Friday, March 7, 2008

Matroshka: A Compact Living Concept

Matroshka--1

Matroshka is one of the most amazing small space living solutions I have seen. The concept originated as a project at Mid Sweden University. Four Industrial Design students were instructed to find a solution for people living in compact spaces. Matroshka was their solution.

The Matroshka
is a raised workspace, a room within a room. The main volume of the system is a raised platform — a stage of sorts. The raised space is intended to be used is an office area.

In addition to the raised platform there, is a padded bench. The bench slides under the platform. This is the real beauty of thee system. The volume of the platform and the bench are used to nest an entire series of other furniture objects — there are two separate benches, a table and four stools. It is possible to accommodate up to twelve people with the pieces nested in Matroshka.

The pieces may also be arranged into a sleeping area including a full-sized bed. The number of possibilities with Matroshka seem almost limitless. This idea is sure to catch on — I hope these units are produced for sale soon. The Matroshka is one of the best small space living solutions I have seen so far.

6 comments:

jen x said...

This is incredibly cool. I've been looking at the slide show almost 15 minutes, thinking about how all the possibilities would fit together. This almost (almost!) makes me want to live in a studio apartment again :-)

Anonymous said...

WOW - this is amazing! I hope this goes on the market soon. :)

Michael said...

Jen I did the same thing I stared at the photos scrutinizing how each piece fit together. Its amazing how many pieced they have nested under there.

Rowdy, I agree, I am a bit frightened of the price.

Anonymous said...

Pretty cool. This reminds me of Casulo, a "mobile living furniture" solution. But I always wonder about the durability of these products.

Unknown said...

Agreed the Casulo looks like it could be intended as a more temporary solution. The Matroshka looks well built, that table is solid wood and steel. But this is a prototype, no telling what the final production model would be like.

I'm hoping it's well crafted.

Anonymous said...

I want.