A Narrow Victory
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Manhattan
Like many white people of a certain age, I first visited Harlem by mistake. I took the wrong subway and barely got out of the station: First one guy, then another, tried to shove me down the…
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The Best of Small Spaces
Small spaces have been on our mind (check out our June 2009 "Think Smaller" issue), and they’ve also been on the minds of the American Institute of Architects.
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Farm Fresh
Nobody ever said farming was easy, but the rewards of a homegrown harvest are great. On six acres of fertile land in the heart of rural Iowa, Geoff and Joanna Mouming mix modern home design with a…
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Raw Mirror
Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the rawest of them all? Designer Stanley Ruiz cut this birch plywood piece to expose the unique grain of the wood, while a leather strap suspends it from the wall…
Tips
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When It Comes to Storage, Laminate Is Not Your Friend
Look at the edges of the doors to tell if it’s laminated and avoid the piece if it is, because it won’t hold up well. Get off-the-shelf pieces and customize them to best work for you.
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How to Scale a Lounge Chair
You want something that is comfortable but still has really simple lines. Living in New York, I’m often designing for people without a lot of space and who move a lot. I look for things that…
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Tables: Incorporate Storage
Pick something that either has really good lines—like a steel-frame coffee table—or a clear volumetric presence—like a piece with four solid wood sides. I like tables that have…
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Raw Mirror
by Stanley RuizMirror mirror on the wall, who's the rawest of…
No Roof Architects: http://noroof.net/ Architecture STRand: http://www.strandworks.com/ Cabinetry, Flooring, + Storage Units Raimund Koch: http://www.raimundkoch.com/ Photographer
wonderful design!
It's an apartment...in Dwell! I can't believe it. What a great space. Ingenuity is everywhere you look.
Nifty!
A wonderful design. But, what is the point of spending so many thousands of dollars to "design," when the same amount might have increased this family's square footage.
Really cool. The storage and lighting solutions are brilliant. The last commentor obviously doesn't know the price of real estate in Manhattan. Also, i'm sure this couple saved a lot of money as their in the design business. So it would have been a better option to spend money on design rather than paying for 10 square feet of additional floor area.
really wish that every story included a floorplan. Without it, one is left studying the pictures and attempting to figure how all the brilliance in space usage fits together.
I agree with esse owl. If Dwell included floorplans I'd enjoy their articles 80% more AND be more easily able to learn something useful.
I'm desperate to know the manufacturer(s) of the tile in the bathroom. How can I find this information?
I love the idea behind this issue and can't wait to pick up the paper copy! Growing up in Northern California, in real estate bigger is always better. I love the concept that rather than make a space bigger, the architects have made it more efficient FIRST. This is much more innovative than increasing the square footage. Besides, on a global and local (United States) scale, we are running out of room! The concept, and the relationships between the spaces and within the spaces, are illustrated quite wonderfully in the photograph. Look at how the hall-like space ("connective passage") functions as a procession of intermediate spaces. Also, I enjoy how the lengthy written segment shows us that if we LITERALLY think outside of the box, the box of the house in this case, by using Murphy beds and under-floor storage we can make the most out of the space we already have. LOVED this article!! Sometimes less really is more... @esse owl and Wellington: If Dwell does show a floor plan, there goes the designers' intellectual property! You might be able to find plans on the architects website(s) or in their other publications. @Pam: If you pick up the paper version, there are sources listed in the back.
The space efficiency would make a submariner proud, but I was curious, who made the wall-hung toilet in the bathroom? I would like to use something similar in an apartment renovation of my own (wall mounting makes it easier to clean the floor, particularly with the floor drain in the middle floor, so I can swab the dirty water down the drain without having to mop it back up). Thank you for an otherwise excellent article.
I like the bookshelves / dinning table idea and may adapt it to a personal project. No area of the apartment is left to waste. As for the floor plans, the printed copy presents the layout of the house as well as additional pictures.
Hi, Wellington and Esse, We do include floor plans in almost all of our features, including this one. You'll find the ones for this article in the print magazine of this issue and in the future we'll try to get them all online.
Thanks Michelle. Unfortunately the Resources section did not list the tile manufacturer(s) that I could see, but I'll check again.
I'd love one of these to call my own! My favorite aesthetic is the exposed brick wall from the old original structure running the length of the residence. The organization of space is so simple, but so genius. . .especialy the storage compartments in the master bedroom's floor.
For floor plans, visit the architect's site: http://www.noroof.net/work/projects/finger-apartment and click "More Images" at the bottom of the page. The floor plans are at the end of the slideshow. Or buy a print copy of Dwell. They're in there, too.
