從夢境走向現實的沙漠狼頭，藝術家 Johnny DeFeo 在新墨西哥州築造個性旅宿
從夢境走向現實的沙漠狼頭，藝術家 Johnny DeFeo 在美國新墨西哥州築造個性旅宿
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新墨西哥州的藝術家 Johnny DeFeo 抱持著一個獨特的理念：那就是越認真看待一個荒謬的想法，這個想法就越能夠變得更有意思。（欸……這個嘛……）
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他至今最新穎且膽大的嘗試，就是在靠近新墨西哥州 Taos 的沙漠裡，打造了一座外型宛如巨型郊狼頭部的特色出租住宅，名為 Trickster（又稱 Coyote Casita），靈感是因為六年前的一場夢，當時他夢見五座不同動物頭部造型的房屋環繞著一片黑色池塘。（你看看，你有聽過建築師用夢境做為概念的嗎？）
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他的計畫在2022年有了重大轉折點，Johnny DeFeo 參加了 Airbnb 舉辦的特殊房源基金競賽並順利獲勝，取得十萬美元的資金支持。
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為了將睡醒後所做的的小模型轉化為真實建築，他尋求了專長於仿木混凝土與大型公共藝術製作的雕塑家 Jacob Tobar 合作。
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兩人結合了標準住宅結構與超過三十公噸的混凝土，歷經無數鋼筋與汗水的交織，打造出一座高達三十英呎（約九公尺）的郊狼頭部建築。
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建築的入口設計在郊狼張開的雙顎之間，宛如迪士尼動畫《阿拉丁》的奇觀溶洞。
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走進內部，空間呈現出新墨西哥州傳統土坯建築柔和無九十度銳角的質感。沿著走廊延伸，雙層挑高的核心區域設有水磨石檯面的小廚房、胡桃木餐桌椅與舒適沙發，閣樓臥室則配備雙人大床，陽台更延伸至郊狼的鼻樑上方，讓住客能在這裡俯瞰遠方山脈的夕陽景致，甚至能透過郊狼的鼻孔欣賞風景。
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室內牆上掛滿了 Johnny DeFeo 為這座小屋量身打造的郊狼繪畫作品，細節處甚至運用了鑄鐵打造的郊狼爪造型抽屜拉手。
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Johnny DeFeo 希望這座住宅能鼓勵更多創作者將奇特想法付諸實現，未來他也計畫尋求資金，陸續將夢境裡另外四座（隻）兔子、母鹿、熊與狐狸造型的房屋建造出來。
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#Airbnb #旅宿 #美國建築 #藝術家 #沙漠建築
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攝影：Thomas Loo
#Trickster #JohnnyDeFeo #CoyoteCasita #NewMexico #Architecture #Taos #Airbnb #DesertHouse #ConcreteArchitecture #SculpturalArchitecture
#Trickster #JohnnyDeFeo #郊狼小屋 #新墨西哥州 #建築設計 #塔奧斯 #奇特旅宿 #沙漠建築 #混凝土雕塑 #造型住宅
把房子蓋成巨型郊狼頭？這個超狂夢想竟然真的實現了！
藝術家 Johnny DeFeo 在新墨西哥州的沙漠裡，打造了一座高達 9 公尺的郊狼頭造型住宅「Trickster」。這座建築用了超過 30 公噸的混凝土，住客必須從郊狼張開的大嘴巴走進去，就像走進阿拉丁的奇觀溶洞一樣！
更讚的是，二樓臥室的陽台就設在郊狼的鼻樑上面，大家甚至還能透過郊狼的「鼻孔」遠眺山脈夕陽。
雖然外觀有夠前衛（突兀？），但室內卻保留了新墨西哥州傳統土坯房的溫暖質感，搭配手繪郊狼畫作與水磨石廚房，簡直是荒漠裡既幽默又舒適的避風港！
New Mexico-based artist, Johnny DeFeo has an excellent motto: ‘The more seriously you take a silly idea, the more silly it can be.' His biggest, boldest and silliest idea to date has been to build a rentable house in the shape of a giant coyote head, in the desert just outside Taos. ‘It's a place to recharge and not worry about your Wi-Fi, and just have a quiet time in a place that is visually novel and beautiful,' says DeFeo. And like many great ideas, this one came to him in a dream. ‘So clichéd!' he adds.
