Arakawa, Shusaku
(1937–2010)With his wife, artist Madeline Gins, they called their philosophy “reversible destiny,” and it manifested itself architecturally in buildings that challenged its occupants. In the couple’s 2008 Bioscleave 1 house (Lifespan Extending Villa) built on Long Island, floors sloped and undulated like dunes, windows were placed slightly higher or lower than expected, switches were oddly placed, more than 36 paint colors were used, and no doors separated interior spaces. In addition to visual art, Arakawa and Gins wrote several books, including The Mechanism of Meaning (1979), Reversible Destiny: We Have Decided Not to Die (1997), and Making Dying Illegal (2006).
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