After Two Months in the Micro-Compact Home
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 01.21.06
Germany's science and party-trivia show, Galileo, this week reported on the experience of the few Munich students lucky enough to have gotten a place in the micro-compact home village experiment. Seven micro-compact homes were set up to test one possible solution to the over-crowded student housing market in Munich, more importantly to test the big question: can a person live comfortably in 2.6 by 2.6 meter? The results are in: Galileo filmed and interviewed one student's experience.
Galileo showed the installation of the teeny homes. Easily transported on a flatbed, the cubes were set in place by a crane with the help of a specially designed bracket so that the uneven weight caused by the heavy kitchen installations opposite the light bed and dining area would not upset the positioning on the pre-installed footings bordering the (rust-free) aluminum terrace and steps. The micro-compact home can then be wired and cabled through fittings designed to make it nearly a plug-and-play relocation experience. Each home in the experimental village has its own small garden, which seems like an essential balance to the restricted living indoors.
Paying 125€ (US$150) rent per month certainly counted as a plus for students in a city where students struggle to cover the costs of living in the most humble of rooms. Complaints surfaced about the bathing facilities; although the technology was admired: a low-flow shower head fitted in a bathroom with slats in the floor to allow water to run through, the student remarked that moistness remained a problem and some ventilation of the mini-bathroom was essential. A second problem was the fire detector, installed above the cooking area. It must be removed before meal preparation or the steam from cooking will set it off. Each of the students in the village keeps a log-book of such complaints, which will be used to improve the next generation.
While admitting to a preference to meeting friends in cafes or public houses (what college student doesn't), the student reported finding the micro-compact home very comfortable to return to for studying with the help of the large flat-screen computer monitor mounted on one wall. And with the usual friendships formed between fellow students, it is common that cooking and meals are shared. A time-lapse of two people preparing a meal on the two induction cookers and in the microwave oven showed a delicate dance of shared space, but four people fit comfortably around the table to enjoy the results. The micro-compact home announces space for 4-5 at dinner, but all agreed five to be tight. And the closing scene of four relaxing in front of the monitor-turned-tv was a cozy gathering that clearly relied on at least two of the crowed being really good friends.
The sacrifice of space is one I would gladly have made in college for a little garden space! The design factor also seems like a big improvement over the concrete boxes I lived in.
More photos, please! :)
Christine, if you're already all the way over in Germany, is there any chance that you could manage a Treehugger exclusive? I'd love to see an interview with one of the cube residents, complete with a photo spread of the interior, and picture examples of the pros and cons of living in such a small space.
Even better would be a 2-part interview; one with a cube resident, the other with the designers/fabricators, exploring where they're planning on taking these things, and whether a greater production run is planned. Specifically, would they be available for purchase in the US anytime soon?
Cheers
I have been living in China now for about ten months...and i forget that one of the few times europeans or americans live in such small spaces is during college...it is the norm in china..i pass several spots every day where people live in about the space of a semi-truck cab sleeper...but they do not get to travel anywhere...in a 2.6 x 2.6 space six workers would be living...and cooking and showering out of a bucket...if china were to imitate the space consumption of america and europe..there is a bigger disaster coming...
I lived and worked for 3.5 years in Yosemite National Park, USA. And for most of that time I lived in a 10ft X 10ft (3m X 3m) cabin *with* a room mate. We had communal kitchens, laundry, bathrooms and meeting areas. I really enjoyed living there. It definitely encouraged you to keep your space neat and get outside whenever possible. You also learned to streamline your possessions. And despite what many would call cramped space, we had up to 6 people sleeping there on occasion. The biggest problem that I found is that when you get tired of your room mate you can't simply go into another room and close the door, you have to deal with the other person. Big houses are definitely over rated.
Although I appreciate this article and also the idea of parasite architecture type of student housing, one thing is just not true about Berlin: The prices did NOT skyrocket. Berlin is indeed heavily struck by the gentrification process also due to the students who make some areas like Friedrichshain so hip that soon after the sushi bars enter the area it gets expensive and by then all former inhabitants were relocated.
Nonetheless Berlin is in Germany and Europe as a whole still one of the cheapest places to live in when it comes to rent. It is cheaper than New York, London, Paris but even Warsaw or Prague.
The main problem of being here is, there are no jobs and Berlin is completely bankrupt as a city because of the infamous banking scandal.
Nonetheless there are huge areas in Berlin that are still incredibly cheap because of their ghetto style demographic structure. In Berlin ghettoes are not really dangerous though, there are no shootings or something, but educated people, especially students do not move there because they are not hip enough or they do not like foreigners, those real ones not coming from the US or EU but from poor countries.
As a student you can live in those areas for almost no money because the landlords subsidise student housing to make areas more hip and expensive so the gentrification process makes it more profitable.
To my previous commenter:
Before elaborating in detail about the Berlin situation you might very familiar with, the Micro-Compact Homes are a reaction on the situation in MUNICH. It may have not been without a reason the the Studentenwerk approach the University of technology in Munich, to propose solutions for the tight situation on the housing market for students. Prof. Richard Horden's institute was the only one responding and actually driving a initially student project into prototype stage. As the MCH may not be the final solution of the problem, it for sure is a valuable contribution. Especially after seeing the ISO-containers next to it, which have been converted into student housing for A LOT of money and do not have the fresh lifestyle spirit of the Micro-Compact Homes.
Hey guys... Just hoping someone would be able to point me in the direction of floor plans for the Micro Compact Homes? If anyone does any help would be greatly appreciated.