NEVER TOO SMALL Experimental Micro Living Pod - 15sqm/161sqft
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- čas přidán 7. 05. 2019
- OPod Tube House is an experimental, low cost, micro living housing unit to ease Hong Kong’s affordable housing problems. Constructed out of low cost and readily available 2.5m diameter concrete water pipe, the design ultilizes the strong concrete structure to house a mirco-living apartment for one/two persons. OPod Tube Houses can be stacked to become a low rise building and a modular community in a short time, and can also be located/relocated to different sites in the city.
#architecture #microapartment #design
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Produced by newmac.co
Creator: Colin Chee
Director: Jame McPherson
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Camera: James Goldman
Editor: Colin Chee
Animations & Photos: James Law Cybertecture - Jak na to + styl
As someone from HK i know that this would be much better than the cage “rooms” that a lot of poor people live in. I just hope this will be affordable for them to perhaps rent. I think the government should really invest in this project more to solve housing problems in the city. Not that I oppose reclaiming land in Lantau but innovative ideas like this should be endorsed.
我都好想啲房租mou gum 貴 :(
well, I visit hongkong once and stayed in a guest house. the room is so small. I think The Size of the place is only 2x3 , and the design of the room is weird makes it feel tight and has no spaces. On the news i saw that poor people who lived in cage room, i hope this project will continue and help people :'
@@kikiKaysie yes I think I do. Control population like China did. Only 1 child per household.
Airlie Maria Heung was thinking of the same thing! Let’s use it for housing the homeless.
@@kikiKaysie is all of hong kong like this? In turkey we have overpopulated istanbul and others, if turkey makes other cities more liveable, modern then istanbul can relax.
I'd rather sacrifice a bit of that bathroom for more usable kitchen space
Yeah .. same
I think its to do with building code laws. E.g. there is no law against having a microwave dishwasher next to each other, but when it comes to the bathroom, certain things (toilet, shower, basin) need to be a certain distance from each other. At least thats what I think.
Agreed. Especially since the culture often involves using a seat in the showering/bathing process, doing a wet bath with a rainfall head over top could possibly work. However, thinking about it now, I may prefer a stacking washer/dryer unit rather than more kitchen. After all, one’s ability to create something amazing out of a microwave is a testament to their creativity.
I was thinking the very same thing....
@@standardwhitemale - they could make communal bathhouse separate by gender. It will have shower, spa, hot springs, and etc for them. It is very popular in Korea and Japan.
I like the concept a lot! But unfortunately, young people do cook.
I wonder if they'd bring in a communal kitchen O-Pod too
Especially if you're poor. I'd imagine they have to cook at home more than people who can afford large apartments.
@@t.pisani8239 I agree, maybe they can buy a portable stove? If this housing really is "affordable" they might prefer this with like a hot plate vs more expensive housing options with a kitchen.
GreyFolk but in terms of health it’s not the best option in the world
EXACTLY
Opod's should not be used for housing but instead for offices...
Oh! That is actually a great idea. One pipe equals one small startup business room.
Great idea! I would so work in a space like this
Love that idea
This is so correct and fantastic!
that is a great idea although i would love to live in one of these
I love this channel and this OPod is great. But in the same breath, it's quite sad. If the cost of living means we're having to come up with these solutions, then it just highlights a bigger problem. This, if we're honest, is an exceptionally well-designed prison cell. No matter your age, I wonder what kind of physiological impact living in such a confined space would have on us long term...
I love this channel but this video was uncomfortable. I think more should have been said at the start about the situation that requires this solution, as HK residents have clearly approved in the comments.
Cities need to plan effectively to avoid the Opod entirely. The best of a bad situation.
Well, being rather confined indeed, it still provides a roof over your head. You are free to leave the place whenever you want, and the outside world is rather spacious, you know.)
The realisation of a concept is pretty neat and would work great in several occasions.
I get your concerns, but don't forget as well as that Hongkong is a hot-climate country where the coldest temperature during winter is around 19 degree celsius.
Unlike those in cold-climate countries, people in hot-climate countries spend most of their time outside of their house, in open space.
i agree.this solution is just a band aid solution to a much bigger problem that HK or in any parts of the world where land cost is skyhigh rising.
couldnnt have said it better
I could also imagine that these OPODS could also have some sort of community kitchen and bathroom. Helps build a community as well as allowing everyone to have access to a full sized kitchen and bathroom.
I totally agree. In fact, because these units don't have the room for a full kitchen, they would probably be best used not as homes, but as office spaces or university housing.
