A 344 sq. ft. apartment that can be changed into 24 different rooms. Unbelievable!

[Are_grits_groceries]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9qnWg9kak
In Hong Kong, because of the space, apartments are small and expensive. Gary Chang, an architect, decided to design a 344 sq. ft. apartment to be able to change into 24 different designs, all by just sliding panels and walls. He calls this the "Domestic Transformer."

The wall units, which are suspended from steel tracks bolted into the ceiling, seem to float an inch above the reflective black granite floor. As they are shifted around, the apartment becomes all manner of spaces -- kitchen, library, laundry room, dressing room, a lounge with a hammock, an enclosed dining area and a wet bar.
http://www.flixxy.com/apartment-transformation.htm

WANT!

[Stargazer99]

1. Just wait until those that own the means of production

get a hold of this little money maker in the US

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Really? You want that?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we all have to aspire to 10 bedroom McMansions either, but that just seems like more pain than what it's worth, with all the transformations and all. I guess it might make sense in a place like Hong Kong where space is at a premium, but still...

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. It would force me to throw out a lot

of crap I don't need. The rent for such a space would be minimal if I could put the "walls" in myself. I'd like to give it a try. I don't really use a lot of space anyway.

[itsrobert]

9. You would be shooing your cat(s) out of the way of the wall movement

And you would need to pick up the litter box prior also.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. There would have to be

a wall accomodation made somehow. It would be a puzzle to solve. Cats can adapt whether they will admit it or not.

[itsrobert]

7. More trouble than worth in US at least

I noticed his apartment was spotless. But if he had things laying around he would have to do a good pick up of things before he could move those walls. In addition, the whole point of having space is to get away from people. Dad in the kitchen, mom in the living room, kids in the family room, etc. This format pretty much confines people to 1 or 2 rooms at a time. So, it might be good for a single person that keeps his/her house clean all the time, but it won't be any good for the typical American family.

[Warpy]

14. With everything moving that easily, it wouldn't be a big PIA

but entertaining possibilities are pretty slim. You'd all have to go to a bar or restaurant, and considering it's in an urban area, that's usually preferable. No clean up.

I could actually be quite happy in a place like that at this point in my life, but people with kids would find it far too confining. You really do need to be able to get away from the kids, and sliding walls just won't do it.

It really is ingenious. Some developer in Hong Kong could buy the rights to the system and make a packet on it.

[TheMadMonk]

25. So meet in the middle. A small 10 square suburban bungalow could...

...function as a McMansion. At least some of the ideas will have space saving application. One good one I saw used a centre pivoted door to provide a common access to ensuite and walk in robe.

I would love a way to double or triple the capacity of my library. (6000+ books and given up counting.)

[bobbolink]

30. Oh, come on... it would be *wonderful* to have NO SOUND BARRIERS between rooms!

[Oceansaway]

3. thanks...n/t

[nykym]

4. Very Cool

thanks

[azurnoir]

6. Neat - weren't homes in Japan very similar

at least that was my understanding albeit not with the ceiling tracks ect but with sliding wooden and rice paper panels? I have always thought that to be a nice idea even if a bit more space was involved

[haikugal]

8. Way Cool

Oh yeah, I could live there...beautifully done space.

[66 dmhlt]

11. I saw the bathTUB, but where was the bathROOM?

[KittyWampus]

16. There are still flats in Manhattan where the tub is in the "kitchen".

All you get for bathROOM is a toilet and sink.

My friend's old flat in Berlin had toilets in the hallway. Unheated. And yes, it sucked in the winter. For showers you went to the swim house.

I love indoor plumbing. :)

[TommyO]

24. Quite possibly behind the shower stall

At 1:42 in the video, you see the entrance and a shower stall, it appears that there might be some space behind the stall itself for a small water closet.

I was close, it's nestled between the tub and shower, thank you NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/garden/15hongkong.html

[peace13]

12. Thank you for posting this! n/t

[pipi_k]

13. OK, pretty cool, but...

I would suffer serious claustrophobia from being packed into apartment buildings with hundreds...maybe thousands...of other people.

My closest neighbors right now are at least 1500 feet away down the hill and that's close enough.

[KittyWampus]

15. This is enlightening. Thanks! K&R

[architect359]

17. Thanks for the article / vid!

It's very interesting to see another example of real life application of small space design. As a few have remarked, applications such as this is suited for an individual or couple. The space is very intimate and would defintiely tax personalized rituals of living for more than one person.

Such a model could also be used in a modularized or pre-fab manner. The introduction of multiple storage /usage walls give such a small space more flexibility than one would initially assume.

I agree that this is definitely an interactive dwelling model - one become much more of a participant; opening, closing, moving, etc. It seems to make a person more aware of how they live. The down side of course, is the very same active style of living - would it get "old" after a while? Perhaps. Maybe another level of execution of this idea is to account for potential future re-use of the walls.

