Thursday, April 03, 2008

Reversible Destiny

Check out this recent NY Times article about Madeline Gins and Arakawa's $2-million Long Island house which they claim restores youth, boosts one's immune system, and even opposes death. And it's a real-life romper room.

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.

(Thanks Susan)