“…Arakawa, who now bases himself in New York, advocates ‘architecture that defies death.’ How? By incorporating inconveniences and obstacles in his designs in order to bring people’s sensory perception back to life..”

I found out about this design team of Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins from an article on The Japan Times Online, and I think they are brilliant. I love eccentric architecture, and as far as that goes, this team is a total winner: They make living spaces with hilly floors and obstacles, and put light switches near the floor and clothes storage on the ceiling. Their designs are colorful, thoughtful, innovative, and playful.

Another great example of their work is an “experience park” at the site of Reversible Destiny, in Yoro Park, Gifu Japan, which you really have to see to understand. Check out the great website and be sure to look at the “directions for use”, and the maps sections for explanations and quicktime vr panoramas from various vantage points. I definitely need to spend a day there.

[Link][2][3]

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 5:09 am and is filed under Japanese Art, Places. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.