp in London in 1975. During this period, Koolhaas further collaborated with Elia Zenghelis on several hypothetical projects in Manhattan, such as redevelopingRoosevelt Island (1975)[5] or the design for the Sphinx Hotel atTimes Square (1975).[6]
In a 1993 interview with architecture critic Cynthia Davidson, Koolhaas stated that the aim of publishingDelirious New York was to lay the written foundation to work from as an architect, before actually starting out as one.[7] In this sense, Koolhaas has been described as being apaper architect around this time, given that his first built design was in 1985.[8]
The cover image of the first edition of the book was designed byMadelon Vriesendorp.[9] The painting 'Flagrant Délit' depicts theChrysler Building and theEmpire State Building laying in bed, with30 Rockefeller Plaza intruding on them. The gridiron street pattern of Manhattan is shown through the window, with the rooftops of skyscrapers being faces looking at the ordeal. Furthermore, thenightlight near the Empire State Building is the torch of theStatue of Liberty and a used condom in the shape of aGoodyear Blimp can be seen lying on the bed, referencing the zeppelin docking station built on top of the tower.[10]
The 1994 republication of the book byThe Monacelli Press changed the cover image to a black and white photo of the1221 and1251 Avenue of the Americas buildings as seen from30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Delirious New York was first published as a hardcover in 1978 by the New York division of theOxford University Press and was printed in France.[11]A paperback version with a new cover was published in 1994 by New York basedMonacelli Press for distribution in the United States and Rotterdam based010 Publishers for Europe. Further versions by the Monacelli Press have been printed in 1997, 2005, 2014. Aside from the covers, these versions do not differ from the original text.
