In 2005, third-grade-teacher Eric Schneider bought as big as an apartment as he could afford in Manhattan. He paid $235,000 for a 450-square-foot studio with a tiny kitchen.<\/p>\n
Then he let architects Michael Chen and Kari Anderson of Normal Projects design a way to pack more density into his small space.<\/p>\n
In order to fit more apartment in a small footprint, they created an object that’s bigger than furniture, but smaller than architecture and that morphs with the changing activities of a day.<\/p>\n
It’s a large, blue, oversized cabinet that houses all of the walls\/bed\/tables\/shelving\/closets needed for at least 4 full-sized rooms.<\/p>\n
By continuing to unfold, or fold differently, Schneider can create a bedroom with accompanying built-in nightstand and closets, but an office plus library, a guest bedroom, and a living room. Or close it up entirely and simply flip down the small bar and the room becomes entertaining space for a dozen.<\/p>\n
The Normal Projects architects called their creation the Unfolding Apartment, though given Schneider’s affinity for the Japanese sense of space (he spent his first year post-college living and teaching in Japan), it could as easily be called the Origami Apartment.<\/p>\n
In total, Schneider spent $70,000 total remodeling his new apartment and this includes not just the cabinet, but the bathroom renovation, all cabinetry, kitchen appliances, furniture and dishes.<\/p>\n
In this video, Chen shows us his custom cabinet of rooms and Schneider unfolds a few of his favorite configurations: his bedroom (& closet\/changing room), office (& library), guest bedroom, kitchen, dining bar, living room and lounge.<\/p>\n
Normal Projects\/Michael Chen Architecture: http:\/\/www.normalprojects.com\/
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