Would you live in a glass box that moves like a living thing in response to stimuli" This tiny house balanced atop a concrete pillar reacts to its inhabitants? movements in surprising ways, highlighting the relationship between people and their homes.
It?s not enough that this modernist residence plunked down in a field in the middle of the Hudson Valley is completely transparent, putting its inhabitants on display: it?s also kinetic, acting like a living creature, spinning and tilting in perpetual motion. ReActor by Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley is far more than just shelter, it?s a performance piece, an experimental work of ?social relationship architecture? acting as a continuation of the architect-artist duo?s previous kinetic works. Created for the OMI International Arts Center in Ghent, New York, the installation puts a literal spin on the concept of an artist-in-residency.
We generally envision architecture as inherently stable and solid, almost monolithic in its enveloping presence, welcoming us into calming spaces of our own creation when we need to retreat from the world outside. ReActor shakes up this dependable dynamic, not only by physically moving, but also by changing its relationship to the landscape and the sun.
The 40-by-8-foot house spins in a full 360-degree circle in response to the artists walking, sitting, standing, jumping or dancing within its walls, and tilts up and down, too. Both the motion of the inhabitants and the wind outside change ...