I think that's how people in Hong Kong used to live (at least those in public housing estates), with communal cooking and hygiene spaces. We honestly don't need an individual kitchen for every household. I'd personally much prefer to share a huge kitchen with 10 other families.
@@alexwansss I hate sharing a kitchen with my own family. I'd dread a community kitchen!
Ohhhh using these as sort of student hostel with communal bathrooms and kitchen/eating areas would be wonderful!
It would feel like living in a naked mole rat colony. Tunnels, tunnels, and more communal tunnels.
Could also put a hamster wheel in it for exercise.
Fantastic idea
😂😂😂😂
or just go outside 🙃
😂😂
you made my day !
It looks good, but I don't think it could work. There is not enough storage room for clothes, food and everything else!
In Hong Kong people rent room the size of a closet as home, this is great ! and perhaps you can store things under the floor
It good idea. Perhaps we can look into short term staying commercial usage like hotel, dormitory instead.
When you're poor you don't have that much anyway...
This place has less storage than my college dorm
Dark Blue
Tell that to a homeless person.
Very innovative, but I would feel so vulnerable.
I know what you mean but there are modern windows with a blind system in between two panes that you could get complete privacy with when needed.
You would feel worse living on the streets. This is for low income people...
This is not new if go through some books of architecture will find this is has been done before.
buy a gun
Can I ask why? It seems to be a very sound structure and you could always use blinds or curtains.. a set of them stacked together would not feel vulnerable, it’s just that you are seeing it sitting on the street by itself
NEVER TOO SMALL is one of my favourite CZcams channels. Your content is so clean and beautiful and I like how you're not adding your own comments to any of your videos but letting the architects speak about their work! Love it!
The idea was brilliant, but the thought of life quality, such as heating food as a lifestyle for the younger generation just sounds bleak to me
Depending on the city, people might not tend to cook. For example I live in Singapore and most young people don't cook regularly as food outside is so cheap and just as good.
@@ca-ke9493 Yes that's what I thought
They should be offices, this would be a great replacement for the cubicles and open offices. As a house is not great tho
“Young people don’t cook, they just reheat.” Yeah I wonder why
what does this mean..
@@dannyr.5755 I believe they mean that young people are largely living in conditions like these, where they can't cook.
@@laurenhayward6183 Correct, the fact is "they are not allowed to cook in small living space like HK".
If you ever lived in East Asia as a young salaryman, you'd found that: 1. you're always too busy to cook; 2. you have countless access to cheap and delicious foods/restaurants. So the architect's describe is quite correct for young people who live in Hongkong!
Exactly
Could you roll it down the street if you wanted to get away from your nosey neighbors? JK
And the pipes are waterproof if it rolls into the ocean.
🤣🤣🤣
Concrete is awesome for blocking out sound!
I'm actually dead🤣🤣🤣🤣
alvin That makes me want to move these into the ocean and live under water
As a citizen in Hong Kong, this is a great idea esp liked the footage on how the Opods can be squeezed into small alleys or the gaps between buildings, creating living space without destroying existing buildings! Hope to see them on sale next year!
We love how OPod can be put in leftover spaces in the urban areas too :)
@@nevertoosmall Land supply is root cause of house pricing at the moment, I hope the experiment to be successful so our government will be more willing to work with people like James to be more creative instead of just trying to find more space to build even smaller conventional flats!
But the sad thing is that,, the Opods is born because of bad government policy and side effects of importing mainlanders into a place that already filled with human beings :(
Harold Lau Sad it may be, but let’s be realistic - it is the situation that exists, and unless you have a time machine, plans must be be for reality of the present.
@@nevertoosmall I understand that these are potentially being made using recycled units to cut costs but in terms of fitting between buildings being round means they're inefficient at using that space. Why go round when boxes would fill alley gaps just as well and tesselate properly?
Great idea. Adapted a little to our climate this could be used in UK to create low cost shelter for homeless people if some construction firms got together to donate materials.
"we think young people don't cook" - i love the concept but the lack of a proper kitchen is why i would never live there. Some young people love cooking whereas others don't that's true, but i think everyone would like to have a proper space in which they can prepare their own food if they want to and not just have to heat everything in a microwave. His statement is a massive generalisation and very dismissive of a very important life skill.
i think when you're living in such a culture as hk those sort of things just aren't priorities.
ESW exactly! It’s nice to have the option
I read before that people in HK go to restaurants more than any other nation in the world so maybe he's not talking worldwide but purely from his HK perspective.
