April Fool's Day was a few days back. However, this East Hampton, N.Y. house designed by outsider artists and would-be-architects, Arakawa and his wife, Madeline Gins, would seem like the perfect prank story cooked up for April 1st. Scarily (and sadly) this joke seems real.
The "house," which makes Pee-Wee's Playhouse seem like Fallingwater, is described in a New York Times article as such:
The house is off-limits to children, and adults are asked to sign a waiver
when they enter. The main concern is the concrete floor, which rises
and falls like the surface of a vast, bumpy chocolate chip cookie.
...officially called Bioscleave House (Lifespan Extending Villa). Its
architecture makes people use their bodies in unexpected ways to
maintain equilibrium, and that, she said, will stimulate their immune
systems.
The article further explains the unique philosophy the "house" is supposed to help further:
In 45 years of working together as artists, poets and architects, they have developed an arcane philosophy of life and art, a theory they call reversible destiny. Essentially, they have made it their mission — in treatises, paintings, books and now built projects like this one — to outlaw aging and its consequences.
“It’s immoral that people have to die,” Ms. Gins explained.
The house on Long Island, which cost more than $2 million to build, is their first completed architectural work in the United States — and, as they see it, a turning point in their campaign to defeat mortality.
Oh. Okay. Ummm....right.
In my humble opinion, the only purpose this "house" serves is as a warning to others about the danger of misdirected design. To gape at it yourself, you can read the article here.
Photo copyright Eric Striffler, New York Times
If this is what I have to live in to defeat mortality, I'll pass.
Posted by: Ed | Apr 05, 2008 at 01:22 PM