Characterized by a careful combination of linear geometry and gentle curves and arcs, the designs of Hariri & Hariri display a clean, dynamic intensity, tightly structured in its elegance. Inspired by the holistic ideas of Eastern philosophy, the architects strive to...
[more]Characterized by a careful combination of linear geometry and gentle curves and arcs, the designs of Hariri & Hariri display a clean, dynamic intensity, tightly structured in its elegance. Inspired by the holistic ideas of Eastern philosophy, the architects strive to integrate space and environment in order to facilitate modern modes of living. With a meticulous sense for both social issues and style, their work embodies the ideal of functional beauty.
Take, for example, the recent installment at the New York Museum of Modern Art, "The Digital House." Rather than treating technical gadgetry such as telephones, televisions, and computers as isolated elements, "The Digital House" integrates them into the structure itself. This is what Hariri & Hariri calls "ubiquitous computing" -- the entire structure is designed to receive and transmit information. Walls lined with "smart skins" may double as screens on which images play, creating interior ambience. The image of a naked man downloaded onto the wall of a bedroom, for example, creates an intimate, erotic environment.
Information is no longer limited to centralized modules, but distributed throughout the home, lending an overall flexibility to the space: "Decentralization will provide new flexibility, as families can be close but also independent." Entertainment, schooling, work, and shopping can all take place within various sites of the house, making the house itself a shifting, malleable medium for diverse activities. Hariri & Hariri has endeavored, essentially, to blur the distinction between inside and outside, to create an utterly permeable and mutable structure.
The Hariri sisters established their firm in New York in 1986, and have since won numerous awards for their work. Among the best up-and-coming architects, they are certain to exert a force on the future of design. They are also well known on the lecture circuit, speaking frequently at universities. Philosophical and socially conscious, their art and their ideas make the abstract exquisitely concrete.
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