The other week I wrote about micro-apartments in San Francisco as a potential solution to the city’s housing crunch. I mentioned that I thought 220 square feet sounded a bit small for a full-time dwelling, even for a single person.
But that’s positively luxurious compared to … the world’s smallest house.
The One Square-Meter House is exactly what it sounds like — a tiny structure that provides just enough room to sit or, when tilted on its side, to lie down and sleep … using common materials, the house can be built for about $300. It has a roof, a lockable door, a foldout desk and a window. And that’s about it.
A square meter.
My first thought was, what’s the point, really? How much of your life can you fit into a single square meter? Especially when you’re in there too?
But then again, even with a mere nine square feet of space, you do get four walls. You do get some refuge and isolation from the outside world. You do get a (very small) space to call your own. That has some value in and of itself.
The house’s designer seems to see it the same way:
And, in the future, he says he’d love to create a mobile app that lets people find, unlock and temporarily claim the tiny houses that would be set up in public places from city to city.
“It would be great,” he said, “if someday you’d have an app on your iPhone, or your smartphone, where can say ‘Where is the next one square meter of freedom in this place? I need to calm down or I need to concentrate. I need to pray or cry or whatever — I would just like to be by myself now for just a couple of minutes or for the whole night.’”
And who among us hasn’t occasionally needed a short respite from the energy and cacaphony of the city?
(thanks to The Angry Resident for finding this for me)
Place is everything.
Posted on August 10, 2012
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