Highrise of Homes

James Wines

1981 · Ink and graphite on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

This unrealized proposal for a vertical community offers the cultural advantages of a dense urban center, without sacrificing the domestic identities and private garden spaces associated with suburbia. As opposed to the identical units of typical urban skyscrapers, lots would be developed in styles chosen by each owner, allowing for flexibility and individualism. Here, the houses are connected by interior streets within a vast, multistory U-shaped building, resulting in a villagelike community on each floor. The proposed variety of homes and gardens comments on the sense of identity and human connection that can be lost through architectural formalism. Through the art of chance, Wines’s high-rise becomes the collective creation of its inhabitants.

Artist

James Wines

Date

1981

Medium

Ink and graphite on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace and Romenesa Foundation Gifts, 2016