Japanese-Mexican sculptor Kiyoto Ota has built three wooden houses designed to make their inhabitants feel vulnerable rather than safe, including one that sucks the air from the interior and another that rains on anyone inside.

On show at Mexico City's Museo Universitario del Chopo, Ota's Tres Casas Extraordinarias (Three Extraordinary Houses) each structure is shaped like a small dwelling, but intended to be uninhabitable.
"I'm erasing the function of the house, so for me it's like a sculpture rather than a house," said Ota, speaking to journalists through a translator. "[They] take out the concept of the house where you feel safe, instead you feel vulnerable."

The first of the three, named Casa Vacía (Empty House), is modelled on the artist's parents' home in Japan. Cruciform in plan, it has doors on its front and back wings, and three fans integrated into the walls on the other two sides. These fans suck the air from the interior, so anyone inside would feel their breathing restricted. The roof is capped with cat-faced gargoyles, which were added to symbolise loneliness.

"Every time I go back to Japan, I visit this house and it feels empty," he said. "So it's a symbol of that feeling."
The second residence, Casa de Lluvia (Rain House), has a simple ellipse shape and a steep shingled roof. Its only room experiences a constant downpour from the ceiling, showering anyone who enters ? although this is prohibited at this exhibition....