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It looks as though it is perched on its back legs, ready to launch into the air. It has an all-metal exterior 2nd story, and is raised 11 feet into the air in order to avoid any possibility of being destroyed by a future Katrina like storm surge in Biloxi, Mississippi. Owner, Richard Tyler has named it “Porchdog House” - I guess thats because he loves to sit on and enjoy the view from his living room porch with its cantilevered roof - the front porch being an extremely important part of the indigenous culture. The house is a modest 1492 square feet, based on the typical shotgun house of the region. However, Porchdog House stands the shotgun house type on its head, by cutting it in half and stacking the portions on top of one another. I like this house because it is not a house built for the 1%, and because the design program makes practical solutions of all the FEMA requirements for structures in the region destroyed by Katrina in 2005, and at the same time, it is fanciful and a bit surreal. I look at this house, and for some odd reason I think, “Flying Armadillo. “
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The association makes sense because the armadillo wears his armor as protection against enemies, and makes him practically indestructible in his increasingly enlarged territory throughout the deep south. The contradictory image of a flying armadillo is humorous though dissimilar to Porchdog House. Instead, Porchdog is an elegant and fanciful solution to a program of necessity. The house was the last and possibly the best built under the Habitat for Humanity Biloxi Model Homes program by local architect Marion Blackwell, AIA. I am enthralled with it because the Metamodern has materialized in this working class neighborhood as a practical and inventive solution for an actual middle class individual and his family. How wonderful!
Mario Salvio Rage Against the Machine (1964)
Violation of the United States constitution - In light of the police pepper spraying peaceful demonstrators in California, and police violence against Occupy Wall Street nationally I'm posting this clip, and I will continue to move it and place it in future entries until the anniversary of the speech, December 2nd. Sad that our First Ammendment rights can be violated, but guns can be legally carried into the work place in Florida and peaceful gatherings nationally!
Notes
Spencer, Ingrid, “Porchdog House,” in Architectural Record: House of the Month, at http://archrecord.construction.com/residential/hotm/2010/09/porchdog.asp/ September, 2010. Viewed 9:30 AM., EST., November 23, 2011.
* “Tyler Home: Tyler Residence/Porchdog,” in Open Architecture Network , http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/node/359. Viewed 10:00 AM, EST, November 28, 2011. It is thougt that one time use of images for intellectual purpose is legal under U.S. copyright law as long as appropriate credit is given.
2 comments:
During the police brutality against peaceful protesters in several locations, all I could think of was the "police riot" in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention there, or the murder of students at Kent State University by a National Guard totally out of control and undertrained.
I'm also tired of hearing that the Republicans can't figure out what the demonstrators want; i figured it out during the very first days they occupied various locations. How did I do this nearly impossible thing? I read their signs and I listened to their answers when questioned by the media. Imagine!
It isn't just the Republican's that can't figure it out. I've listened to CNN Pundits who don't seem to be able to read the signs and listen to the OWS persons when questioned. All because they wish to sound unbiased!?!
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