Exodus as intermediation between the Berlin Wall and Manhattan Grid: disjunction, subdivision and programmatization of void

Abstract

This study analyzes Rem Koolhaas’s Exodus as an intermediation that synthesizes the Berlin Wall’s concept of disjunction and the Manhattan Grid’s subdivisional structure. By examining primary sources – including Koolhaas’s references, publications, and later architectural works – and Exodus’s original collages and drawings, this study brings drawing back to the core of research, highlighting how these two paradigms manifest uniquely within Exodus. Findings reveal that Exodus incorporates the Berlin Wall’s disjunction, generating programmatic voids through conceptual walls rather than physical boundaries. Simultaneously, the Manhattan grid’s influence is evident in Exodus’s structured grid, which organizes independent programmatic voids akin to Manhattan’s subdivisions. Exodus further mirrors skyscraper, where disjunction and subdivision compressively embody the grid logic of Manhattan. By analyzing how Exodus parallels both the Berlin Wall and Manhattan Grid, this study underscores Koolhaas’s treatment of architectural walls and grids for their psychological and symbolic, rather than merely physical, impacts. This analysis positions Exodus as a foundational experiment, synthesizing the Berlin Wall and Manhattan Grid into a framework that prefigures Koolhaas’s later architectural concepts, including Parc de La Villette. Ultimately, Exodus is identified as an architectural expression that merges the Berlin Wall’s and Manhattan Grid’s conceptual essences, underscoring their lasting influence on Koolhaas’s ideology.