Urban Living: Home Identity That Has Changed Over Time
Created By RISC | 5 years ago
Last modified date : 2 years ago
The task to evaluate residential housing information in order to create a new learning process for an improved future living style
The world’s evolution coupled with economic and social growth has all been crucial factors in a context of change that occurs in most communities. If we look back in the past, Bangkok was a city that was largely covered with trees. We could see people commuting by boats along canals and people living in Thai traditional houses. Those images have become just a memory of the past.
Thailand currently has an increasing population of 10 million people with an estimated density of 3,634 people per square kilometer. This population growth has sparked a change in residential trends, which mainly concerns how to use space efficiently within a limited structure while accommodating its residents under the same roof. Adjusting to this trend is important for modern urban living. Therefore, it is more important that we study each household’s space so that we can manage them appropriately rather than just focusing on the space we will use.
From the design ideas in the chart, we can see that in order to design modern living spaces having these basic ideas is crucial to answering the demands of its dweller.
Apart from the design which uses the idea of interaction between space and living behavior, we can also see an increase in ideas for urban living these days. For example, reducing a bedroom’s space, designing a smaller kitchen to appropriately meet its use, and using space vertically in overlapping areas have all been proven as efficient methods.
The rapid growth of condominium developments and the small apartment rental business has increased enormously in urban areas. This is especially true in the central business district where land prices are very expensive. This has become a really challenging question for designers as they have to create a floor plan so that the inhabitants can gain maximum benefits from the limited space. An interesting example of how to maximize a small room has been designed by a Hong Kong architect who applied the idea of combining spaces with the room’s walls. By designing each partition of the wall so that it was able to slide and adjust, he could transform his 32 square-meter room into 24 differing models. This included a home theater room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and many other functional room types, all of which utilized external natural lighting.
The Build Small-Live Large concept not only helps you manage a small living space perfectly, but it also stimulates a modern residence design for the next generation of urbanists.
Story by Dr. Jittapat Chorruengwiwat, Research and Development Department, DT Group of Companies