Songpa Micro-Housing: An Apartment That Adjusts to Your Relationship Status
Breaking up is hard to do, especially in New York where shacking up saves you big bucks. And other than mending a broken heart, the worst part is finding a new apartment in a pinch and the dreaded division of belongings. But what if you could just throw a wall in between you and your ex and call it a day? A new design for small-scale housing communities does just that.
Songpa Micro-Housing, named for the district of Seoul in which it’s located, is a mixed-use building designed by SsD Architecture, a firm based in New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has 14 units that can be combined and rearranged to fit lifestyle changes. So, two lovebirds can rent a place together and if it doesn’t work out, they can simply separate the units.
SsD created the modular residential design to conform to South Korea’s minimum legal size for a dwelling (120 square feet), but the apartments still feel roomy enough thanks to communal spaces in the building and prefabricated furniture that folds into the walls. The semi-public spaces include hallways with benches and shared balconies, and the complex also boasts a café, auditorium, art gallery, and even a toy store.
The façade screen is made of twisted stainless steel, which functions as railings, barriers, and drainage systems.
The only element of Songpa Micro-Housing that can’t be altered is the plumbing (fair enough), but by removing the furniture, units can be turned into artist studios or gallery spaces. And if you get lucky and expand your family instead of divide it (sorry, cynical New Yorkers here), apartments can be combined to double or triple units for extra space. Some apartments are connected by private balconies, which perfectly lends itself to a double unit.
It could be tricky living next to an ex, but isn’t that better than enduring the heartbroken apartment hunt? The architects say Songpa can be adapted for other countries, and since we know plenty of lovelorn New Yorkers, we’re thinking the Big Apple should be next.
[Via Fast Co. Design]
Images via SsD Architecture