Six years ago, the artist and his girlfriend were looking to move from Denver to New Mexico, because ‘it had always been a romantic place in our minds'. Following a visit to a large, bucolic property close to Vallecitos, he had a vivid dream in which he saw five houses shaped like different animal heads surrounding a black pond. DeFeo immediately sketched out this zoomorphic camp, and while the couple didn't purchase the property, the imaginative vision lingered.
It wasn't until June 2022, when he saw an Instagram ad for an Airbnb competition, that DeFeo saw an opportunity to turn his dream into reality. The OMG! Fund was seeking proposals for ‘really weird' rental properties, and offering $100,000 each to 100 winning applicants to realise their fantastical projects. ‘I almost didn't apply because I hated the name of it so much,' DeFeo jokes. But he did and, after submitting a short written description, sketches, a budget proposal and a construction timeline, The Trickster, also known as Coyote Casita, was finally selected as a winner.
Then came the challenge of actually building it. DeFeo found a site in Arroyo Hondo and interviewed several local architects and general contractors, but none of them truly understood his vision. Eventually, he was introduced to San Antonio-based sculptor Jacob Tobar of Mas Rústico, who specialises in faux-bois concrete and has experience fabricating large-scale public art projects, and they were ‘immediately on the same page'. Intrigued by DeFeo's model and proposal, Tobar visited the site and took a few measurements, then assured him that what they would build together was going to be ‘a lot better than the model'.
‘He's my hero,' DeFeo says. ‘He came with all the know-how for making a big, concrete, crazy sculpture, getting the permits, and making it look how we wanted.' The pair set about scaling up the maquette into a 30fttall structure that would look visually striking while also comfortably accommodating paying guests. The key structural elements were calculated and constructed just as a typical house would be built, then additional concrete was slowly added and shaped over the top.
Over 30 tonnes of concrete, countless rebar lengths, and ‘gallons of sweat and blood' later, the finished building really does resemble a coyote's head. Its sharp-toothed jaws form a cavern-like entrance that DeFeo likens to the tiger-shaped Cave of Wonders in Disney's Aladdin. ‘There was something about walking into the mouth that I just thought was whimsical,' he says.
A balcony from the loft bedroom extends atop the nose, creating a perfect vantage point for watching the setting sun illuminate the distant peaks in a ‘bright fuchsia' hue. Guests can also peer at the mountains through the coyote's nostrils. While the concrete head is highly sculptural and textured, the back of the building is smoother and more orthogonal. ‘I wanted the rest of it to feel quiet, and definitely Southwest, but not in a knock-off, hackneyed way,' says DeFeo.
Inside, the house is much more akin to a traditional New Mexican adobe home, evoking the textured mud-plaster walls and rounded corners found across the region. ‘I love the softness of the architecture,' says DeFeo. ‘You don't do 90-degree angles out here.' Through the mouth-accessed arched doorway is a small foyer that leads to an enclosed, light-filled bathroom with a shower lined with stones and pebbles.
Further down the coyote's ‘throat', the polished-aggregate hallway opens into a double-height space. A small kitchenette with terrazzo counters, a walnut dining table and chairs, and comfy sofas create a snug living area. ‘It has pretty high ceilings, but it feels very cosy,' DeFeo says. The loft bedroom is spacious enough to accommodate a king-size bed and an antique storage cabinet. ‘The fact that it's nice inside makes it funnier that it's coyote-shaped,' the artist says.
DeFeo is still adding to the interior décor. He recently purchased taxidermy coyote paws, which a friend has used to create moulds to produce cast-iron drawer handles. Many of DeFeo's own paintings also adorn the walls, most of which he created specifically for the house, and which feature coyotes within the Southwest landscape. ‘I usually paint animals that are ubiquitous and that everyone has a story about seeing,' he says. ‘And the coyote felt Southwest to me.'
The Trickster is the first of the five houses dreamt up by DeFeo, who is looking for financial backing to build the remaining rabbit-, doe-, bear- and fox-shaped guest houses. He readily acknowledges that the project is not for everyone. But in this part of the country, he notes, most people leave each other to their own business. DeFeo hopes that The Trickster encourages more artists to turn their offbeat ideas into reality, no matter the scale. ‘You don't have to build a box for a house,' he says. ‘You can just make something weird.' All in the spirit of serious silliness.
