InfoAnda - Hong Kong architect gets 24 rooms into one tiny flat

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

PM Lee congratulates China’s Hu on the country’s 30 years of reform | 15 December 2008
Mexico systematically weakening crime cartels: minister | | 15 October 2012
Japan's PM hangs on despite political donations furor | | 11 March 2011

Olmsted's 1895 Pa. steel town seeks green rebirth | 28 November 2009

">Forum Views () ">Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Hong Kong architect gets 24 rooms into one tiny flat

Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Asia Pacific World Search Search: Hong Kong architect gets 24 rooms into one tiny flat AFP - Friday, April 24 HONG KONG (AFP) - - It's not that Gary Chang doesn't have room in his tiny flat to swing a cat. With just 344 square feet (32 square metres) of floor space, he doesn't have room for the cat. ADVERTISEMENT Yet award-winning Hong Kong architect Chang has managed to squeeze 24 rooms -- including a steam room and home cinema -- into his Swiss army knife-style home. Chang, 46, turned the tiny flat he has occupied since the age of 14 into what he calls his "domestic transformer," and in the process offered a vision for how one of the world's most densely-populated cities could better use its limited space. "The key idea is that everyone could look into their home more carefully and into how better to optimise their resources, because space is a resource," he said. "There is no use making your home as if it is a perfect show flat but at the same time never using the space," he said. Chang has tackled the lack of room by replacing the flat's walls with a series of accordion-like sliding units, hung from metal tracks on the ceiling, that can be moved about to form a variety of configurations. The partitions conceal drawers for clothes, shelves for toiletries and racks for thousands of CDs and DVDs. Chang grabs a handle near his wall-mounted television and suddenly the wall itself is moving across the polished granite floor to the centre of the room, revealing a folding laminate worktop and well-stocked minibar facing the kitchen behind. The flat can be one big, open-plan studio or, with very little effort, an arena of fold-down surfaces, seats and beds. The concept was born of necessity. Growing up in the flat with six others, Chang had to be flexible. "I have three younger sisters, so we all lived here. Originally there were three bedrooms, a living room and a dining room," he said. "My sisters occupied one room, my parents another room and the third was actually not for me, it was for an outsider -- my parents sub-let it to somebody else to get more revenue. So actually I slept in the living room." Chang still lives in the flat, and has spent his adult life reinventing his small corner of a 19-storey 1960s tower block in Hong Kong's bustling Sai Wan Ho district. The architect believes his innovations can show even the poorest families how to improve their domestic arrangements and is determined that his book "My 32m2 Apartment: A 30-Year Transformation" will influence new housing. Lack of space is a huge problem in Hong Kong, a metropolis of seven million, reflecting rocketing rental prices, at least before the recent downturn. The average price per square metre nearly doubled from 32,777 dollars on Hong Kong island in 2002 to 58,915 dollars five years later, according to the city's housing authority. But Chang regards the dense housing as a kind of social arbiter, responsible for some of the city's most notable virtues, such as low crime. "Oddly enough, it's the lack of density that makes a place dangerous, because when the place is like Hong Kong, 24 hours it's busy and people feel safe," he said. "It's like we are monitoring each other in quite a frequent manner so actually I try to argue for high density -- we have efficiency, convenience and security." The optimisation of space means Chang can afford to squeeze in luxuries not usually seen in Hong Kong's tiny apartments, including a glass shower which doubles as a steam room, a 1.9-metre (six feet-three inch) bathtub and a reasonably sized kitchen. There is even a wall-sized cinema screen, raised by remote control to reveal a huge, yellow-tinted window which gives the flat the illusion of being washed in warm sunlight, even on the cloudiest day. Chang's experiment in flexible living began after he graduated from the University of Hong Kong, where he had been studying architecture. "In the year I graduated, 1987, my parents moved to a better place in Hong Kong and my mother encouraged me to buy the place. So, starting in the late 1980s, it became my home," he said. Chang has renovated four times, on each occasion with a bigger budget and more innovative approach, turning a 350,000-Hong Kong-dollar (45,000 US) shoebox into a mini-palace worth around 1.3 million dollars. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Recommend this article 0 users recommend Sign in to recommend this article » Most Recommended Stories » Related Articles: Entertainment & Lifestyle Britain's music moguls affected by recessionAP - 1 hour 13 minutes ago Paintings attributed to Hitler fetch $143,000Reuters - Saturday, April 25 Leonard Nimoy open to more 'Star Trek'AP - Saturday, April 25 Latin America in spotlight at Cannes Critics' WeekAFP - Saturday, April 25 BBC sends `Ethical Man' on global warming questAP - Saturday, April 25 Enlarge Photo Local architect Gary Chang is pictured posing at his flat in Hong Kong. Chang, 46, turned the tiny flat he has occupied since the age of 14 into what he calls his "domestic transformer," and in the process offered a vision for how one of the world's most densely-populated cities could better use its limited space. Most Popular – Entertainment Viewed Tigers resisting calls to surrender: S.Lanka military Fertility doctor on brink of cloning human: report Obama vows reform of credit card market Downturn hits Elton John, Paul McCartney Charred meat linked to pancreatic cancer risk View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Community - Intellectual Property Rights Policy - Help

