Bioscleave House

Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins introduced the term ‘bioscleave’ stating: “Architecture’s holding in place occurs within and as part of a prevailing atmospheric condition that others routinely call biosphere, but which we, feeling the need to stress its dynamic nature, have renamed bioscleave.” 

For what it is worth, I had never heard of Arakawa and Gins until this past weekend. They were visual artists, writers, and self-taught architects. They completed 5 projects in their lifetime, 3 in Japan and 2 in America. The Bioscleave House, created with procedural architecture in mind, is in East Hampton. Designed as a single-family dwelling attached to a pre-existing house (pic above). The project was completed in 2008.

The concept behind the home of vibrant colors, a sunken kitchen, and multiple windows in locations that let light in from below and above is an interactive home so that each movement is deliberate and thought out. They called the home an “interactive laboratory of everyday life.”

It is brilliant. We all were blown away. The plumbing behind the scenes such as radiant heating, a Crestron system, and an immaculate basement that resembles a bunker with all the systems. The floor is perfect for going barefoot. Great foot massage.

The skylight that overlooks the sunken kitchen (although the wooden barriers around the kitchen right now are for C of O purposes) mirrors the house plan. Every single thing was thought through.

We all left rethinking architecture. The house has been up for sale and just got purchased. We heard the new owners will keep this structure as is, although hopefully, they will do the work to bring some of the wear and tear up to speed.

Architecture like this should be preserved. You might have never heard of Arakawa and Gins, but now that you have, I promise you won’t be able to get this out of your head. It’s fabulous!