On the thought of pre-fab modules - perhaps one could also think of these as units that can be added to (if there was space to do so of course). Perhaps if one or two such units can be ganged together - it may allow of the living needs of a family or larger extended group of people.

I remember early in my education, one of my teachers gave us a project to solve a very similar spatial issue. The problem we each were given were 2 volumes of space constrained to 8' x 8' x 8'. One volume was assigned to be a full living space to have everything i.e. kitchen, dining, rest, storage, cleaning, toilet, etc. It must also be able to accommodate guests. We had a bicycle to store - and just to make things worse, we cannot leave it outside. That was the first volume.

The second would be assigned as a work place, a place where we would make our livelihood. To standardized the problem a bit, the work space would be a traditional office. It needed to be a place to "produce" and also allow of client presentations / meetings.

Adjacencies between the 2 volumes were up to us. The manner of windows / openings / surface articulation were also up to us. Orientation (or not) to the solar path is also up to us. The constraint was that it cannot be a fully enclosed box; at least one face must have significant ability to be opened for views and outside air, entry / exit, etc.

Yikes. Sorry for the long winded post. Just wanted to express appreciation of the OP's vid. Ended being a bit of a nostalgic side trip. Well - +1 for that, and another +1 for the OP. :-D

[Heywood J]

19. "Perhaps if one or two such units can be ganged together"

Like this?

[TommyO]

22. That second one is a nice re-use of shipping containers

It would be interesting to see how well Gary Chang's system could be integrated into containers for reused, flexible living spaces. I could see some problems since the containers are both narrower and not as tall as Chang's apartment, but in a 40'ft long container, you could have sections sliding along the length of the container to open and close up spaces as needed.

[architect359]

31. Indeed. Exactly like these examples you cited. eom.

[fishwax]

18. wow! that's pretty ingeniuos!

:applause:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

20. Amazing!

I love seeing really innovative living spaces like that. Thanks for posting it! :hi:

[tonysam]

37. It's REALLY clever

One could pack a lot of stuff into this apartment, almost as much as in a regular house.

Thanks for posting.

[proudohioan]

21. Amazing!

But, like another on here posted, you would have to be a total neat freak for that to work. My family, unfortunately, are not neat freaks.

This kind of reminds me of a show on HGTV called "Small Spaces - Big Design". I don't know if it still airs, but I loved watching how creative some folks are with really tiny spaces.

[Beacool]

23. Vastly cool!!

I liked how efficient it is, no room for clutter.

:D

[NeedleCast]

26. Do Not Want

344 square feet is 344 square feet.

[GreenPartyVoter]

36. I live in a 900 sq ft trailer, so it's pretty easy for me to envision the size of that

apartment would be. Definitely not a good fit for my family of 4.

[TommyO]

27. Bump for the evening crowd

[SoCalDem]

28. I'd be exhausted, moving all that stuff around

:rofl:

I do like the little dome-homes though\

http://kandaka.com/2008/08/17/prefab-japanese-styrofoam-dome-homes/




“The Dome House is an igloo-shaped structure built from snap-together wall sections made of 100% expanded polystyrene foam (styrofoam). It might seem like an odd choice of material for a house, but the company lists a number of advantages that styrofoam has over traditional materials. Unlike wood and metal structures, for example, the styrofoam Dome House does not rust, rot or attract termites. It is also highly resistant to earthquakes and typhoons. In addition, the walls, which are treated with a flame retardant, emit no toxic fumes in a fire’…. <More>

Dome was Built in a day: Diginfo

[Tsiyu]

33. Me too

but thanks for sharing the Dome pics. They have caught my eye.

I am exploring different building designs and I really like the look of these. Wonder how they would do in the trees, like if a tree fell on one, would it be as sturdy as other designs?

Many possibilities there...thanks for that link and pics :)

[Duer 157099]

29. I thought that meant like, subdivided into 24 rooms

You know, so you could have more roommates to share expenses.

[TalkingDog]

32. no, no, no....just reading about it makes me claustrophobic

I'd rather live under a bridge. A wide open big bridge.....


can't breathe......

The bedrooms in our house are about 12 feet x 12 feet. The bathroom between them is about 10 x 12. So that makes these 3 rooms the size of his entire apartment. Add in the sliding panels.....no....Absolutely not.

[TwilightGardener]

34. That's neat, but I'm too lazy to even change my camper's dining table into a bed.

That said, I wish I knew what material his ultra-shiny floor is made of--polished concrete? Whatever it is, I love it.

[GreenPartyVoter]

35. Wow! Talk about Necessity being the mother of invention. That's just amazing. I wonder how

it would work for a home with more than one person in it, who want to occupy different spaces at the same time?