courtesy: NY Times
When on thinks of small living quarters one usually things of a studio, a trailer home, a tent used by Native Americans or the roaming Mongolians, even the charming life style conditions of far eastern cultures of China or Japan. But these fail in comparison to the recent trend of a micro living style.
Cramming your life to a small living situation is a test on to itself
that requires discipline and a true appreciation of the basic needs to
“survive.” The world of “McMansions” and Cambridge homes bursting out of
nowhere to capture our attention and filling us with a sudden insatiable desire
to live well beyond our means is being replaced with the realization that all
that space is just not necessary. The first thing that 3 bathrooms, 7 bedrooms,
4 floors of endless space, brings to mind is “What am I going to fill this
with?” It’s just more spare space to fill, more things to buy and more money to
spend when it most likely will end up in a storage facility. When is it enough
room? Does anyone even that much room anymore?
Three places that have started to embrace and understand this cultural
living shift are New York, Chicago and from the other side of the pond, Poland.
The idea of smaller living conditions isn’t new, or on par with the invention
of the wheel, but it is re-inventing it to today’s urban lifestyle of the ever
growing population, economic struggle, and self awareness that the more room
you have, the more junk you have to fill it with.
courtesy: NY Times
New York City planners are currently developing living spaces “the size
of a modest hotel room” to target their issues with space and the growing
population. The apartments will be 325 sq ft, breaking city regulation with
consent of a minimum of 400 sq ft. Their influences come from Tokyo, Hong Kong
and even Italy, places where a smaller lifestyle is common ,the target audience
being singles.
Chicago takes this a step further with apartments are as small as 150
sq ft. The cost being dramatically lowered but not with the intentions of just
targeting lower income communities but to continue applying the idea of
gentrification, taking away the misconception that smaller apartments and small
living is meant for poorer individuals. The challenge here being the smaller
space and how to truly make it livable and not making you feel crowded.
courtesy: NY Post
In Poland, this has become more a focus of creativity and reinvention,
than necessity for space. Jakub Szeczesny, member of the experimental
architecture group Central has developed an intriguing was to develop a
structure in between buildings, what is known to us as a “gangway” in Chicago.
The structure is full with amenities, bed stove, bathroom, even a reading nook.
courtesy: design-milk.com
Topics to cover/discuss:
Is it something that could catch on, or in some cases spread?
How has the economy as a catalyst, open people to these ideas?
Could you see yourself changing your lifestyle to pursue a simple
living quarter?
Can this be a way to get people more active and involved in the
community?
How do you see this affecting the post recession individual who now
rethinks his or her steps toward making it to the American Dream of middle
class?
Does it prolong it?
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