Abandoned Quote by Rem Koolhaas
![“At that time [90th in Lagos], if you drove through the city, you drove through a foreground that always seemed to be incredibly dramatic and incredibly agonised - smoking, burning, incredible compression. In the first year we stayed on the ground and went everywhere. But then in order to discover…” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aea/rem-koolhaas-5371_abandoned_at-that-time-90th-in-lagos-if-you-drove_669157.jpg)
“At that time [90th in Lagos], if you drove through the city, you drove through a foreground that always seemed to be incredibly dramatic and incredibly agonised - smoking, burning, incredible compression. In the first year we stayed on the ground and went everywhere. But then in order to discover whether this was the whole story, we rented a helicopter. And we began to understand that this is not chaos but a highly modern system that had been abandoned, then at some point went into reversal, then slowly came out of it.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: Rem Koolhaas on Lagos, 2015
The city appears chaotic but is actually a complex, evolving system shaped by neglect and reversal.
In simple terms: Lagos looks chaotic but is a changing system.
Key Takeaway
Recognize hidden order in apparent chaos.
Themes
urbanism
complexity
change
neglect
reversal
Mood
reflective
analytical
Type
observational
critical
When to use this quote
- city planning
- infrastructure development
- social policy
- environmental assessment
Key Concepts
systems theory
urban dynamics
adaptive cycles
Questions to Reflect On
- How does perception of chaos affect urban intervention?
- What hidden structures can be revealed through different perspectives?
A Different Perspective
The description may romanticize turmoil, overlooking human suffering.
![“Lagos was a city that had been turned against itself. There was a bridge that became the perfect trap for crimes, which began with nails being scattered to cause flat tyres. If the driver stopped, the car would be dismantled in 20 minutes and the parts thrown overboard [to people waiting below]…” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/05d/rem-koolhaas-5371_bridges_lagos-was-a-city-that-had-been-turned-ag_1402665.jpg)
![“That has been another interesting discovery: that basically a city [Lagos] could recover from a really deep, deep, deep pit.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/61e/rem-koolhaas-5371_cities_that-has-been-another-interesting-discov_15915.jpg)
![“The beauty of my profession [architecture] lies in its randomness and surprise. And don't think I can choose my projects. I have to build what's offered to me.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/712/rem-koolhaas-5371_architecture_the-beauty-of-my-profession-architecture_97486.jpg)
![“Nigeria [in 1990] was all rumour, an unbelievable amount of rumour - largely about crime and almost mythical manifestations of evil.” quote by Rem Koolhaas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/72f/rem-koolhaas-5371_amount_nigeria-in-1990-was-all-rumour-an-unbeli_125862.jpg)
