Designer Michael Jantzen’s series subverts the suburban mega-manse.

We’ve covered big houses before, the death of the McMansion and the shifting scepter of suburbia (from monolithic American dreamlands to suburban wastelands). Designer Michael Jantzen’s series, called Deconstructing the Houses, caught our attention – as it has many – due to its eye-bending photo-trickery depicting fragmented houses.

Very cool, über-neat.

But what’s also inherent in his twisted and warped re-configurations of the American dream home is a broader statement about the sustainability of such behemoths. While the U.S. housing market is showing hints of recovery, Jantzen’s work calls into question, too, the feasibility of maintaining such gargantuan standards of comfort even in times of economic mending.

From the 1980s to 1950s, the average size of a home in the U.S. went from 983 square feet to 2,330 square feet – and beyond. This push for more space against the encroaching walls of reality (i.e., climate change, massive population growth, scarcity of resources, etc.) seems to reflect a paradoxical anxiety afflicting not just Americans – but every economy crippled by the boom that went bust all over the world.

Jantzen’s photos are visually Picasso-esque, but are perhaps Kafka-esque in meaning.

“Most of my work merges art, architecture, technology, engineering, and sustainable design into one unique experience,” he explains on his site. “I do not consider myself an architect, but rather an artist and inventor who often uses architecture as an art form. The artifacts that evolve from my work are not as important as their broader implications.”

Such as: the support beams. Where are they as the floors crack underfoot, the roof caves in overhead, the crown molding collapses, and the colossal crumbles?

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Michael Jantzen takes my breath away. The 61-year-old sustainable designer visualizes structures like an uninhibited preschooler, then harnesses his nearly four decades of experience, allowing him to turn fantasy into function. His structures are the perfect place to do some work, read a book, practice yoga, have a dance party or meditate.

Jantzen’s latest creation is called The Revolutionarium, a space that he deems a new kind of solarium. The prefabricated modular, interactive, functional art structure, is designed to stimulate the creativity of its occupants, Jantzen says. It can also be used as a greenhouse.

At 26 feet in diameter, and 14 feet high, it will be constructed from sustainably-grown wood products, steel, and glass. Four wooden screens can be pulled around the cylinder in a myriad of combinations, allowing the user to control the amount of light and heat from the sun; screens can also be used to control privacy. Eleven windows around the top of the steel and glass cylinder can be opened for ventilation.

If you want to power up your computer, electrical power can be supplied by a small, vertical-axis wind turbine. Photovoltaic solar cells can also be added to supplement the turbine. Energy captured will be stored in a series of batteries housed beneath the floor.

The Revolutionarium shown here is fitted with a movable center desk and chair structure that supports several computers. There’s also a specially designed light and ceiling fan combination mounted above the desk.

Remember the tree house growing up? Well life’s just gotten a whole lot better.

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