On paper, Apartment A at 348 West 22nd Street is indistinguishable from thousands of other flats in New York. There’s one long corridor linking a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room. Two huge bay windows in the lounge are a clear highlight, while estate agents would surely gloss over the poky, windowless kitchen.
But seen in person, Apartment A is unlike any home you’ve ever visited. It’s not made of bricks and mortar but ghostly sheets of translucent polyester. In a matter of hours, one person could fold up all the rooms and squeeze the entire house into a suitcase.
“You can bring it with you wherever you go,” explains Do Ho Suh, gesturing at the wafer-thin fabric hanging in New York’s Brooklyn Museum. “These days people move around so many times. I’ve lived in so many places, but now I long for homes I’ve left behind. I like the idea that I can transport them and carry them with me.”