Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Nine by Nine: Modular Furniture for 81 Sq Ft Apartments

Posted: 06 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT

tiny apartment modular furniture

If you thought 250-square-foot micro-apartments sounded small, imagine staying in a space less than 100 square feet in size. That was precisely the challenge faced in this project by Vancouver designer D Calen Knuaf.

tiny flat pack modular

Legally, these ultra-small urban units can only be leased for three months at a time by residents and essentially contain a sink station … and nothing else. They are temporary dwelling made available at the lowest possible cost, so materials had to be kept inexpensive yet durable as well.

9X9 furniture collection from calen knauf on Vimeo.

The emphasis in their process was on modular and multi-functional elements, minimal storage just for essentials, and objects that nest inside one another or pack as flat as possible. Minimalist detailing reinforced this approach.

tiny space minimalist design

From the designers: “When working with a 9 foot by 9 foot room, almost everything seems to take up a lot of space, so visual lightness was a priority for us. We used wireframe-style construction to open up the room wherever possible instead of closed in panels. When flat panels were needed, we used bent steel for its low visual profile.”

tiny interior furniture details

“By orienting the hanger rack so that the clothes face the user instead of the conventional method, the wardrobe unit can be pared down to 12 inches deep, taking up less of a footprint into the room. Even reducing visual clutter helps make a room seem bigger, so we included a cable well behind the desk so the user can keep important things on the desk and power cords out of sight.”

Keep Going - Check Out These Great Related Dornob Articles:

Freedom Rooms: Micro Apartments Designed by Prisoners

Modular Marvel: Paris Micro-Home with Pull-Out Furniture

Room in a Box: Ultra-Portable Piece of Pull-Out Furniture

Tokyo’s Tiniest Apartments are Like Expensive Little Closets

The Simple Things: Minimal Folded-Aluminum Seating Set

Posted: 05 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT

minimal furniture

Constructed from millimeters-thin sheets of aluminum, each folded only a few times, this bench-and-stool furniture set is at once simple and complex.

minimal folded metal

Sara Mellone‘s process for construction is straightforward and structurally honest – each piece of aluminum is folded exactly as you see it, and there is not cutting, which minimizes difficulty as well as waste.

minimal strong aluminum

At the same time, the visual results are rich thanks to the reflectivity of the constituent material (except in the cases where it is powder-coated) and the variability of the physical outcome.

minimal furniture detail

No two pieces are alike, and each reflects the same kind of whimsy found in subconsciously-folded slips of paper, which was the inspiration for these pieces in the first place. The series is also a great reminder of the power of conceptual simplicity, and how design doesn’t have to look difficult even when it is.