Arakawa, of the team Arakawa and Gins, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 73.
I’ve previously linked to discussions and commentary about Arakawa and Gins. Briefly, they were conceptual artists who became obsessed with the idea that they could use architecture to stop or reverse the aging process.
Their most recent work, a house on Long Island, had a steeply sloped floor that threatened to send visitors hurtling into its kitchen. Called Bioscleave House (Lifespan Extending Villa), it featured more than three dozen paint colors; level changes meant to induce the sensation of being in two places at once; windows that seemed too high or too low; oddly angled light switches and outlets; and an absence of doors that would have permitted occupants even a modicum of privacy.
All of it was meant, the couple explained, to lead its users into a perpetually “tentative” relationship with their surroundings, and thereby keep them young.