For the commenters who think they should have spent the money on more space: In Manhattan, the difference between a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom, in a comparable building and neighborhood, is about half a million dollars. Sad but true. I know MANY NYC families who raise a child in this space. I did too, until I had to leave New York altogether.
Love seeing clever small spaces. http://smallspaceresources.blogspot.com
I came across your magazine at Whole Foods tonight and the Small Spaces issue caught my attention. A little over a month ago I wrote a piece entitled "Rethinking Home Ownership and Living." I can totally relate to the theme of this month's issue. At the time I thought that people will think I have gone crazy. Your magazine at least proves there are people of similar mind sets. For me Small Spaces does not necessarily mean sacrificing functionality. It does however mean using less energy and environmental resources. See the above article at http://www.millennialliving.com/content/rethinking-home-ownership-and-living for details.
Sure this is clever and a great space saving/yet functional way of living. However this is very selfish for a family of four. They are forcing their children to live in these close quarters just because they want a great location. These people are not a single couple, they have one child that is already out growing his room and another that will be there soon enough, and where does she go if they stay here and not to Australia. I guess if you fold down the dining room table and throw a mattress on it, that would make for a comfortable bed. I grew up in a major city, not New York, and I do understand New York is very expensive, however you either chose to have children or live in a tight New York apartment if you can't afford both. A move just outside the city will give them the space, with enough left over to commute into town and design.
I want to know about where they got the bookcase/table. Was it custom made??? I could really use this in my small brooklyn apt.
@ Darryl Mitteldorf- it's Manhattan, there's only so much square footage to go around.
@ jay 06/13/2009: this is a magazine about design, not a platform for sociological criticism. Hooray for the Finger crew, the live in a metropolis, are exposing their young family to this rich experiment in diversity we call a city, foregoing the often predictable 'move out to the burbs' when you have kids all this in under 1000sq. I live in a 700sq ft london flat, so was slightly taken back at 'homes under a 1000sq ft' being seen as tiny. admittedly the Finger's apartment is small, but their kids are learning something, you dont need 3000sq ft of Mac-mansion to have a home, the city is a challenge not an obstacle to family life and a creative approach to space and storage works, and in these recessionary times isnt that what 'DWELL' is about: good design thats achievable wherever . I hope to be as clever one day when I re-do my apartment and show my kid how she can 'dwell' in 764ft with all the benefits of a family home smack bang in the centre of town.
Though I appreciate an apartment story, I am getting old, so FIRST I say: LEGALIZE small homes everywhere. I'm one person and even this apartment would be (ingeniously) too large for me. For $15,000 I could own a brilliant wee home forever, be debt free, but ahhh, that's illegal: these comments give much insight to the whole resistance to the mindset. In my 40's and that boy's bedroom would serve me very well. Regardless, it strikes me as very Modern Architecture/Japan-Urban & I love seeing it spreading more to USA. Smart and Small. Now, let us own homes such as this, oh please. Aren't I polite? You betcha! *be well
Nice design overall. It looks to me that they took a one bedroom bachelor and made it into a two bedroom. What will they do when the kids become bigger? That bed looks too small for a teenager, I wonder if you could fit a full sized bed in that space. My mother would fancy this a lot she has been looking at plans for the Micro homes that are only a few hundred square feet for a while now.
@jay 06/13/2009: One might say that burning fuels to commute into town, and power a larger home is the selfish thing to do. (If one were in the business of pointlessly judging the lifestyles of others.)
To me this kind of space is intriguing and exciting for many reasons, but one of the main ones is the potential for renovating and reusing older buildings (such as abandoned schools, industrial buildings, etc.) into dense housing with the use of creative design. I don't think this is a "selfish" parenting move at all. I grew up in a semi-rural environment with a huge yard and huge room to myself, but I was very far away from cultural activities such as plays, museums, or even a library that's open on weekends and evenings. There are definite advantages to raising a kid in a dense part of the city.
Why are we Americans so obsessed with LARGE spaces? Right now, I live in an 860 sq.ft. German chalet-style home which is basically one large room (aside from the bathroom) and I long to downsize! Smaller spaces = less clutter (you can't acquire that much junk,) easier cleanng and a smaller carbon footprint.
Only thing in this article that confuses me is the slide that talks about 3 guest rooms -- that seems odd given other features
I love this apartment. It's an inspiration to those of us living in 700 square foot in Boston and about to have our first baby -- close to all kinds of museums and green space, but with a smaller footprint. Just to put my two cents in there, plenty of the kids in the country have small bedrooms, too. Some old houses in rural Maine have VERY small rooms, not much larger than the one in this slideshow.
Really want a pattern or something for the table and shelf! Can I get your magazine in my area? 62220 zip?
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