A Beetlejuician Doll House, a Glowing Blue Tiny Home, and More Ideas From Designers Just Having Fun

If you couldn’t engage with the real world, what would life look like? The pandemic made that question loom larger than we could ever dream. For those of us confined to our homes, adjusting them became our sole focus. Really, there was little else to do aside from manipulate our immediate environments, with or without contractors, designers, or architects. As it turned out, resources were limited. So was talent.

Not so for these artists and designers, who were prompted by New York design studio Fort Makers to think beyond their own four walls for a new exhibit, Dreamhouses. But these aren’t anything like Barbie’s. With pandemic-esque parameters, i.e., only using the tools and materials they had at hand, the group implemented everything from rendering software to construction paper to design fantasy homes, however defined.

Accompanying these fevered, fantastical vignettes are texts from writers and poets that add another dimension; some are short fictions woven with social commentary, while others are essayistic reflections. From an open-air residence fit for the sunny climes of Los Angeles, to a fire engine–red walk-up with painted-on windows, here’s what happens when artists and designers fall into a dream state.

From Here I’ve Seen Even More

Artist: Sam Harvey
Words: Tash Nikol

A Waiting Room for Spirits

"the wise ones speak of the spirit house / here and there / our ancestors speak of a place there / a holding room for spirits / outside of skin / not far from clouds"

Keep reading at Fort Makers’ Dreamhouses