The Micro Compact Home by Horden Cherry Lee Architects and Haack + Höpfner Architects is small, just 76 square feet but it is packed all the things you need to call it a home. Being thin would be an asset too.
[caption id="attachment_191" align="aligncenter" width="475" caption="The Micro Compact Home"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_194" align="alignright" width="200" caption="The kitchen/bathroom wall."]
[/caption]Billed as "smart living for a short stay" by it's creators the m-ch echoes themes and packaging tricks from traditional Japanese Tea Houses, boating interior design and european train compartments. The home is highly organized and a great amount of thought has gone into the placement of everything.
With the Micro Compact Home, Horden with his team and associates takes a good run at Corbusier's "machine for living" theme and bring it to a wonderfully 21st century conclusion. We say conclusion because we honestly don't see any way to make a livable house any smaller and still offer the comfort and convenience that we modern people demand.
The home contains (remember 76 square feet) two double beds, a table and seating area for five, HVAC, kitchen, full shower bathroom, two flat-screen tv's, internet and telephone. Optionally you can add passive solar elements, solar panels and wind turines for power generation. MCH seems perfect as an additional space for out of town guests and is actually being used in an experiment on the campus of Technical University Munich. Known as the O2 village (named after the sponsoring German Telecom Company) the experiment houses six students and thier professor and creator of the mch, Richard Horden. The students were originally supposed to stay just one semester but have become so enamored with thier little village that they have all requested extensions and wish to stay the whole academic year.
[caption id="attachment_193" align="alignright" width="275" caption="One bed is located over the dining/workspace."]
[/caption]I have to admit that standing inside the MCH you do feel a little, well, confined. This could be just me who at 330 pounds may need a little more space than most. Also, since there was a line to get in to the MCH there was not much time to relax and experience what it would be like to live in the piece for a period of time more than the four minutes or so that I was allowed. Still, even though there were about 75 people in the lot where the houses are located next to MOMA, the inside was tranquil and quiet. I could imagine using one as a writer's studio.
The fit and finish of the house was on par with the System 3 and Celophane houses. Far better than the Burst 008 and less "goofy" than the NOLA house.
Still, at 2.2 tons the house can be trucked, or airlifted vitually anywhere. One would assume that tv and internet would then be satelite-based. The projected cost of the production home is €50,000 ($72,077 as of 09.21.2008).
I have an idea where I could put some of them already.
Horden Cherry Lee Architects
Haack + Höpfner Architects
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