Moveable Types: Modular furniture for the design conscious.
If the thought of living in a shoebox sized apartment sends shivers down your spine then you are either: a) a Trustafarian who’s never had to worry about making rent, b) a non-city living individual, or c) Donald Trump.
For the rest of you, I’m sure you have had your fair share of living in tiny spaces and have learned to make the most of your space. Modular furniture is not a new concept but more and more people are moving to large cities with the hope of finding work or for the sheer excitement of living in a bustling city such as NYC.
Today I bring you just a few of the multifunctional pieces that were invented by designers all in the name of space. Seeing just how these pieces move from one type of furniture to the next is fun and inspiring. Mind you, not all of these pieces were made for small spaces or for a small budget but they are certainly inventive and beautiful.
Joe Colombo’s Mini-Kitchen
I would much rather have used this nifty little kitchen in my tiny Upper East Side apartment rather than the cutout my landlord called a kitchen. Designed in the early sixties, the Mini Kitchen was the first and most famous of Joe Colombo’s line of innovative products that combined aspects of space planning with furniture design. This ingenious piece of furniture was shown at the XIII Triennale in Milan in 1964 where it won a silver medal. Literally a kitchen on wheels, this moveable unit (which is still in production today from Boffi) consists of a range with two electric burners, a fridge, drawers and a cupboard that stores a service for six, a cutting board, a can opener, a knife box, and stove cover that doubles as a serving tray. Plus, it’s on wheels so you can move around wherever is convenient. Other modular furniture favorites by Colombo are his Tubo Chair, Multi Chair, Combi Center, and his Addition Living System.
Gabriella Crespi’s Plurimi Line
One of my favorite designers who combine sculpture with multifunction in her glamorous pieces is Gabriella Crespi. Her “Plurimi” line (1970-1982) plays with space through the use of moving parts and sleek materials such as steel, brass, and Plexiglas. These metamorphic pieces do not only physically move but in Crespi’s hand they have a visual and sensual movement in their form. Pieces like Yin Yang Bar or a hexagonal vanity both play hide-n-seek with the interior contents they hold.
Today we have a multitude of choices when it comes to the moveable types of furniture. Upon researching for this post I was inundated with choices of what to show here at O-B. One such collection I found was Boxetti. The creator of this collection is Latvian Rolands Landsbergs, and his series of modular furniture brings minimalism and functionality together to form this tetris-like collection. Each module is a cube form with asymmetric lines cut throughout to form a mosaic on the surface. But these lines are a hint of what lies inside the cube. Like Colombo’s Mini Kitchen, Boxetti also has a kitchen module with a built in sink, fridge, a drawer for cutlery, and two bar stools. These futuristic pieces that open and close like the doors of a Lamborghini or with a remote control like your very own spaceship! Large units but they hold so much within their walls that they are like a bedroom in a box.
Photos courtesy Freyja Sewell
Ah, the Hush Pod. I want, no, need one of these. Created by UK designer Freyja Sewell this piece is like your very own cushy time-out zone. Sewell works in natural or biodegradable materials, and her Hush Pod is made from 100% wool felt with recycled wool cushions. Also, Hush is manufactured locally, using craftsman that have honed their trade for hundreds of years: Ness Furniture in Durham has highly skilled craftsman producing these cozy pods by hand. While not necessarily modular this piece is something that is needed in a shared environment, which was the Sewell’s purpose for creating Hush. She wanted to create a piece that was sustainable but also fit in today’s hectic, crowded world: she (well, WE) all wants place where you can have your own space in the midst of everything. Perfect for those dorm rooms, ladies and gents!
(Photos Courtesy of Resource Furniture and Clei)
MCNY exhibition on small space living
The Museum of the City of New York partnered with Citizens Housing Planning Council to create the exhibition (which closes soon!) Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers. The exhibition features a full-sized, flexibly furnished micro-studio apartment that is just 325 square feet. A docent will open and close the Murphy bed, pull out the kitchen table and chairs that hang inconspicuously on the wall, as well and show you other space saving devices that help one live like a normal human being in such a tiny space. The exhibition also has on view models and drawings of housing designs that illustrate ideas for the future of small living spaces in large cities. This small exhibit is worth a visit.
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