@@kevinferris2812 yeah, He does think It only in HK so It does work. Even if theres more people who cook but the one that has no time to cook would be greater... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hot plates yo
I’d love a window on the glass door so i dont hve to open the door the entire time for ventilation
Je said there were windows at the back and the front
Yeah, i would have made the glass doors half door-half window so you don't have to leave the doors to your house open
Or add one of those security net door
Sign me up! All I’d add would be a thicker mattress and a cooking plate and combi-microwave, because I do like cooking and baking.
Same for me. I'm 23 years old and I have to cook every day. I mean, I like it, but it's also way cheaper and healthier to cook myself than eat out or just eat re-heated food. (At least in Germany)
Not sure how similar Hong Kong is to Taipei, but I spoke to a Taipei native who pointed out to me that cooking at home is not done often by young students/professionals, rather eating out at food markets and street food is a faster and affordable option (more affordable than cooking yourself she claimed!). If Hong Kong is at all similar, it would make sense to leave out kitchen appliances to lower costs and save space.
Right.
This is a cool project! The kitchen could be easily made more usable by having a portable induction stove top on one of the shelves. I love that everything in the unit is made from recycled building materials too.
No kitchen, no deal.
Microwave life.
Eating outside in Hongkong is cheaper than cooking at home.
@@GiveMeCoffee Enjoy your gutter oil fries.
Pretty sure you would take that any day over the current living conditions for a lot of poor hong kongers.
E Dinev
People don’t eat like that in Hong Kong. They eat good food. Not McDonald’s.
Extremely practical for overpopulated cities. Has
the comforts one basically
needs. Like the simple minimal
concept.
There is 0 comforts in this tube lol
this is bittersweet, the idea is great and could be an amazing home for those who cannot afford anything else, but at the same time is so sad that we are being pushed to live in uncomfortable spaces by a system that is collapsing :(
1:42 That is a prison thin matress homie.
I really enjoy this channel and I love the variety you’re showing, even including dystopian concepts like this
It gives me the creeps. I don't like even regular tiny houses, seeing how excited people get over their affordable house that they can barely stand up in. It's just sad that gone are the days of every family being able to afford a 3-4 bedroom house with a decent back yard.
Once it becomes accepted that people can live in conditions like this, more and more housing solutions like this will be implemented which will allow the issue of chronic population density in cities to keep getting worse.
Luke Andre I think this is mainly a challenge for urban planning that’s unavoidable, but I absolutely agree.
1:08 So basically, when the site/land you live on is no longer available, you're homeless. How does THAT solve a housing problem?
Reminds me of the apartment that Bruce Willis had in The Fifth Element. Love it.
This seems like a good solution for homeless transitional housing, as well
Very ingenious idea of the architects responsible for designing Opod with a concrete water pipe, with minimum dimensions, 15 square meters, where a person can hardly live in the long term. However, it is a perfect experimental home for people passing through, the homeless, young tourists and people with financial problems.
In addition, the cylindrical shape of the module plus the construction material, presents a very good acoustic insulation, its spatiality and assembly allow a quick and safe transport from one place to another. presents furniture with recyclable and totally versatile materials.
An innovative home that with a few square meters and in a single tube, the essential activities are distributed: Living room, dining room, sleeping space, bathroom, kitchen, study.
An ingenious, innovative and interesting design.
I'm actually really fond of this idea. It combines environmental aspects with our modern Lifestyle and looks really fancy to me. It could also be (probably) very easily adaptable to any needs.
brilliant!! Thank you for sharing this creative idea and solution to many housing crises.
I can tell you that for people who need affordable housing fast, this is a fantastic approach. I know people are saying "but people need to cook", but I also know that things like that can be solved with communal spaces. :) One communal large prep space can be the simple fix for this problem. But even then, people who have experienced homelessness will tell you how important it is to have that sacred sheltered space that can be theirs. These are the innovative solutions we need. They aren't designed to be permanent, but transient, and they are absolutely perfect for that.
Water pipe house is the 1st house I ever designed as a kid, it's like a dream come true.
I like it. I would want to add an improved ventilation system so you can have cross ventilation while still being secure.
As a HongKonger, it’s pretty sad that we need to live in this kind of house in the future. Only few people can get government house because the population is always growing ,due to our government letting more and more Chinese people to come. And as for people who born in here and grown up here, we need to figure other plans like these kind of house or move far away.
Compact spaces, sufficient natural lighting and recycled materials!! My dream home.
The government must use this for homeless people.. Giving them a small community and a job that can only be made in that place. Brilliant idea.. I love people who really think most of our peoblems
Finally, new eps
Interesting, it reminds of a submarine with all the pipes and yellow accents.
Amazing. How people observe a problem around them and come up with a solution!
