Building cities from scratch

Nick Hannes Fotografie | Hardback | 20-03-2024 | 9789401403764

What does the ideal capital city look like? Photographer Nick Hannes travelled to six countries – Egypt, Korea, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Brazil – that have recently built or are in the very process of building a new capital. Each is a typical example of what Rem Koolhaas calls the Generic City – a planned city without historical stratification, local identity or a character of its own. Like a visual anthropologist with a keen eye for detail, Hannes sets out to discover the human dimension in a setting full of spectacle architecture and pompous prestige projects.

NEW CAPITAL is a critical reflection on unbridled neoliberal urban development and its social and ecological impact, laced with subtle humour and surprising coincidences. Meandering between pride and sadness, NEW CAPITAL shows how utopia and dystopia are sometimes surprisingly closely related.