San Francisco: Pre-Fab 160 Square Foot Rooms Will Cost $1,595 Per Month to Lease
March 9th, 2012Ah, the essence of urban living, is it? How about boiling that essence down even further: Japan’s Capsule Hotels Now Coffin-Sized Homes:
Most importantly, it’s cheap. The capsules cost about $30 a night. If he had to stay for a month, it would cost $700 to $1000, a housing bargain in Tokyo, ranked by Mercer as the world’s most expensive city.
The cost is why capsule hotels are finding a new resident: the working poor. Once a symbol of Japan’s prosperity, the capsules were built for the businessman who worked too late to catch the train or stayed out drinking all night. At Miura’s capsule hotel this night, there are no successful businessmen renting capsules. Only men like him, people looking for work.
Via: Berkeleyside:
In a top-secret location in Berkeley, Patrick Kennedy is showing a reporter around a tiny living space — so compact in fact that, at 160 sq ft, it is the smallest apartment one is legally allowed to build.
“It is how small you can go without causing psychological problems,” jokes Kennedy, who, through his company, Panoramic Interests, is responsible for developing swathes of Berkeley. His projects include the Gaia Building on Allston Way, the Berkeleyan Apartments on Oxford Street, and the Touriel Building on University.
The “bijou” apartment in which we are standing, with its trompe l’oeil view of the Bay Bridge, is the prototype for the SmartSpace, a largely prefabricated, furnished space that, when multiplied and stacked together like Lego blocks, creates a fully fledged apartment building.
…
“They distill the essence of urban living in that they are efficient, esthetically pleasing and easily duplicated,” says Kennedy of the units.
The apartments will not offer parking — the assumption being that downtown residents will rely on public transit and/or bikes. The San Francisco units will rent for $1,595 a month.
Research Credit: ottilie
This reminds me of “Brazil” – the movie that is..
Sorta related:
http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/22/85246/9128/travel/Minute+Suites%27+$30+Nap+Rooms+Hit+Philadelphia+Airport