Two of my favorite artists, brought low by Madoff

Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins are architects who create intentionally-challenging environments, with the idea being that immersing yourself in such a world keeps your mind sharp.

For example, they created The Site of Reversible Destiny - Yoro Park in Japan. It's a park built into an artificial crater, full of confusing paths and oddly placed furniture. Visiting it was one of the highlights of a trip to Japan I made several years ago.



This video will give you an idea of what it's like:



They also created the Reversible Destiny lofts, which are full of strangely placed windows, sloping floors, ladders, and poles.




Here's video of the interior and exterior of the lofts:



And there's lots of photos of their creations at Flickr.

Unfortunately, Arakawa and Gins invested their money with Madoff. They've already had to close their Manhattan office and layoff staff, and expect to have to sell some of their creations. Their plan to create a Reversible Destiny village now seems to be out of reach.

*Previously: Japanese theme park with ramen hot tub.

*Buy architecture posters at eBay.