Diller + Scofidio’s “Slow House” began construction in 1989, but was stopped shortly after breaking ground due to the clients own financial limitations. The project took on a new life through its representation when later debuted for a lecture at Columbia in 1991, which ultimately led to it’s success and acclimation. The site still remains undeveloped, and for the argument of this thesis, the palimpsest of the original construction still exists on the site, making it readily available for a new provocation of what the home could be.
Similar to the ways that OMA’s exhibition of “La Casa Palestra” offered new readings of the Barcelona Pavilion, this thesis aims to be a contemporary counterpart to the original Slow House.
The plan of the Slow House follows two curves, and move the occupant from the automobile to the view as seen in picture window juxtaposed to the television screen. It is simply “a means to an end.”
Deforming the original plan changes the relationship between the occupant and the home. A number of possible homes and narratives emerge through iterating the parameters of the home, making the design of Diller + Scofidio one of many that could be derived.The ultimate one (the provocation of this thesis) becomes enveloped in on itself so that the occupants are confronted with being trapped in the cycle of their inhabitance, longing for an escape. It becomes “a means with no end,” or “a means to an end that never ends.”
The home becomes a composite of its history. And the home itself offers the potential for multiplicity in experiences, or a non-singular narrative. The two homes thus engage in conversation with one another. This provocation of the Slow House in 2023 is in many ways both a commentary and critique of that from 1991. Their engagement with one another becomes amplified in understanding contemporary domesticity. Through their comparison, the two designs re-invigorate the potential for what the home could be on this vacant site, both in the past and in the present.
