This 1400-square-foot home was designed for a media-art collector living on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean, where the threat of West Nile virus is ongoing. The homeowner wanted his residence to insulate him both from the mosquitoes that carry the disease and from the standard litany of other environmental and psychological agents that can disturb the sanctuary of a home.
This design proposes a strategy for confronting and embracing one’s fear of mosquitoes, a manipulation of space that aids what the architects call “angst management.” The structure is designed in the form of a horizontal Klein bottle (a kind of three-dimensional Möbius strip), in which exterior surfaces invert to become interior walls and interior volumes intertwine but do not intersect. Consequently, mosquitoes can enter the home and live in close proximity to the owner without actually sharing his space, all the while buzzing in a soothing, therapeutic manner.
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