Accommodation is the need of the hour and "the global village" has now been hit with a new raging trend - Micro Apartment Living.
Micro apartments are small studio apartments, roughly 15-by-15 foot studio spaces with every built in amenity that one could possibly ask for. These tiny spaces have beds and tables that disappear into the walls when not in use, storage spaces in the most unlikeliest of places, and these tiny apartments use the concept of space management in a smart and trendy way. To add to the list of advantages, the apartments not only offer compact-comfy living but are also cheap to rent and buy.
The demand for these apartments has caught on in every major urban city. Just in January, 2013, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City announced the commencement of the city's first micro apartment project - "My Micro NY". While other American cities like Boston, Chicago and Seattle are considering the idea of tiny apartments, San Jose has already built a 42 unit micro apartment, reports Business Journal.
London is also considering tiny apartments as an alternative, Paris is already known to have these compact living spaces. The humongously crowded cities of the East like Singapore and Tokyo have used the idea most efficiently.
Check out some great micro-apartments here.
Architects think that the concept of tiny apartments works best for singles and working professionals. Developers are targeting urban professionals whose needs are minimal. The compact living space offers less clutter and comfortable living at cheap rents, reports Businessweek.
"The market does not want little motel rooms to live in. There needs to be cool, hip buildings that everyone loves and goes, 'Man, these little units are wonderful,' not 'I guess I can put up with this,' " a San-Diego based architect, said to Businessweek.
However, the tiny apartment living has not been accepted positively by everyone. Some people who have already tried living in micro rooms have called it a "claustrophobic living experience".
According to Betsy Morais, an editorial assistant at The New Yorker:
"A tiny apartment forces you out of it, squeezing you from your private quarters into public spaces. Which can be both an attraction and a drawback of urban life: a city is not for shutting yourself in your apartment, no matter the size. A city is where you retreat outside."
Considering the housing crisis, going small is the only solution for urban living, says the Business Insider. Now, the trend has caught on, looks like it is here to stay.
