Could living in Venice build brain cells and boost longevity?

Recently I heard an NPR story on Reversible Destiny Lofts – living spaces designed by Arakawa and Gins that challenge rather than coddle occupants — and was struck by the resemblance of this post-post-modern concept to the Venetian experience. “These places have bold colors, concave floors, doors too short to walk through and columns to hold on to when you lose your balance,” according to NPR’s Alison Bryce. A fuller gloss, offered by we-make-money-not-art.com, describes the lofts this way:

 

Inside the apartments…the floor of the dining room slopes erratically, the one in the kitchen is sunken and the study features a concave floor. Electric switches are located in unexpected places so you have to feel around for the right one. A glass door to the veranda is so small you have to bend to crawl out. You constantly lose balance, gather yourself up, and occasionally trip and fall. There’s no closet space; residents will have to find a way to live there. “[The apartment] makes you alert and awakens instincts, so you’ll live better, longer and even forever,” says Arakawa. (http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/008304.php)

They might consider periodically flooding certain parts of the living space, as well… perhaps the common areas.