Shigeru Ban

I saw Shigeru Ban's Shutter Houses on Inhabitat a few weeks back and instantly fell in love with the proposed building. Shigeru Ban draws on the surrounding after-hours security systems of the neighborhood's galleries and shops by incorporating individually motorized, perforated metal shutters and 20' glass garage doors into each unit, allowing the inhabitants to open up their apartments completely to the outside, if desired. This blurring between the inside and out is very contrary to urban residential life, where most buildings strive to keep outsiders out via sturdy brick and glass facades and security bars. The Shutter Houses facade is dynamic - changing every day, depending on each inhabitant's desire for privacy or openness. If I had a several million dollars lying around, I would snap one of these apartments up in a heart beat. The Shutter Houses are scheduled for completion in the fall of 2008. Keep watch at 524 W 19th St. for progress! Check out more of Shigeru Ban's work here (be sure to take a look at the Curtain House, which could be considered an early case study for the Shutter Houses).