The Equinox House

The intention of the Equinox House is to reawaken the relationship between people and natural cycles. Designed to celebrate the 2023 fall equinox on September 23, 2023, the installation embodies nature-informed design practices while activating connections to past, present, and future generations.

The spatial installation is a temporal travel bound structure that embodies celestial alignment and foreshadows dwelling practices of an Indigenous future. Temporary construction techniques, regional materiality, textile practices, and directional alignment are composed to reignite architectural knowledge of seasonal shift and natural cycles in the Equinox House.

Recognizing sacred cardinal directions, the north and south doors introduce the space and are framed with black rectangular folded felt, juxtaposing with the primary circular profile of the structure. The central column of the structure ties together internal and external elements, including the top exterior nylon skin with four apertures, representing the four winds. The base of the column is positioned on a mirrored floor panel representing the sacred direction below into Earth and reflecting back the last central direction into one’s self. A multicolored woven textile representing the interconnection held with the universe was centered on top of the column while a beam on the east-west axis balanced the circular three-dimensional star maps on each end. The three dimensional maps outlined and aligned with the star studded sky at sunrise and sunset, while the central column aligned with the sun at high noon, on the fall 2024 equinox that took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Designers, Gallegos and Diddy, created cosmic maps and celestial diagrams expressing their unique design identity. The selected map materials represent the aesthetic and sustainable elements utilized across Indigenous construction techniques while honoring cultural forms of expression. Gallegos’ cosmic map plots the variety and sizes of stars and constellations, the moon, and the north star the moment the sunsets to the west. Diddy’s cosmic map, composed of weft threads, satin ribbon, and grass, speaks to Navajo weaving practices passed through Spider Woman while incorporating moments of reciprocal ancestral motifs utilizing semi-arid regional fibers and materials.

Regional materials and new lighting technologies shift based on the house’s location and visual narratives shared from community members. While the first site was the desertscape of Albuquerque and wetland of Valle de Oro, adobe, pine, juniper and cholla cactus were central to the space. For the urban north east coast location of New York City, oyster shells, moss, cattails, and water were embodied in the House.

Visual narratives of seasonal change and celestial alignment from the greater Indigenous community were projected onto the free standing structure harmonizing with the collective elements.

While in New Mexico, the House was primarily experienced in the arid day at the height of the Equinox in September. At the white gallery space in New York City, the House was activated at night in late October complementing the coastal reflective surfaces of the urban landscape.

The Equinox House was designed and constructed on site by Anjelica S. Gallegos and Miriam Diddy as part of the larger First Future Project. The endeavor was supported by the Fulcrum Fund grant made possible by 516 Arts as a partner in the Regional Regranting Program of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Frederick Hammersley Fund for the Arts at the Albuquerque Community Foundation.

The Equinox House is now located with the ISAPD Yale chapter for another future adaptation.