CityOffice ~ Media Lab Future Workspace!

MIT Media Lab colleagues prototype the CityOffice...

Millionaire's Matchstick ~ NYC's Pricey Sky Vistas!

Stephen Farrell of the NYTimes writes of A View That Costs $81 Million from the top of the so-called Millionaire's Matchstick...

"New York’s tallest residential building, 432 Park Avenue, reached its full height on Friday, 1,396 feet. It opens next year and the penthouse views, in all directions, are spectacular."

Beer House ~ Awesome Kiwi Plumbing Prank;-)

Small Spaces ~ UD spots HK's Tiny Apartments...

UniqueDaily shares small spaces imagery from Hong Kong-based activist Society for Community Organisation (SoCO)...

"...in a bid to document the plight of the city's most underprivileged people. With a land mass of 1,104sq km (426 sq mi) and a population of seven million, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. As rent is so high -- around HKD$90 (£8) per square foot a month -- and the waiting list for public housing so long, many are forced to live in inconceivably small spaces to survive."

City of Anarchy ~ Old Kowloon Infographic!

Mapporn spots Old Kowloon Walled City infographic! See also Kowloon Cross-Section!

Right to Stay ~ Fighting Kenyan Slum Evictions...

MIT Urban Africa's Ben Bradlow spots The Right to Stay...

Micro-Units ~ Small Places in Boston Inno District

Casey Ross writes in the Globe that Boston Mayor Menino pushes micro-units to lure young to Waterfront...

"...tiny apartments that are a staple of New York City may soon be more available in Boston. Mayor Thomas M. Menino is pushing developers to build units as small as 375 square feet -- barely enough to squeeze in a bed, bathroom, and galley kitchen. The administration is promoting the idea in the Innovation District on the South Boston Waterfront, where construction is expected to begin in coming months on scores of micro-apartments. Beyond convenience, the chief attraction will be price [...] small units are meant to cater to a distinctly urban lifestyle, with the apartments used for little more than sleeping. Residents could entertain in lounges and work areas incorporated into the buildings, or at the many restaurants and bars expected to open along nearby streets. For transportation, residents can rent Zipcars, use public transit, or ride bicycles. [...] The apartments’ layouts and sizes would vary, but the unifying trait would be extreme efficiency with space. Many would employ fold-out couches or Murphy beds and kitchen countertops that double as tables or desks. Draft plans for 400- to 550-square-foot units designed by the architecture firm ADD Inc. show compact bathrooms and kitchens around an open room that could double as a living room and bedroom, or be divided with a sliding door. ADD is working on several projects on the waterfront that will include dozens of similar-size units."

Roofhouse ~ Urban Residences Plopped Up Top!

Learned about this Boston roofhouse just now!

Concrete Canvas ~ Rapid Structural Solutions...

Check out Concrete Canvas rugged-cloth structures, including...

"...rapidly deployable hardened shelters that require only water and air for construction. [...] A 25sqm model can be deployed by 2 people without any training in under 40 minutes and is ready to use in under 24 hours."

Kowloon Cross-Section ~ Amazing Illustration!

io9 spots an amazing Japanese cross-section illustration of the Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong! Here's just a cross-section detail... And here's some of the whole thing! Click to enlarge... P.S. Here's the Walled City just before it was finally demolished... And thanks to Visual News for pointing to this German documentary about the Walled City.

Tempohousing Haiti ~ Container Hotel In-Process

One of my favorite urban innovation ventures, the Dutch Tempohousing, just sent word that their factory in China has shipped the promised ~70 prefabricated hotel units of their so-called "King" design (see above two containers side-by-side making 2 wide rooms with central hallway) for imminent delivery to Haiti. This is just one example of fast, urgent solutions desperately needed in that devastated land...

"Once the necessary funds were secured, Tempohousing was able to immediately make available these hotel rooms, that are shipped with all internal furniture and finishes to reduce on site construction as much as possible. The complete hotel is scheduled to be ready in October / November this year. [...] Speed and budget have been key issues in this hotel project, but quality and the delivery of an integrated storm and hurricane proof solution have made Tempohousing the first choice among several global suppliers. The manufacturing facility in China is capable to make layouts and interior finishes exactly to customer wishes with components that meet all international standards. Together with the separate façade system, the end results is simply amazing. An impressive hotel where nobody can see or expect it all started with complete rooms shipped in containers from the Far East."

This is fantastic. Check out the "King" room more closely here...

More Tempohousing ~ Fast & Flexible System

I first wrote about the ultra-cool Tempohousing container-based living system earlier this year. Thanks to their seasonally clever greetings email, I'm reminded again just how relevant their fast, flexible construction approach is! Here's their survey intro video... And I especially like what I call their "Tempotel" concept, a rapidly deployable four-room festival hotel space for any popular event, something pioneered in Denmark as the Dejligheder by the Smukfest...

Housing Factory ~ Cruise Ship Cabin Modules...

Thanks to gCaptain for noting How It’s Built ~ Cruise Ship Cabins about the factory-built modules which are assembled together into a ship. I'm especially interested in both building housing in factories and the prospect for mass customization of accommodations. Check out this previous post on Tempohousing containers. And see here the Aker Yards (now STX Europe) video of their cabin builds...

Nano Home ~ India's Affordable Housing Boom

The latest Economist spotlights The Nano Home ~ India's cheap housing boom, noting...

"India’s cities need at least 25m more homes, according to report from McKinsey, a consultancy, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce. In Mumbai, the commercial capital, more than 8m people now live in shantytowns, often paying substantial rent for the privilege. But buying a home of their own is way out of reach for most of them: a 70-square-metre flat in the centre of the city costs $500,000 or so. Matheran Realty is one of several firms that think they have a solution: ultra-low-cost housing. In Karjat, 90km east of Mumbai, Matheran Realty is in the process of building 15,000 flats with prices starting at just 210,000 rupees ($4,500) for 19-square-metre units. Tata, the firm that makes the $2,500 “Nano” car, is building 1,300 basic units at Boisar, about 100km north of the city, and may add more. Priced at 390,000-670,000 rupees each, they are already oversubscribed. Other firms are planning similar developments elsewhere in India."

The article goes on to quote Monitor's Ashish Karamchandani who has been a driving force articulating novel financing and business models for these developments, many of which are described in his Emerging Markets, Emerging Models report. I was delighted to meet him in person when he visited MIT earlier this year in an event organized by TiE-Boston's Raj Melville and Ranjani Saigal. Financial service innovations for the base of pyramid market are a trillion dollar global opportunity area!

Tempohousing ~ Shipping Container Apartments

Many thanks to gCaptain for spotting Tempohousing, a Dutch venture distributing a modular housing system made of ISO standard 40' shipping container elements! The photo above is a huge 1,000 unit dormitory in Amsterdam (very popular, it turns out) but there are also labor hotels, temp worker accommodations, a surprisingly luxurious hotel, and more demo projects. This is a really great example of containerized infrastructure! Check out all the example projects on their website, plus view here a demo build video...