Small yet refined

As a young boy Leonardo Di Chiara was amazed at how much his parents could stow inside their sailboat. “I had two dreams,” says the architect, “to be independent and to travel.” He's long since accomplished both: Di Chiara tours through Europe with a house on wheels that he calls “aVOID” and presents it at architecture and furniture trade fairs

“aVOID” is an entire program. The name riffs on the dual meanings of empty expanse, i.e. “void” and “to prevent,” i.e. “avoid”. To realize his goal of living in a 9 square meter space – and even inviting guests over – the young Italian opened his mind to all possibilities. Inside, chairs and tables fold down out of the wall, drawers roll out on tracks and the foldaway bed transforms into a double bed thanks to a magic folding trick. Di Chiara turns, rolls and pushes, conjuring a ladder out of the wall to climb up onto the roof patio and pushing the open doors of the cabinet inside. He's selected the HAWA Folding Concepta 25 sliding solution for the kitchen doors. The entire furnishing setup is typical of a “Tiny House”: a micro house with all the essentials, on a tiny footprint. “The less you have, the freer you are. This attitude extends far beyond just living,” explains Di Chiara. To spark enthusiasm among wider circles, he founded a “Tiny House University” in Italy.

High standards for a small space
No matter how small spaces get, they have to meet two opposing demands: for security and privacy, on the one hand, and social contact, on the other. Dr. Sonja Friedrich-Killinger, a psychologist and psychotherapist specializing in issues relating to homes and living, emphasizes this challenge. It's advantageous, she says, when light suffuses the apartment through large windows and the view outside conveys an expansive feeling. “Nature is always changing and offers ideal sensory stimulation.”

Studies show that patients in hospitals recover more quickly if their room offers a view of greenery. For developments with micro-apartments, Friedrich-Killinger recommends semi-public areas in which the residents can find reprieve from their compact apartments and mingle with others if they so choose. “Laundry rooms and sterile hallways just won’t do. A shared kitchen and café niche are much more effective solutions.” Even furnished rental apartments need customizable areas: “People have a need to personalize their living space. Apartments set up in a purely functional manner have a depressing effect over the long-term,” says Friedrich-Killinger: “Every micro-apartment must offer space for a plant or picture.” Large investors that take such aspects into account need not engage in extended advertising for their microliving construction projects. “There’s high demand for small living units, as long as their centrally situated. Our 50 newly built micro-apartments in Zurich were all rented within just a few weeks,” discloses Manuel Gamper, CEO of City Pop AG. Artisa, its parent company, builds Swiss residential buildings with 1,000 micro-apartments, each 25 to 35 square meters. They are conceived as limited-term rental apartments. One enters the bathroom through a soundproofed sliding door; using a hydraulic lever, the bed can be folded down out of the wall, then extended over the sofa. If the storage space in the apartment is not sufficient, the residents can additionally rent a storage locker.

Apartment seekers of all stripes
Who lives in micro-apartments like these? “Many business people and expats, but also people who have separated from their partner and urgently need a new living solution,” says Gamper: “Others come as students or want to live in the city center following retirement.” Artisa is planning 15,000 micro apartments in five additional countries. One has to wonder if the mobile “aVOID” dwelling will eventually be market-ready.