Kirsten Dirksen from faircompanies.com just sent me a new video she produced about a transformable tiny apartment in Barcelona.
When Christian Schallert isn’t cooking, dressing, sleeping or eating, his 258 square foot apartment is an empty cube. To use a piece of furniture, he has to build it.
If Christian wants to sleep, he rolls his bed out from under the balcony, his stairs then become bedside tables and he can even swing a TV out from the wall.
When he is ready to dine, he lowers a plank from the wall, turning his flower-stand into a table support and using his stairs as a bench.
When it is time to cook, he clicks a spot on his vast wall of click-able furniture, and a spring-loaded door swings up to reveal an instant kitchen: double-burner, dishwasher, sink, countertop and microwave oven. The full-sized refrigerator and freezer click open just alongside. You really have to know what is behind door number two.
The apartment is located in Barcelona’s hip Born district, the tiny apartment is a remodeled pigeon loft. Christian (a Barcelona-based photographer) says its design was inspired by the space-saving furniture aboard boats, as well as the clean lines of a small Japanese home.
There is definately more work involved in constructing and deconstructing your dining room/kitchen/bedroom every day or meal (one of his friends has dubbed it “G.I. Joe’s flat”), Christian claims it helps keep him in shape.
In the video, Christian shows his lego-style home and invites a few friends over to cook and lunch with him in his small space.
I really like his space! Someday I hope to have a chance to try my hand at living in a tiny space that’s got hidden stuff like that. I have to say that he’s probably keeping in shape only partially from moving stuff around all the time but I’m guessing the 100 steps up and down make a huge difference too. LOL!
I watched this with my 4 kids and we all loved it! They all said “Can we build a home like that?” One of my sons even said “I think I would like 100 stairs!” I don’t know about the stairs but that is the coolest homes I have seen in a long time. Christian is also very etertaining and gave a very good tour.
This is really great! Lets face it, where do people congregate the most anyway…the kitchen!
Would love to see the bathroom area. Was it on the video? I can’t get video to download on dialup.
Brilliant! Who designed it, Christian? Who built it? How can we all get one?
When you wrote Lego in Barcelona I was thinking of another small apartment, cubed-up furniture design I’ve seen elsewhere. This one is much, much better than that! The only criticism I have for the design is that shower. Someone very tall would have a tough time in that shower, and the door should swing out, not in.
I loved the mixed use of the blond plywood and the gray concrete board, and the fact that even in the shower, things were hidden away.
Beautiful design and execution.
OK, this is not about this particular post. I just read Little House on a Trailer’s latest post about some finished Rooms of our Own selling for $15-35,000. Disgusting. This flies in the face of this social tinyhouse movement. Let’s just buy blue jeans from Calvin Klein. Is there a point in buying a tinyhouse from someone else because (once again) someone is incapable of building their own? And let’s make sure we stick it to them as hard as we can!! These tinyhouses will be show pieces before long. Little House on a Trailer’s website isnt taking comments!
Wow!
Impressive use of space and I love his happy attitude.
Wasn’t sure from the description if I’d like this or not but I am definitely a convert! Very well thought out and a nice esthetic, if a bit modern for my tastes. There’s no reason you couldn’t make something like that in a different style though, very adaptable. The 100 stairs – ouch! but makes more sense than going to the gym to use a stairmaster. The bed under the balcony is genius.
Wow, just…wow. What a fantastic space. He makes use of every square inch, there’s no clutter and yet it such a liveable home.
I agree that the shower door should swing out but, other than that, I love everything about it.
Kudos!
It might look a bit better if everything on the wall wasn’t covered, especially the kitchen area could be left open (no door) all the time, it might even feel bigger that way. The area by the bed, table, balcony is tremendous…
It’s great to see someone think outside the box when it comes to utilizing a small space for multiple uses! I think it would be great to use some of the features of this apartment in a house here in the states! I wonder if there would be a way to incorporate some more features to make the space feel bigger. There aren’t a whole lot of windows, and maybe facing some of the modular components with mirrors would make the space feel larger? There is a lot of potential though!
