Photo by © Richard Barnes. Photo by © Richard Barnes. Photo © Dora Somosi. And just as I thought I’ve seen it all before, along comes a rotating home that’s balancing on a single concrete column. This, of course, is not a real home as such, although it’s very much designed to look and function like one. Called ReActor, this art installation is a a Schweder + Shelley collaboration, forming part of their experimental, performing art series of “social relationship architecture”. During the summer of 2016, the architect-artist duo lived in the rotating house in upstate New York for a total of five days. Why, you ask? Well, all in the name of art – that’s why.The habitable 13m x 2.5m dwelling rotated 360-degrees balancing atop a 4.5m high concrete column.The dwelling also tilted in response to Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley’s movement, outside forces and interior conditions. The rotations and see-saw like tilts made the intimate relationship between the architecture and inhabitants completely visible. Gives a whole new meaning to “If the house is rockin’…” Photo by © Richard Barnes. Photo by © Richard Barnes. Photo by © Richard Barnes. For more than a decade, Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley have been practising a form of experimental architecture that explores the dance between the designed environment and its consequences. Since 2007, the duo has designed, built, and lived in (or on) structures in locations where the public are invited not only to witness but also to actively engage with the artists in direct dialogue about their practice—an activity that has coalesced into what they call “performance architecture.” Blurring the boundaries between art, architecture, design, and performance, the artists’ work poses questions about the nature of social space and the way architecture influences human behaviour.Alex Schweder received a BA from the Pratt Institute School of Architecture, an MArch from Princeton University School of Architecture, and is completing a PhD through the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, UK. Ward Shelley received a BFA from Eckard College and an MA from New York University. [Images courtesy of Schweder + Shelley. Photography by Richard Barnes & Dora Somosi.] Share the love:FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailPinterest 8 Responses ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements – Vidovic Art September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements - Komex September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inhabitants’ Movements – jomaliaband.com September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply まるでシーソーのような家！傾くかはルームメイト次第 !? | September 21, 2018 […] REACTOR BALANCING AND ROTATING HOUSE BY ALEX SCHWEDER & WARD SHELLEY. – yellowtrace […] Reply ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inhabitants’ Movements » OSOM | Agency - 2018 September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inhabitants’ Movements | USA Art News September 23, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements – artreflector.com October 23, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply ReActor is a House that Sits on a Single Column, Spins in the Wind and Tilts Like a Seesaw | Breakchill.com January 8, 2020 […] is not a real home even though its design makes it look like one. It is an art piece installed in upstate New York. Schweder and Shelley actually lived in it for a few days as part of […] ReplyLeave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ
ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements – Vidovic Art September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply
ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements - Komex September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply
ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inhabitants’ Movements – jomaliaband.com September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply
まるでシーソーのような家！傾くかはルームメイト次第 !? | September 21, 2018 […] REACTOR BALANCING AND ROTATING HOUSE BY ALEX SCHWEDER & WARD SHELLEY. – yellowtrace […] Reply
ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inhabitants’ Movements » OSOM | Agency - 2018 September 21, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply
Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inhabitants’ Movements | USA Art News September 23, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply
ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements – artreflector.com October 23, 2018 […] Schweder and Shelley have collaborated since 2007, focusing on “performance architecture,” a practice of designing, building, and living in structures for the purpose of public observation and dialogue. Though the artists are currently residing in (presumably) more stable housing, the tilting house remained on view at Omi until August 2018. (via Yellowtrace) […] Reply
ReActor is a House that Sits on a Single Column, Spins in the Wind and Tilts Like a Seesaw | Breakchill.com January 8, 2020 […] is not a real home even though its design makes it look like one. It is an art piece installed in upstate New York. Schweder and Shelley actually lived in it for a few days as part of […] Reply
