For those fretting over only being able to afford a tiny, seemingly useless apartment, the above video may provide some solace. Drawing inspiration from boat design, Christian Schallert turned a 258 square foot pigeon loft in Barcelona into what is essentially a fully-furnished studio apartment by having most of the apartment’s furnishings hidden behind unobtrusive walls.
His bed rolls out onto the main floorspace, doubles as a sofa and a bench, and rolls back underneath the apartment’s small-but-functional balcony when not in use. The bed’s night tables double as steps to the balcony, as well as storage space. The kitchen table lowers from a wall, similar to a Murphy Bed, and rests on the apartment’s flower-stand while using the bed as a bench for one side of the table’s chairs. The rest of his kitchen is hidden behind doors that are nearly seamless with the surrounding walls, revealing a microwave, stove, refrigerator, sink and dishwasher when said doors are opened by slightly pushing them in. The toilet is hidden behind a door flush with the rest of the wall, while the shower is essentially a glass cube opposite the bed area.
Though he didn’t mind the continuous construction and deconstruction of the furnishings, Schallert did recently move out of the apartment after getting into a relationship and realizing that, though functional and comfortable, the apartment is not ideal for more than one person.
(*faircompanies via BuzzFeed)
Published: May 11, 2011 03:00 pm