A Roof Upended
2007
Open Satellite
Bellevue, Washington
Los Angeles-based Olga Koumoundouros examines the legacy of mid-20th century utopianism in an architectonic installation created with collaborator Leigh Jerrard during her residency at Open Satellite. Inspired by Bellevue's breakneck growth, Koumoundouros describes the abandonment and demolition of once promising single-family structures to make way for high-rise, mixed-use and amenity rich apartment communities.
Constructed in part of salvaged materials from Bellevue building sites, and serving as a series of questions about the financial and social success of the evolving housing model—What are the promises of the new model and who benefits? Did the old model fail or expire?—the installation is the most recent conversation in Koumoundouros's ongoing dialogue with the American Dream.