Ottopian House I began with manipulating the plan of John Hejduk's Wall House 2. This exercise was first conducted in 1998 as an exemplary part of "The Benefits of Cyberspace", a paper co-written by Stephen Lauf, Merlyna Lim, and Marcus Ormerod and delivered by Ormerod at Helsinki August 1998.

John Hejduk, Wall House 2 (Bye House), 1972-74 (project), plan of second level.

The first manipulation of the Wall House 2 plan is the widening of the hall bridge by 30 feet. This stretching of the plan also effects the dining room and kitchen area of the house. In reference to the cyberspace of CAD (computer aided design), this is a very simple drawing operation, especially when compared to the much greater amount of drawing effort necessary to perform the same plan change vis traditional hand drafting.

John Hejduk, Wall House 2 (Bye House), 1972-74 (project), plan of second level with the width of the hall bridge widened by 30'.

The next manipulation to the Wall House 2 plan is a rotating of the right face of the 'wall' along with the rest of the house to the right of the 'wall'. This section of the house is rotated by minus 45 degrees. Again, this operation is very simple within the cyberspace of CAD, while likewise being a somewhat arduous task if undertaken by hand drafting.

By this point Hejduk's original plan is still recognizable, but the plan as manipulated is also a wholly new entity. This is ludi ichnographici presented in one of its simplest manifestations, yet the implications regarding graphic dexterity are enormous in that any plan within CAD can be very easily rearranged into a new plan.

John Hejduk, Wall House 2 (Bye House), 1972-74 (project), plan of second level with the width of the hall bridge widened by 30' and the right face of the 'wall' with the rest of the building to its right rotated a minus 45 degrees.

The final change to the manipulated Wall House 2 plan is a reduction in width of the widened hall bridge by 15'. This last alteration renders significant changes within the 'wedge' and dining/kitchen area of the plan as well. When compared with the original Wall House 2 plan it is immediately evident that a new building plan has emerged.

John Hejduk, Wall House 2 (Bye House), 1972-74 (project), plan of second level with the width of the hall bridge widened by 30' and the right face of the 'wall' with the rest of the building to its right rotated a minus 45 degrees and then the hall bridge reduced in width by 15'.

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