A microapartment, also known as an apodment or microflat, is a one-room, self-contained living space, usually purpose built, designed to accommodate a sitting space, sleeping space, bathroom and kitchenette with a size of 4-10 square metres (43-107 square feet, 1.2-3 tsubo). In some cases, residents may also have access to a communal kitchen, communal bathroom/shower, patio and roof garden (though this might be more closely related to a dorm).
The apartments are often designed for futons, or with pull-down beds, folding desks and tables, and extra-small or hidden appliances. Gary Chang, an architect in Hong Kong, has designed a large 344-square-foot (32-square-metre) microapartment with sliding walls attached to tracks on the ceiling. By moving the walls around, and using built-in folding furniture and worktops, he can convert the space into 24 different rooms, including a kitchen, library, laundry room, dining room, bar and video-game room.
Microapartments are essentially modern versions of the British bedsit, and are becoming popular in urban centres in Europe, Japan, and North America, maximizing profits for developers and landlords and providing relatively low-priced accommodation. In Rome, where the average price of property in 2010 was $7,800 per square metre (10.7 square feet), microapartments as small as 4 square metres (45 square feet) have been advertised.
There has been a backlash in some cities against the increasing number of these developments. In Seattle, residents have complained that high-density microhousing changes the character of neighbourhoods, suddenly increasing demand for parking spaces and other amenities.
In January 2013, New York City got its first microapartment building, with 55 units that are as small as 250 square feet (23 m2) and ceilings from nine to ten feet (2.7 to 3.0 m).
See also
- Face-to-face
- Capsule hotel
- List of house types
- Minimalist architecture and space
- Pied-à-terre
- Single room occupancy
- Studio apartment
- Japanese One Room Mansion
Notes
Further reading
- Mackwood, Neil. "A little place in the city", The Daily Telegraph, 6 February 2002.
- Norwood, Graham. "Itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, modern microflat", The Observer, 13 January 2002.
- Russell, James S. "Micro Digs' Sliding TV, Murphy Bed Tempt Singles: Review", Bloomberg, 29 January 2013.
- Tsuzuki, Kyoichi. Tokyo: A Certain Style, Chronicle Books, 1999.
- Weiss, Joanna. "Would you live in a micro-apartment? (And for how much?)", Boston Globe, 25 June 2013.
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