Open House: Designing Spaces for Living

Open House discusses the topic of temporary housing in architecture, art, design and humanitarian aid. The phenomenon of tiny houses fascinates and is currently trending in various media. In times of large migratory movements from poor to rich countries there is also an urgent demand for temporary housing in many places. Eighteen international authors explore the intentions behind such constructions, their underlying principles and the lifestyle they convey. Their contributions reveal how these concepts relate to the very notion of habitat, to space, to pragmatic criteria, as well as to the time in which they are elaborated. Moreover, addresses various issues of individual housing through the featured original installations, and spatial experiments. Open House is published in conjunction with a two-year research project and an open-air exhibition of the same title in Geneva in summer 2022. Book and exhibition comprise around 40 designs by artists, architects, designers, architecture schools and research institutions, as well as humanitarian organisations, such as Andrea Zittel, EPFL Laboratoire ALICE, Global Shelter Cluster, Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zurich, Jean Prouvé, John Armleder, Kengo Kuma, Kerim Seiler, Matti Suuronen, Maurizio Cattelan and Philippe Parreno, the UNHCR, and others. Text in English and French. AUTHOR: Simon Lamunière is a curator based in Geneva and director of the Open House project and exhibition in 2021/22. His previous engagements include the Domaine du Muy (Le Muy, France, 2014-2016), the Neon Parallax (Geneva, 2006-2013), Art Unlimited art fair (Basel, 2000-2011), the 11th Swiss sculpture exhibition Utopics (Biel/Bienne, 2009), the documenta X website (1997), and the Centre pour l'Image contemporaine (Geneva, 1992-2004). SELLING POINTS: . The phenomenon of tiny houses fascinates many people and is currently trending in various media . Large migratory movements from poor to rich countries create an urgent demand for temporary housing in many places . The book offers much needed substantial contribution to an international debate that often is superficial and driven by fantasies and lifestyle trends in rich countries 170 colour illustrations