The rate at which the size of apartments is shrinking is directly proportionate to the rate at which the city moves towards urbanization and development. From homes that had sprawling lawns and backyards to those where there is barely enough balcony space to stand and admire the view of the city, it has become pretty evident that we live in times where space is indeed a premium. It is a luxury that cannot be afforded by one and all if you are living in metropolitan cities.
These days, the apartments that come to us can be best described as shoeboxes or pigeon holes. They pretty much seem to end right where they begin with each room looking smaller than the last one. It’s time for you to go the two-in-one style – bedroom-cum-study or drawing-cum-dining room. Off late space crunch has caused one room to become multipurpose. So, you have the living room-cum-dining room-cum-kitchen-cum-TV lobby-cum…
However, while we sit here and crib about our miserable fate and how we can’t have a parlor to serve high tea in or how our friends have to sleep on the floor whenever they stay over, Hong Kong architect Gary Chang has taken a tiny apartment that would make a shoe box feel spacious and turned it into an engineering marvel. It provides you the luxury of 24 very spacious, well equipped and comfortable rooms! Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Gary Chang’s apartment is just a little over 330 square feet and in this space he has a living room, a modern yet compact kitchen with all the essential gadgets, a bathroom with a soaker bath tub, a fold out bed for guests, a spacious closet, a book rack to hold his colossal CD collection, a bedroom, and a projection room with a hammock!
How did he manage to stuff so many rooms into a 330-square foot apartment? Now, this is where you have to raise a toast to Chang’s creative genius. And, the essence of the idea is so simple that I wonder why nobody’s thought of it so far. A futuristic sliding wall system – that’s the secret behind these endless number of rooms. There are tracks on the ceiling and wheels on the floor which help move the walls of the apartment and allowing him various combinations to make the different rooms.
Chang’s philosophy for small spaces is that it means “efficiency and user-friendliness.” He sure has shown us how we can use the available space more intelligently, without having to compromise on the livability of a home.
