8 SsD Architecture: Songpa Micro Housing, Seoul, 2014 The spatial limitations of the micro apartments here are compensated for by semi-private open interstitial spaces that form shared thresholds through which multiple units can be combined. This matrix is complemented by “shared living rooms” that can be used by both residents and neighbors – a micro auditorium and a café in the lower level as well as a gallery and work spaces above the open ground floor.
7 Naruse Inokuma Architects: LT Josai, Nagoya, 2013 LT Josai reacts to a growing social trend in Japan in which singles decide to share a living space temporarily or more permanently without knowing one another beforehand. Their private rooms surround an open, split-level common space spanning all floors. Even the bathrooms are shared.
increased flexibility has been helpful here: downsizing has become an acceptable option, housing has become more temporary or is fundamentally not thought about in permanent terms, establishing a household and a family is often postponed. The number of single-person residences is again on the rise and shared accommodation is – beyond one’s time as a student – increasingly more attractive 7. Micro Apartments The development of micro apartments, based on the concept of serviced apartments from the hotel sector, is also an attempt to create living space in otherwise often unaffordable central urban areas. By implementing spatial scenarios that change throughout the day and built-in, multifunctional furniture like flexible tables, folding beds or compressible wardrobes – and at times a conscious removal of ancillary
9 narchitects: Carmel Place, New York, 2016 The project grew out of a publicly funded initiative to create affordable housing for the growing number of single-person households in New York. 22 of the 20–33.5 m² apartments are subsidized, 33 are offered at market price. The modular, prefabricated micro apartments are centrally located in Manhattan and complemented by service and other shared facilities.
functions from the apartment or an increase in available resident services – they try to systematically minimize the required space for each individual. Their diverse manifestations are inhabited by singles, business travelers or commuters: common among all iterations, however, is that living here often remains impersonal and asocial, as residents can bring in little personal furniture and it is difficult to entertain guests 8, 9. Outsourcing While such developments are indicative of a new trend in many metropolitan areas, they are a long-established standard in the cities of Japan. The resulting building configurations are closely connected to the characteristics of their urban context, since original functions of living such as food preparation and eating have been in part “outsourced” to the
public sphere. The forms of the urban and individual spheres complement and necessitate one another 10. DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE: DIVERSIFICATION The increasingly heterogeneous nature of society has led to a broad multiplicity of ideas on possible housing forms, a multiplicity that still cannot be satisfied by the existing housing inventory 11, 12. But having adequate design ideas for these other modes of living is not only what matters, rather it must be accepted that the permanence of a chosen way of life – heretofore simply assumed as a constant – is hardly valid anymore. The diversification of apartment size, layout and standards is an important criterion among all these trends when taking a variety of lifestyles and incomes into account. In or-
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10 architecture WORKSHOP: Klarheit, Tokyo, 2008 On the entrance levels of the maisonette units, working spaces are lined up along the transparent central corridor. In the living spaces above and below, internal staircases, kitchenettes, bathrooms, and sliding doors serve as filters behind the floor-to-ceiling glazed facades.
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11 Nakae, Takagi, Ohno: NE Apartment, Tokyo, 2007 House for motorcycle enthusiasts.
12 Riken Yamamoto & Field Shop: Local Community Area (theoretical proposal), 2012 The “Local Community Area” concept questions the sustainability of the nuclear family as the smallest social entity and instead proposes an urban community with roughly 500 residents. The relationships between the private and collective spheres are completely rethought: the family is no longer the only basis for shared economic activity or mutual and reciprocal care, and the exclusive rights to individual rooms are reduced to a minimum in favor of shared areas wherever possible. Two types of spaces are offered – for rent only, to ensure that constant adaptation to social changes remains a possibility. Open, transparent rooms can be used as commercial spaces, offices, studios, or as private verandas, forming an interface with the community. Enclosed units can be occupied as more conventional private households. Bathrooms, however, are shared, which is more efficient than providing each unit with its own.