Koolhaas sees European cities as being condemned to immobility, caused by their historical identity itself: “The stronger the identity, the more it imprisons, the more it resists expansion, interpretation, renewal, contradiction.”
New buildings and towns come to be considered among the most inalienable proofs of progress and national accomplishment. In fact, architecture and town planning were the only proof of progress; the vision of human settlement.
New Athens was tasked with reinventing the cradle of civilization; giving it a capital city "worthy of a name be equal with the ancient fame and glory of the city and worthy of the century in which we live". Unfortunately, things were too radical, the plan was proved too costly; some described New Athens as "a town which does not have a road, but they were starting to build a palace".
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| And thus, this picture depicts the result of a city through the past two thousand years; visually confused |
