The story goes that, when Rem Koolhaas was appointed to design the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2003, the legendary architect noticed how students had created their own pathways between the buildings as they had made their way around the site. The site of the new building included a field on which their footprints had worn down the grass to such an extent that distinct grooves had been carved out that reflected their movements. Given that his brief was to create a new building that serves as a central hub for student life and that he had already been offered an organic design blueprint for the way students used the campus, he decided to reflect this in the layout of the new building. The result is an irregular floor plan with diagonal corridors of differing widths linking the parts of the interior in a way that reflects the number of students who use the paths they create.
This tale could be interpreted in a number of ways. About how Koolhaas was able to use his powers of observation to look at a problem in a new way. About how lazy some people are when getting from A to B. About the need to create organic designs that reflect how people move around. But also about how people are likely to subvert the intentions of designers and all of those who think they can influence their behaviour.