Such a great idea and an amazing design. Very productive!
Oh i walked past this some weeks ago and wondered if it was an experimental project. As a fellow HKer I hope the govt would do more for housing for the general public, else this city is doomed.
I wouldn't call this great nor want to live in it personally, but it does serve as a temporarily solution.
I like the idea, but there should be some possibility for privacy, maybe a curtain or something? Or tinted glass?
Love that you can see one of the other small living spaces from this channel at the beginning.
This is actually amazing, very creative and efficient, a great example to go by!!
This is bigger, cleaner, and more private than my last Hong Kong hotel that cost HK$750/night.
If the cost is $150,000 to produce, what can I buy it for?
I thought the question is more like, where can you put this unit in Hong Kong without getting charged an absurd amount.
Pretty clever actually
Re thinking materials in a brand new wave.
Love it!
This project is truly amazing, and it's wonderful that everything is made from recycled construction materials, combining modern style and adapting to any need.
That bed would never hold my weight 😂😂😂😂
I don't see a reason why they wouldn't just use containers of different sizes instead. The footprint is similar but the practically available room inside the apartment is much larger.
Thank you for a bold and brave and super smart invention Mr Leslie Chow!
what a beautiful, well-designed cage
Younger people don't cook: what??? All the people under 30 That I know, cook more than their parents. I'm 38, love the concept but cook all my meal with everyday special. I asked, this is not for us.
Can't afford to eat out, can afford to look up cheap recipes online
I guess you could get a portable gas stove and place it on one of the shelving units
Dude, this is in hong kong. The culture is different and street food is very affortable. So I think that most of young people in hong kong never cook !
If you not from hong kong then you will not understand
You're absolutely right! However, most people in the populated cities of Japan and Hong Kong tend only to need a tiny fridge, microwave, and maybe little gas or electric stove. Most of them eat out, really cheap or eat quick food. That would be impossible where I am, in America, thanks to the pricey restaurant culture.
So beautiful 😍
This is an excellent idea. The possibilities are countless.
Really love the design. Feels spacious.
crazy that you need to live somewhere like that. I thought this would be solution for student dorms. I would gtfo from hk if I had to live like that.
This is genius, but still expensive for really poor people in the city
This is AMAZING! Well done on executing a great idea.
I love these! The black and yellow is so nice, it reminds you of it's roots from construction sites.
Cyberpunk intensifies.
Yeaahhh it gives me that eery dystopic feeling like our worst vision for the future is becoming reality. Reminds me of the short story Billenium that we had to read back in highschool. It's only about 4 pages but man the imagery of living in such tightly cramped overpopulated cities stuck with me. I can't share the enthusiasm I see people who live in tiny houses have cause I know it's just one step closer to that becoming the norm. People are accepting that living in a few square metres with barely enough room to stretch out is normal because larger accommodation is becoming increasingly unaffordable.
Isn’t it more depressing when you remember that this is supposed to be an improvement
@@lukeandre9254 it's a good read, I just found it online thanks to your suggestion. It does feel highly uncomfortable though, almost kafkaesque
Imagine being in covid quarantine in one of these :/
It's so innovative! I'd never thought about it. It just amazed me. I think it is a great idea to use the OPod for housing spaces without destroying buildings, etc.
This is a great idea for dormitories or student housing. A great addition to the desk with the screen would be to make it extendable in the same way as the sofabed, that way it can be a multifunctional desk as well. A solution for the lack of equipment in the kitchen would be to have communal kitchens(the same can be done with a communal laundromat), those types of arrangements are common in dormitories.
This is beautiful, but how are you supposed to sit at the desk?
"Never too small" is a false premise
What an amazing idea - this is a great solution to crowded housing
i think this is great and can be really helpful for the homeless around the world.
This enclosed space needs to have really good ventilation.
I like the idea, but it reminds me of an MRI machine.
*I KNOW THAT THE COST OF LIVING ON DIFFERENT COUNTRY VARIES*
But in the *Philippines* with that money you can but a decent 42sqm house 2floors with garage.
Yes..in indonesia too, still can have proper house with that money. Hong Kong is notoriously expensive for living..i feel bad for the HK people.
This is such an innovative and cool design! I’m from Toronto so I’m definitely used to a bigger space, but if there was a stove and just a small divider of some sort in the bathroom, I’d be pretty happy living in one of these pods.
Watching these videos, strengthens my desire to be an architect.
This just highlights how severe inequality is today. Micro apartments and mega mansions. No it’s not okay.
So when you shower, where does all the steam go?
Would you have to open the door since there are no windows.
