Before the pyramids there was trim. Stacking reaches into our deep, dark primordial past: An ancient shelter from Hvar Island, Croatia, below.
And may continue into the avant garde of our future as well.
Ironically, despite our leaps and bounds into high technology its nature's low technology that we keep coming back to again and again: The birds and bees seem to have a lot more to offer than explaining erotica.
This digital age rendering of the termite mound suggests a model for a sustainable future in Los Angeles. Harvard professor Margaret M. Fain's concept includes space for urban farming, gray water reuse, and rain collection. The idea is to gain independence from municipal water sources for landscaping: Great, if it works.
Artist Andy Goldsworthy goes primordial with this dry stacked stone sheepfold.
Straight up: Constantin Brancusi's Endless Column from 1938.
Icelandic artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson goes under the weight of his metaphors, below.
Felt up: Artist Marie Watt from her series Blanket Stories.
Below, Madrid based architect Arturo Franco creates office space from an erstwhile slaughterhouse. The walls coverings are stacked reclaimed roof tiles.
Everything in its place if a little out of its time: Vintage Fenton glass Hobnail stacking ashtrays.
Books and enchiladas:
Illusion of grandeur: A globular stack by artist Ulrike Palmbach rendered in wood.
Stack obsession: Artist Tara Donovan constructs mountains, clouds, spheres, and blocks out of industrial plastic and an odd block of toothpicks.
And other possibilities:
The Stacked House by architects Herzog & de Meuron for the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany.
