Good Quotes: Sami Rintala On Excess

Finnish Artist and Architect Sami Rintala on his super simple and compact Boxhome as an antidote to excess: "We are enjoying the highest standard of living ever known to human kind. At the same time we are fully informed of the results of our culture of consumerism. Therein lays the greatest paradox: We are forced to actively forget the real reality to be able to enjoy the facade of excess we have created around us.

Maybe this is how we are meant to be, with few possessions and a small space around us."

Photos via and more info: Sami Rintala

Via: March 2008 issue of Dwell

Comments (8)

"whatever" as in it's equally paradoxical that Rintala's Boxhome reflects the consumerist desire for something new?

or...?

Saw this in dwell. It was dark, depressing, and looked like the inside of a wooden prison.

whatever as in, what a gigantic load of theoretical crap. this little shed is no more an antidote for the consumer cultural miasma than it is a dwelling. the last photo with the earnest fins sitting around the tiny table, all bunched up sums it perfectly. unrealistic.

I am not my possessions but oh how they enhance my life. Dialling down from a hectic day surrounded by things I love . . . this is one of the sincere pleasures of my modest life.

love the outside...saw the inside in dewll and I really did not care for it.

no booze storage. i don't think it will be a top seller in the designer's home market. just a guess.

unrealistic? perhaps not when you have to store your rock band drum kit and dungeons and dragons playing cards somewhere.. if only there was a fabulous games room and finished basement module for you to jam with your buddies in! Please, this place is brilliant. I'll move in if you don't want to.