There are a number of reasons one might situate one house on top of another, but chief among them seems to be inevitably high visibility of the endeavor coupled with its sheer WTF-inducing effect. In recent years, rooftop dwellings have cropped up in all corners of the globe, but a recent project by Slovak artist Tomáš Džadoň might be the most thoughtful example of this Yertle-the-Turtle-like impulse to stack. Over 50 percent of the Slovak population lives in what are known as paneláks, the Soviet-era apartment blocks synonymous with the urban centers of the former Soviet bloc. Džado? himself grew up in one, and wanted to confront himself and others with more traditional Slovakian architecture. To that end, the artist moved three traditional drevenica cabins on to the roof of a high-rise in the city of Košice.
The log cabins were taken apart at sites in central Slovakia, trucked to the city, and moved to the roof by crane. It took Džado? around two years to get all the permits in order, and pass his plans by the architect and engineer of the tower, and this attention to the bureaucratic hurtles of development should ensure that this installation lives on indefinitely, unlike some dwellings on dwellings that will certainly be missed. People won't be living in them, but considering that the homes were set to be turned into firewood, this seems like a pretty strong, even confrontational way to shake up the usual preservation narrative. Meanwhile, in overcrowded NYC, when this kind of thing happens they just call it "housing."
· tomas dzadon places log cottages onto kosice tower rooftop [Designboom]