wearable homes – mammoth // building nothing out of something

wearable homes


[“Mono Lake”, 2008, from Mary Mattingly’s “Nomadographies”]

If you suppose that there is a spectrum of ways that we adapt ourselves to our environment, then “architecture” might be at one end, and “cyborg” (whether psychotropic or technological) could be at the other.  In between, there would be “clothing”.  And if you really want to confuse the three and scramble your simplistic understanding of that spectrum, you talk about wearable architecture.

So I couldn’t let Cyborg Month pass without mentioning Mary Mattingly’s absolutely fantastic “Wearable Homes”.  I got in touch with Tim Maly and we ended up co-writing a post for Quiet Babylon, “Wearable Ethics”:

…“Wearable Homes” is a project – part architecture, part photography, part design fiction, part clothing (fashion is not quite the right word here) – which sits at that confused junction between cyborgs and architecture.

Anyways, the post is (thanks to Tim) about a good bit more than just Wearable Homes, so read it.  And if you want more Wearable Homes, you might enjoy this old Pruned post, and Mattingly’s website.

3 Responses to “wearable homes”

  1. George says:

    Have you guys read “Architectural Body”? They reference the house to being your pet or you being the pet of your house, similar to that of a snail. It does have some cyborg reference too it but mostly in communications with architecture and the house and human being as one essentially.

    • Stephen says:

      You’re talking about that topic M Wigley lectured on, right? I only know it insofar as Colby described it to me. Is the text you mentioned above an essay or a book?

      • George says:

        Its a book by Gins and Arakawa. Its a quick read since its just over 100 pages, but its an interesting read.

        I haven’t seen the Wigley lecture, but I get the odd feeling I should now.