With an eye on urbanization, population growth and efficiency, tiny spaces were a big theme at this summersDwell on Design conferencein Los Angeles. Designers from around the world showcased housing and products for living small from transformable furniture and pre-fab trailers to 3D printed interior objects. Often their strategies sought to reduce the human footprint on the environment and save energy as well.
Urban housing supplies are already straining worldwide with 54% of the global population of7.2 billionliving in cities, according to the United NationsWorld Urbanization Prospects 2014 report. By 2050, that number is expected to rise to 6.33 billion, or 66% of aforecasted world population of 9.6 billion.
In North America, about 82% of the total population roughly 473.8 million people lives in urban areas. The number of single-person households is rising, although housing has not kept pace with demographic change. Many of the new units being built are getting smaller and smaller, challenging municipal housing codes and zoning regulations.
…
Cities need to move beyond old-fashioned ideas of what they think people need, and look into alternatives such as micro-units for single-person households and legal shared housing, according to Sarah Watson, deputy director ofCitizens Housing and Planning Council(CHPC). Theres a very fixed idea of what an apartment needs to be, she said. Who you expect to live in the unit will affect the design.
CHPC, which hosted theMaking Roomexhibition on tiny living at the Museum of the City of New York in 2013, has found that 47% of New Yorkers over the age of 25 do not live with a spouse or partner. Many singles share apartments that were designed for families, with large master bedrooms and smaller rooms for children a layout that doesnt make sense for adult roommates. Its a real crisis because it ends up being hugely dysfunctional in the housing market, Watson said.