Rem Koolhaas published Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan in 1978. He closes the book with a series of concise speculative projects to illustrate his point. The first of these, „The City of the Captive Globe”, is an ambiguous and constantly re-interpreted metaphor for metropolitanism and the lifestyle associated with it. Interpreted as a synthesis of the „retroactive manifesto”, Captive Globe allows us to grasp the ideological background of the urban design thought of Koolhaas and OMA, his design studio. Between 1995 and 2007 OMA carried out the project for the new City Center of Almere near Amsterdam. Through the three postulates of the City of the Captive Globe, the authors attempt an in-depth understanding of Almere master plan, going beyond the analysis of its formal features.

Rem Koolhaas wydał „Deliryczny Nowy Jork. Retroaktywny manifest dla Manhattanu” w 1978 roku. Książkę zamyka serią lapidarnych, spekulatywnych projektów będących jego ilustracją. Pierwszy z nich, Miasto Uwięzionego Globu, stanowi wieloznaczną i wciąż na nowo interpretowaną metaforę wielkomiejskości i związanego z nią stylu życia. Odczytany jako synteza „retroaktywnego manifestu”, Uwięziony Glob pozwala zrozumieć ideowe tło urbanistycznej myśli Koolhaasa i jego pracowni OMA. W latach 1995-2007 OMA realizowała projekt nowego centrum miasta Almere koło Amsterdamu. Poprzez trzy wymienione w tytule postulaty Miasta Uwięzionego Globu, autorzy podejmują próbę pogłębionego odczytania założenia w Almere, wychodzącą poza analizę jego cech formalnych.

Grid, schism and lobotomy: The Almere City Center as the “City of the Captive Globe” by Rem Koolhaas

Rem Koolhaas published Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan in 1978. He closes the book with a series of concise speculative projects to illustrate his point. The first of these, „The City of the Captive Globe”, is an ambiguous and constantly re-interpreted metaphor for metropolitanism and the lifestyle associated with it. Interpreted as a synthesis of the „retroactive manifesto”, Captive Globe allows us to grasp the ideological background of the urban design thought of Koolhaas and OMA, his design studio. Between 1995 and 2007 OMA carried out the project for the new City Center of Almere near Amsterdam. Through the three postulates of the City of the Captive Globe, the authors attempt an in-depth understanding of Almere master plan, going beyond the analysis of its formal features.

Keywords: Almere, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York, the City of the Captive Globe.