Know Your Lifestyle.

Going micro doesn't mean that you need to compromise on how you live. Great design comes from understanding your lifestyle and developing a solution that works alongside it, or even better, enhances it. In the examples below, I demonstrate how knowing the specific needs and lifestyles of the occupants can lead to very different outcomes.

At the early stages of the project, it is important to evaluate what you feel are the most important elements defining your life. By identifying the key aspects of how you live, spaces can be arranged to prioritise these functions. In the project above, the client approached Casa 100 Architecture Studio to design a 24sqm apartment for his weekend home. By understanding his short-stay lifestyle, the architect could draw on influences from hotel design to create a space that was open, bright & relaxing.

This DIY housing module, is the result of identifying a need in the market for low cost living aimed at young professionals and creatives living transient lifestyles. Designed as temporary pods, located in abandoned buildings, the landlords would offer these spaces for little rent as a means of providing temporary accommodation and getting property guardianship in return, to protect their assets from squatters. The minimal needs and transient lifestyle of the occupants, meant the designers could efficiently arrange the spaces, keeping costs low.

Knowledge of how you live, isn't limited to lifestyle, but also applies to the object you own. In the image above, 'The 5S Apartment' by Australian architect Nicholas Gurney, the clients were asked to compile a list of belongings that were important to them so that the storage spaces can be organised around them. The '5S Apartment' followed the japanned method of organisation called the "5S principles", see my post Organising Space for more details.