I really enjoyed the LEGO apartment concept. What amazes me is how often a DISHWASHER is included in a tiny house. For low number of occupants in small houses it would be easier/more cost effective to NOT have a dishwasher and waste that precious space.
This video was longer than a lot of them have been. I think it gives a better idea about how he really lives in that small space. Christian really has a practical space. There is so much storage and unless the bed is out you have full use of the space. Even with the kitchen or table out there is still a lot of room. It’s great for a single or cozy couple. LOL
Yes, the shower door should definitely open out. I love the toilet being in a separate little room with a window. Not sure about the bed, but I wonder if sliding it into a space sideways wouldn’t be better. Of course, I adore loft beds and think that they should be everywhere. Otherwise this is wonderful.
What a creative way to utilize space! Christian’s presentation is fun and entertaining.
brilliant! both the house, and i must say kirsten & company at the faircompanies do a great job with their videos too.
when i first saw the video length (9+ minutes), i thought it was going to be too long, and almost didn’t watch it. however, the time *flew* by, and i loved every second of the tour! great space, entertaining tourguide, and fabulous video production to showcase it all.
–sgl
I like the shower door going inwards, because it prevents water from dripping into the main room every time the door is opened outwards after the shower. He probably took that into account when he designed it and it works for him. It’s a little extra effort when exiting the shower, but a lot less effort needed to dry up the floor (A mat would take up more space).
Well, that is just the coolest thing! Put a 1-car garage underneath with space for a washer/dryer and it is perfect!
job well done again- a very fun video and what a cool place- I think, patience-wise, having to assemble and unfurl each ammenity for use would drive me nuts, but the concept is very clever and probably would suit others very well.
-Deek
Relaxshacks.com
I sooooo love this apartment. I love the playfulness of this guy and what he has created. Cool post. Thanks.
A-ma-zing! You know…I’d pay decent money to rent the place out for a week’s/month’s stay on vacation…
hmmm…
–S
thanks Shalin… i never had a Video posted of me and my very private space. so its quite interesting to read all the comments…
as i have another place to live longterm i use it only for specific moments. and because so many people were asking to rent it i decided to put it out there on the market for special people who take care of the space and who just stay for couple of days… so if you are interested in renting please get in contact with me: christian@churreriaphoto.com
thanks again and maybe see you at some point
c
Clearly a designer thing. It feels pretty cold to me. He mentionned Japanese inspiration. I stayed with a Japanese family for a while, they had colourful curtains with motifs behind the glass door to hide contents of the cupboards. Much nicer and warmer. As for the kitchen I don’t get it, I would feel uncomfortable having that plank over my head. Why not use a “rollable” curtain (rolls up, I don’t know how it’s called in english).
Also just what do you do when you have closed everything? Practice on a Yoga mat? It’s not like he had a foldable workout bench with weights, or a jacuzi, or a gaming room.
I guess he likes the emptiness feeling. I really like removing all the cruft too, but not that way I guess. Still, very well done.
Wonderful thinking out of the box by putting everything in a box!
Very Cool !!
Sweet! My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a 650 sq ft home for our family… we also have a 7 yo son and 2 parakeets. I’ll be blogging about the move… the major downsize (we’re currently living in twice the space). 🙂
WAUW!!!
Great space!!
Do you live here full time?
It loks like a big caravan, with I like.
Would love to spend some time there!
Do you ever rent it?
Greetings from the Netherlands
Amazing! I love places that utilize every bit of space. Very innovative and inspiring. We have grown too accustomed to space and stuff. This apartment would not only be a good way of literally minimizing your living footprint, but also force you into consuming only what you really need. Thanks for sharing!
I absolutely love that space!!! It does make me think of a small boat or a camper. Well done!
the bed/ raised balcony /stair combo is really brilliant. its given me an idea !