Artist Can Ho Suh is making people think about the precarious idea of home. His latest work is a powder blue gable roof cabin, the 18th permanent sculpture commissioned by the Stuart Collection at the University of California, San Diego.
Suh, who came to the United States out of Seoul in 1991, needed to physically and mentally readjust to his new surroundings. The sensation of being plucked from this comfortable and familiar and sinking into a dizzying unknown environment is exactly what this installation-sculpture, “Fallen Star,” is all about.
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
The house stinks half-lodged, half-perched on the rooftop of UC San Diego’s engineering construction.
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
From afar, the house practically looks like a toy house, but its base is sound: The cabin conforms to California earthquake construction codes and is made to withstand winds of up to 100 mph.
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Suh, who wanted a New England backyard for the cottage’s outside grounds, worked closely together with landscaping company Spurlock Poirier. African boxwood, Golden Nuggets, snapdragons, creeping thyme and wisteria vines highlight the backyard.
“Like in many houses, we have added a cherry tomato here, a couple sunflowers there,” says Stuart Collection Director Mary Beebe.
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Smoke from the form of steam rises from the chimney throughout the day. Indoors, on the fireplace mantel, the picture frames even show photographs of people in the engineering college. Just the huge bookcase and desk are bolted to the ground, while the diverse mix of other furnishings sometimes slip toward the door, but quite slowly.
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
This image lets us value the house’s tilt; it’s cantilevered at a 10 degree angle, whereas the interior hardwood flooring is tilted by 4 degrees.
Philipp Scholz Rittermann
Check out the home’s base from below can make any pedestrian walk a bit quicker for fear of it falling. But there’s no need to panic — that the house is permanently fastened to the building structure and will probably make an impact on generations of students to come.
Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications
Suh (right), resides in London and today feels right at home in the cosmopolitan and diverse city. He is foregone “Fallen Star’s” cabin try to find a more straightforward modern space he shares with his wife and daughter.
For more information on “Fallen Star,” visit the Stuart Collection website.