Architects Braden Caldwell and Michael Chen of MKCA studio (the creative force behind such brilliant project as Partywall and Unfolding Apartment), unveiled a new inventive New York micro dwelling. Five to One apartment contains the necessary functional and spatial elements for living, working, sleeping, dressing, and entertaining, plus kitchen, dining, and bathing spaces, all within 390 square feet. This was made possible thanks to a motorized sliding storage element, that glides from one end of the room to the other, revealing and exchanging spaces between daytime and nighttime zones. As the moving volume pulls away from the wall, it opens a dressing room zone with built-in dresser drawers and clothing storage. Fully extended, the space for a queen-sized fold-down bed is created. The TV set rotates 180 degrees for viewing from the seating area, or the bed and dressing rooms. When the bed is closed the bedroom space is returned to the living and working spaces of the apartment. A pair of white sliding doors open up either the desk or the entertainment area. A dedicated dining area, large enough for four people, was created adjacent to the living room. In spite of the modest size of the place, the kitchen is quite spacious and contains generous storage. The crisp whiteness of the walls and other structural elements of the apartment contributes to the illusion of a much bigger space.
Five to One Apartment [Shoebox Dwelling]