Reversible Destiny House by Arakawa and Gins
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 3.08
Eric Striffler for The New York Times
Architect Arakawa (no first name) and Madeline Gins believe that your house should keep you young by challenging you every step of the way. “It’s immoral that people have to die,” Ms. Gins explained. So they designed the Livespan Extending Villa, that "makes people use their bodies in unexpected ways to maintain equilibrium, and that will stimulate their immune systems."
“They ought to build hospitals like this,” she said.
Fred Bernstein writes in the New York Times:
"In addition to the floor, which threatens to send the un-sure-footed hurtling into the sunken kitchen at the center of the house, the design features walls painted, somewhat disorientingly, in about 40 colors; multiple levels meant to induce the sensation of being in two spaces at once; windows at varying heights; oddly angled light switches and outlets; and an open flow of traffic, unhindered by interior doors or their adjunct, privacy."
"All of it is meant to keep the occupants on guard. Comfort, the thinking goes, is a precursor to death; the house is meant to lead its users into a perpetually “tentative” relationship with their surroundings, and thereby keep them young." ::New York Times
The couple also built nine “reversible destiny” loft-style apartments in Mitaka, Japan.
I did a dissertation on these guys about 8 years ago and they were very interesting (if a bit pretentious at times), but I'm not sure what this has to do with sustainability. Surely all of us living forever is going to create more problems, not less...?
Knocking into counters and other jutting surfaces is hazardous enough in my boring straight-lines house. I imagine any benefit from moving in "unexpected ways" would be paid for, plus interest, by unexpected injuries. It would be fun while young, torture when older.
How on earth do these homes pass building codes?
Seriously, is this an April fools joke?
No wonder the profession of architecture is moribund, if this is the kind of solution we propose.
Is there a Canadians with Disabilities Act? ADA in the U.S. would make this building illegal unless it is were a private residence. But, those laws are there for good reason. I'm sure a talented architect could make a stimulating building that meets those laws.
I really like this. Not for everyone, (obviously,) and all the code stuff aside, wonderful forward thinking.
Totally love it and totally think it's TreeHugger in terms of stimulating exercise and active thinking.
Little dangerous for a small kid, but would love to live there for a month. I'm sure it would trigger a lot of creative thinking.
actually, i think that extending our lifespan is very good for the environment. if the humans lived longer, we would blatantly see the long term consequences of our actions, rather than just caring about what's convenient in the short term.
also, i think it's also healthy for us collectively to embrace ridiculous or insane ideas here and there...it makes life much more interesting. as a designer i try to live by the "sick in the head" standard.