With nearly 130 million people living in Japan alone and over 1.3 billion people in China, many Asian architects have been working on a few unique ways to house their inhabitants. Just like Japanese ramen, even some of their tiny homes have become “instant”. These two designs are a few examples of what are being labeled as pop-up houses:
The Tricycle House
This tiny wheeled house from the People’s Republic of China is beneficial to people who may not be able to afford a city apartment or a home with land. The portable house is towed with a bicycle and can be configured in several ways. It’s constructed of translucent polypropylene plastic using a CNC router, it retains its strength during folding such that it can open up and expand for increased space and connection to other units. This tiny structure contains a kitchen with a sink, a bathroom with a small tub and a water tank, a living/ sleeping area with storage and even an attachable outdoor garden.
The Kenchikukagu Apartment
The Atelier-Opa design company in Japan has created a pop-up “apartment”. Each foldaway room (a kitchen, a bedroom and an office) look like rolling cabinets, but open up to show shelving, bedding, seating and individual pieces of furniture. This type of design would only work in an already built shelter since there is no roof or flooring. Currently the Kenchikukagu designs are only available to dealers and cost between 7,000 and 10,000 Chinese Yuan or about $1,120 to $1,600.
Photos courtesy of Jetson Green and Atelier-Opa
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]