(John Rajchman about Rem Koolhaas): Koolhaas thinks that architects do not only have a role of social responsibility or as administrators of the collective memory, but the task to uncover the "unnoticed future events" (John Rajchman).
"Virtual Reality" is the sum of the unnoticed future events, virtual comes from the Latin virtus=force; virtual reality is the reality of the forces, which are not yet noticed and not yet visible as rules and recognizeable patterns (Rajchman).
Koolhaas uses "blueprint" in D.N.Y., I guess (in a Deleuzian sense) as to express that every future is already embedded either in built structures or in peoples minds as "virtual reality".
The architect's role would then be find and formulate these embedded futures and to interpret them into design. Tools therefore would be to first to catch what is in the air, and second to analyze existing structures and peoples' minds (programming?) under a certain set of aspects (to be formulated).
The paper compiles statements in the literature to paint a picture of the virtual forces, formulates "virtual design" as a skill, and analyzes and evaluates the contributions of Koolhaas' Euralille as one output of this skill.
It is not the functional approach that makes in my opinion for the importance of the Modern Movement. Functional approaches can be found at every time and in every "architecture", sometimes even more so than in "modern" buildings. The most important strength of the Modern Movement is in my opinion that its works are "constructions"; construction stands for the line of work from feeling idealism about the future, having "new" ideas about it, elaborating the ideas to thoughts and finally attempting to translate the thoughts into concepts and designs, risking to be condemmed as irrational, useless, even ridiculous or dangerous.
As an extreme the most important weakness of Post Modernism would be in these terms that it works with the technique of "collage"; collage standing for the putting together of well known and proved elements or even solely decorations out of the belief, that "the house" has already been invented and that its perception has after thousands of years reached a point of almost genetic information, the change of which causes much more disadvantages than possible advantages.
The term "blueprint" therefore turns out to be very ambiguous. From a modern viewpoint it would mean that new developments and ideas or criticism and possible reactions are already imbedded, blueprinted, in the existing city, and that by force of an act of abstraction and innovation the blueprint can be translated into adequate solutions. The existence of overcrowded, unhealthy speculation blocks or the unadequateness of their streets for modern traffic would stand for a blueprint, most probably ther would in addition be some accidental or very fortunate "right" solutions be found, both of them ready to be translated to the general solution in form of the ville contemporain.
From the Post Modern viewpoint blueprint could be seen as a litteral advice for a solution. The act of critical abstraction could be seen as superfluous since easy and widespread recognizeable good solutions are available, ready to be recollected and applied to particular needs.
Calvino, Italo, Die unsichtbaren Staedte (Invisible Cities), Muenchen, 61992(1985, 1972), dtv
55 city-portraits (of Venice) as a vision of a possible world.
Castaneda, Carlos, Books of Don Juan
Famous descriptions of halluzinative travels into the mind; "prove" that everyone knows already everything, also about the future, but unawakened and covered.
Deleuze, Gilles, Difference and Repetition, New York, 1994, Columbia University Press
Giedion, Sigfried, Raum, Zeit, Architektur, Die Entstehung einer neuen Tradition (Space, Time, Architecutre, The Evolution of a New Tradition), 51992(1976, 1941), Zuerich, Muenchen, London, Artemis Verlag Chronicle of the Modern Movement, in search of the "secret synthesis" announcing the evolution of a new tradition in building.
[Ibn Khaldun, The Muquaddimah, An Introduction to History, Princeton N.J., 91989(1967, 1958), Bollingen Series Princeton University Press "...treating in almost encyclopedic detail the general problems of the philosophy of history and sociology." On the general nature of human civilization, forms of sedentary civilization, various aspects of making a living, manŐs ability to think. Deals especially with the Koran and its influence on all espects from daily life until architecture - blueprint for the future?]
Koolhaas, Rem, Delirious New York,
Morus, Thomas, Utopia, 1981(1947), diogenes
Philosophy of public life, materialized in an island like the paradise. A political pamphlet covered in the story of the island to avoid prosecution by the authorities. Example for a different reason why "blueprint" of the future cannot be expressed.
Norberg-Schulz, Christian, Intentions in Architecture, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 91992(1965), MIT Press
Setting up of a comprehensive theory of architecture as basis for defining the architectural task. "We do not...think of the technical difficulties which have to be surmounted in connection with any building task, but we rather have in mind the problem of defining the task, and of deciding whether a planned or completed solution is satisfactory." "While our practical problems have to a certain degree been analyzed, architecture also comprises important "environmental" problems which so far have by no means been adequately investigated."
Pirsig, Robert M., Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance, An Inquiry into Values, New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland, 1981(1975, 1974), Bamtam
Search for an underlying construction of values and truth for life and acting.
Rowe, Colin and Koetter, Fred, Collage City, Cambridge, MA and London, England, 1978[1983], MIT Press.
Schirmacher, Ernst, Stadtvorstellungen, Die Gestalt der mittelatlerlichen Staedte, Erhaltung und planendes Handeln (Internal Representations of Cities, The Shape of the Medieval Cities, Preservation and Planned Action), Zuerich und Muenchen, 1988, Artemis Verlag
Analysis of the medieval citiy in terms of their underlying principles: order and meaning - tradition, geometry, perception, rhythm - the holy, power, exclusion and inclusion, nature of the place.
Venturi, Robert, Learning from Las Vegas, the truth exists already, built and in peoples' mind.