I find this Treehugger design item so incredibly appealing. Go to Treehugger for links to the Designers.
Casulo, a new concept for mobile living originated in June 2007 as a part of the dissertation of Marcel Krings and Sebastian Mühlhäuser at the Köln International School of Design in Cologne.
The concept is the best part. I believe this could be a template for handmade versions, a solution to homeless populations, mobile populations, refugees, disaster situations or college dorms.
If you can’t get enough, check out this kitchen. I would eliminate all of the excess of appliances which might be replaced with composting systems or solor cooking with a skylight above.I like the symbolism of a food preparation area being the pivotal center of the living space. I have not shown the image with curved doors to close off the whole unit. For temporary housing or a transient population, it could be wheeled into place with only the basic hook-ups.
And how about the hidden bathroom? I would say this is beautiful, efficient design to maximize space. Back to back installations make storage, plumbing, graywater and/or composting systems centralized.Not necessarily only for the homeless, this concept could be used for a mobile population to transport essentials. I guess I am thinking to a time in the future wherein populations in crisis might have some minimal dignity and control over each one's fundamental items, one's critical 'stuff' while in transit or transition.
My point in sharing these is primarily to share what I think is real innovation, re-thinking of how we use space and our built environment. The minimalism appeals to me and is in keeping with living lightly. And to go for the cliché - out of the box thinking.
