ReActor: a Tilting House That Shifts and Spins Based on its Inabitant’s Movements

Photography: Richard Barnes & Dora Somosi

In the rolling hills of upstate New York at the outdoor sculpture park Art Omi, artist duo Alex Schweder and Ward Shelley (previously) created a fully functional house with a special slant. The project, called ReActor, is a 42 by 8-foot rotating home that balances on a single 14-foot tall concrete column. Movements inside the dwelling, as well as outside forces like gusts of wind, cause the structure to gently tilt and rotate. In the summer of 2016, Schweder and Shelley inhabited the home for five days, and their movements toward or away from the house’s fulcrum caused constant motion. Because the home is constructed with Philip Johnson-esque levels of floor-to-ceiling windows, the artists’ interior activities were visible to Omi attendees.

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)