Micro-Apartments in Big Cities: A Trend Formation

Imagine waking up in an apartment 15-by-15-foot that still manages everything you need. Bed crumbling walls, and a breakfast table extends from the rear of the bed after it was hidden. Instead of cabinets, a corner finding overhead suspended from the ceiling. Company coming? Get stools that stack like nesting dolls in an apartment ottoman.Micro-, in some cases smaller than a college dorm room, is a plant in North American cities as urban planners trial a new type of housing to accommodate the growing number of single professional, students , and adults. Single-person households made up 26.7 percent of the U.S. total in 2010, compared with 17.6 percent in 1970, according to Census Bureau data. In urban areas, the proportion is often higher: In New York, nearly 33 percent. Boîtes And it's not just for singles. The idea is to become more efficient and ultimately to offer cheaper rent. To drive change, some waiving city zoning regulations to allow construction of smaller dwellings in selected sites. In November, San Francisco reduced the minimum requirement for a pilot project of 220 square meters, from 290, to two efficiency units. In Boston, where most homes have at least 450 sq ft, the city has approved 300 new units as small as 375 sq ft. With the blessing of the local government, a developer in Vancouver in 2011 to convert a single room occupancy hotel in 30 "micro-lofts" in below 300 sq ft Seattle and Chicago have the green light micro-apartments. "In the future, this trend will continue," said Avi Friedman, a professor and director of the Home Affordable Research Group at McGill University School of Architecture. An increasing number of people choosing to live alone or do not have children, he said. Among these groups, many are choosing on the outskirts of the city to reduce reliance on cars and commute time cut. "Many people are aware that there is a lot of value to the town," he said says.Friedman calling for new modes of micro-habitat "Europeanization" of North America. In the UK the average is only 915 square meters. In the U.S. the average new single-family home is 2480 square meters. The National Association of Home Builders expects to shrink 2152 square feet 2015.Small perpetrator has strong roots in Japan, where land is scarce. "It's just the way things have always been done," said Azby Brown, an architect and author of The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space. Three hundred square feet may seem strict, but assume that the history of Japanese families living in row houses are equipped with 100 square meters of housing and communal areas were great. After World War II, Japan's home grown, though not much by American standards. In the late 1980s the average Japanese house-sized 900 square feet. Tight quarters require ingenuity and compromise. Think Japanese futon or under-the-counter refrigerator, features European apartment. Murphy bed gets a sleek makeover with a mock-up of micro-apartments-on exhibits at the Museum of the City of New York. Room 325 square meters, designed by New York architect Amie Gross, also featuring tables with wheels that can be hidden under the kitchen table and a flat screen TV that slides along the rails became attached to the built-in shelves. Visual tricks such as high ceilings and materials for different floor space feel roomier.The event, titled "Making Room: New Housing Models for New York," shows some entries from a design competition sponsored by the New York Department of Housing Preservation and developed. The winning team, consisting of the Monadnock Building, Actors Fund Housing Development and nArchitects, secured permission to build a 10-story building in Manhattan are made of steel prefabricated modules. Some of the 55 units as small as 250 square feet. "The hope is that with more supply should help affordability of apartment types, so that children or adults are able to live closer to the center and back and forth for the time being," said Mimi Hoang, co-founder of nArchitects. Even small properties are not cheap, at least not in the per square foot. In San Francisco, where two of the project, the rent will range from $ 1,200 to $ 1,500 per month. In New York, the 20-odd units for low-and middle-tenants will start from $ 939. Ted Smith, an architect in San Diego, said the single is a better breakfast by the studio efficiency suites residence with communal areas for cooking, dining, and entertainment. "The market does not like some of the motel rooms to live in," he said. "There has to be cool, hip build love all and go, 'Man, small units outstanding,' not 'I think I can put it up.'" The bottom line: Developers of micro-apartments targeting urban professionals living alone. Quarters may be small, but not rents.