Delirious New York

Delirious New York is a retroactive manifesto that celebrates and analyzes New York City, particularly Manhattan, as a metaphor for the variety of human behavior.

The book explores the dynamic relationship between architecture and culture, highlighting key episodes in New York's history such as the imposition of the Manhattan grid, the creation of Coney Island, and the development of the skyscraper.

It is filled with intriguing facts, witty watercolors, and quirky archival drawings, photographs, postcards, and maps.

Koolhaas interprets Manhattan as the 20th century's Rosetta Stone, featuring architectural mutations, utopian fragments, and irrational phenomena.