"Neighborhood in Harmony with Nature: Rush Creek Village" opened last Thursday evening at the McConnell Arts Center in Worthington, Ohio. Beautiful photography, models, and custom furniture highlight a installation by Ohio State Department of Design Professor Jeff Haase and MFA Student Kyle Wallace: a full-scale model of the Pepinsky Guest House.

Fig. 1 > Pepinsky Guest House, designed by Theodore van Fossen, 1959

Fig. 2 > Interior of Pepinsky Guest House © Tom Hogan

Fig. 3 > Interior of Pepinsky Guest House © Tom Hogan

In order to make the piece portable (an important feature to permit the show to travel), Jeff struck upon the idea of using his iPhone and fashioning a jig to insure the consistent and proper range from the surfaces so that photos he took would print out at full scale. In all, he took thousands of photos of every surface of the structure, and then adhered them to the model with wheat paste. The effect is amazing, like an assembled panoramic, fractured, with a cubist sensibility. Walking into or around the model instantly replicates the experience of the actual building. In short time, however, attention is drawn to and held by the variations in shade/color/perspective of the individual images and the original sensation is suspended. A minute later, as the occupant moves about, the brain blends it all back together again and the sense of occupying the Pepinsky Guest House returns. It's a remarkable effect and a remarkable installation.