4 minute read
Along with the massive urbanization and creation of extremely large cities, there is a high density of population coming up as an issue to be solved. How will real estate of the future look like?
Blend of trend –
one result
It is already a well-known fact that by 2050, over 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. The global urbanization has many impacts to the living. To begin with, countries will no longer be an essential part of an economy. The focus sharpens on the mage cities with their local markets and prosperity. The infrastructure will be reinvented to provide a comfortable and efficient mobility. An innovative approach to future of mobility has been presented by the city of Helsinki with its “mobility on demand“. Another trend that we can witness already today is shrinking of apartment sizes. For example, according to Axiometric Inc, in the US popularity of apartment types has shifted towards one-bedroom and studio making up to 55% of the unit mix. RCLCO reports that new apartment sizes have shrunk by 7%. Besides the migration from rural areas, the main impact on higher demand for small sized spaces is caused by the fact of a lower percentage of marriages and extended period of career building with delayed family construction. At the same time, the prices in real estate continue to climb triggered by increasing demand. All those factors confirm the future of micro living in mega-multimillion cities. To keep cities diverse, the solution is building smart micro living spaces, says[nbsp]Ian Schrager, one of the most real-estate developers.
MIT’s
robo-furniture
MIT Media Lab has been working for several years creating a perfect way to utilize robotics to the rising trend of micro-living. The result is an elegant high-tech modular effortless transformation of interior spaces called Ori. “The Media Lab project was about ambition. It was real, but it was a one off and not ready for mass market. We started thinking about constraints as a company. Reliability and safety are things that don’t matter as much with a concept. We decided to go to the basics. With the touch-control system, if you press harder it will move faster; if you press softer, it moves slower. It makes you feel like you have a superpower,” says Hasier Larrea, Ori’s CEO.
Ori is a big wall of shelves with a closet, double bed, working space, which slides along an apartment separating one room for various space purposes. The shelf is controlled via sensor rigged actuators attached to the side or via mobile app. The next step is to apply sensor or voice control. Ori makes a transformation of a small 30 square meters apartment to function like 60 square metres space possible in mere moments.
“We started to think about what you could do with technology to make 200 square feet feel luxurious. Space should adapt to activities instead of the other way around. We saw robotics in other industries and saw that real estate was so far behind. It’s still building things like the Romans,” says Larrea. Ori can be ordered by individual users or by a real estate company to integrate it to the new micro-living generation of residential buildings.
Luxury of
300 sq.m. house
in 30 sq.m.
How to squeeze one’s life into in 20-40 square meters apartment? An excellence of furniture designers and engineer-mechanics can reverse the limited space from negative to positive advantage, even to make it luxurious. Architecture firm LAAB has succeeded in fitting an American sized kitchen, bath tube, guest room, and even home theater in 30 square meters. The firm presents possibilities of new technologies to advance small spaces. The LAAB established a benchmark for the future of living.
LAAB’s solution is certainly breathtaking. Nevertheless, in down-to-earth life situation, buyers or renters of small spaces are rarely able to invest into smart space fix by leading interior design agency. For more budget solutions there is a number of shape-shifting multipurpose furniture innovations. This trend will develop and market will have lots to offer for owners of small spaces adding a top-notch touch for apartments.
