Berlin-based architect and founder of of Hartz IV Möbel, Van Bo Le-Mentzel, has created the smallest house in the world. Called the ‘One-Sqm-House’, the DIY wooden house measures only one square meter; but through a flipping mechanism, it can provide a cozy place to sleep. Le-Mentzel’s brainchild was harboured from spending much of his life as a refugee, moving around, dependent on social subsidies and social housing. He decided to build a house that didn’t need to be big, but one he could bring with him, that he could put anywhere he wanted, anytime he wanted, and call it home, a house for everybody, a square meter of freedom.
The structure of the One-Sqm-House can be assembled using everyday materials from the hardware store. “What I’ve always been very sceptical of is the fact that our quality of life is so fixed to numbers. On Euros, for example, and Euros per square meter,” he told BMW Guggenheim Lab. “When you look for an apartment, for example, the first thing you look at is the location, and then at the numbers, how many rooms, how many square meters? But when you really think about it, the square meters say nothing about the quality of the apartment, about the view from the window, how it smells, if the neighbors are nice. These are all things that you can’t put into numbers.” “So I said, okay, I want to have my own square meter. I want that no one other than I, myself, can decide what happens with this one square meter of mine in the world,” he said. “It’s the only square meter in the world where I can decide what direction the window looks in, what direction the door opens in, what neighbors I have.”
Le-Mentzel hopes his creation can be used for mobile shops or offices, as a personal space in this overcrowded world, or as an extra room in your own home. The One-Sqm-House can be used outdoors or indoors. ( By Anthea Quay from www.designtaxi.com ) For more information, follow the link below.