This is an amazing approach,thought to solve many issues which are faced by people,not only dwelling in Hongkong,but also elsewhere,where the requirement demands.
I feel even in India we must inculcate such cost-effective (and non- compromised asthetics) whenever there's possibility for action.
This definitely helps us be in an improved society with respect to planned and thoughtful spaces.
Having a tube home is better than living in those pigeon flat or apartment unit. Lucky you! 😜
But when you stack them up on top of one another, how do people get upstairs? I don't see staircases anywhere
Metal stair cases outside. Similar to a lot of apartments and motels.
Let’s be honest that bed looks so uncomfortable
i really like this, all i need to add is a curtain in front the door and an electric stove coz im that one out of ten young people who loves to cook my own meal :)
This is a good project to curb homelessness
What about sound and temperature proofing? I'm curious.
I believe it's concrete w/ rebar to form the shape which is a natural sound insulator. Now temperature IDK
@@broodo1 I spent a lot of my childhood playing in these. They are surprising cool in the MidWestern summer heat. They also kept me pretty warm during blizzards. The only problem was high winds coming from the wrong direction. Without a door to keep the wind out it was brutal!
The concept is brilliant but,
No more land to install them in Hong Kong. Damn....
I just discovered this channel recently and I'm glad that I subscribed.
The concept is brilliant and the architect is quite ingenious and skilled... but I can't imagine living in such as small, confined space, and this comes from someone who lives in a small 500sq ft studio by choice.
Yes but also there are people in Hong Kong who live in places smaller than a bed, so that's actually not bad
but what about ventilation? i think it's a big drawback. how can one leave the door open during the night and sleep without perpetual thoughts about robbers\any dangerous human beings in the vicinity?
What do you think people who are forced to live in a sewer tube have to lose? I mean realistically speaking
@Vlad- Lol!!!
Upper part of the door?
@@vlad.the.impaler. The OPod costs $20,000 to build, add some profit for the company and the price of renting a place where you can put those... I don't think that's anywhere near what people living in the sewer can afford.
It's like being in a prison cell but also homeless. Best of both worlds.
An awesome idea. Wanna question and point out privacy when it comes to the windows on the doors.
the future of housing is about neat and minimalist. Cant wait do be an Architect in the next 5 years
Apartments from the future :
-No kitchen
-No bathroom
-No bedroom
-No people
-No bed
-No sofas
-No furniture
-No carpeting
-No walls
-No floor
-No roof
This could be a great idea for housing at colleges.
oh! at 0:09 we can see the corner house with the wide new windows from the current video! love it 💖
This idea is so creative, props to this guy and tbh wouldn't mind living here :)
Did he say 2,5 meters tall? He barely fit to walk up straight in there!
I thought about that too lol Seems that nobody in the comments noticed.
I was looking to see if anyone else noticed too, I’m 99% sure he’s under 5’10 so this isn’t gonna work for a lot of people
Uh... I didn't see a shower curtain on that back window. I for one both do not want to see a peepshow nor be in one. Perhaps the culture in Hong Kong is cool with nudity, but in the US, we're a bit puritanical about nudity.
Fuck me dead. Puritanical about nudity in the U.S? You must be fun at parties.
@@madhukart It's covid. No parties, remember? 😄
Los Angeles, California, USA needs about 60,000 of these to house its homeless population. This is a brilliant design idea.
There might not be so many homeless if the housing market wasn't insane, leaving many houses unmanned! It might make a dent into that population if more people were able to live in the already empty houses/apartments, then we could do tiny house communes. Los Angeles sure seems doomed, doesn't it.
I've seen an earlier version of these pods and back then it didn't have a shower. This is already much better
One problem I see is high transaprency resulting in little privacy.
Have you never heard of curtains?
What's the benefit of using this over a container box?
You don't need a car. You can roll the Opod to work.
Realisticy you could get one of those in hk easier then buying a good container then converting it and then finding somewhere to put it but these are built like aprtments already there and furnished
Very interesting design concept. I really like the way they stack together to make a sort of apartment complex. Very creative. This designer should get some type of innovation award. The size is VERY tiny though. 161 square feet is one of the smallest "tiny" homes I have ever seen. It would be difficult for multiple people to live in that sized space. But if it allows people to live more comfortably than their current situation and it's affordable housing (hopefully), then it's a great thing. I can sort of relate to this size. I lived in a similar sized space for 3 years when I was in the Army. Dorm rooms at colleges are also similar sized or smaller and students live in them for up to 4 years so you can adapt with creative thinking.
he looks so proud
i love it!