Other News on Friday, 24 April 2009
Heavy army presence chafes in Mexico drug war city | International |
Iran warns U.N.'s Ban against double standards | International |
Somalia wins funds, opposition leader vows unity | International |
Italy police nab Germans who left kids at pizzeria | International |
Microsoft profit falls, sees more weakness | Technology |
IBM plans cloud computing services for 2009 | Technology |
Yahoo pulls the plug on GeoCities | Technology |
German GEMA in talks with YouTube on video dispute | Technology |
Beyonce says definitely wants Broadway role | Entertainment |
Woody Allen returns to NY to open Tribeca festival | Entertainment |
Idol Anoop Desai ditches grad school for music | Entertainment |
Heart, Bedingfield perform at ASCAP pop awards | Entertainment |
Tribeca film examines Cuba's lost son of baseball | Entertainment |
ELO rocker Jeff Lynne working slowly on solo album | Entertainment |
South Africans celebrate as Zuma, ANC lead poll | International |
Suicide attacks kill 76 in Iraq
Pakistani Taliban says withdrawing from Buner | International |
Blasts kill 78 in Iraq's bloodiest day in a year
Suicide attacks kill 76 as Iraq reports arrest | International |
AP IMPACT: Secret tally has 87,215 Iraqis dead
Venezuela says Interpol has warrant for Chavez foe | International |
Gas summit in Sofia despite Putin boycott
Iraq says Qaeda boss captured as dozens killed
Page Not Found |
Tigers resisting calls to surrender: S.Lanka military
Page Not Found |
US shares 'common purpose' at G8 climate talks
France to close squatter camp for migrants
Thailand lifts emergency, seeks charter revamp | International |
Obama vows reform of credit card market
Real estate downturn boosts Morocco slum clearance | International |
IOC says London 2012 venues 'on right track'
China confirms Japan summit, downplays shrine row | International |
Credit Suisse ends losing streak in first quarter
Peru's Fujimori appeals human rights conviction | International |
Fiat posts losses, rules out Chrysler investment
US home sales drop 3%
US shares 'common purpose' at G8 climate talks
US delivers message of urgency on climate change
Blagojevich comes to L.A. to plug reality show
Boom times ahead for mobile Web access
Ashley Judd urges Congress to fight global warming
Mom accused of killing child after fake kidnapping
YouTube lets users see what friends are watching
Microsoft cuts costs, says Windows 7 on track | Technology |
Ex-Nazi guard fit to be deported: US officials
Taiwan says to spend $1.33 bln on green energy
Microsoft profits dive 32 pct to $3 bln dollars
3 small quakes rattle California's Orange County
Cost cuts help tech giants ride out weak economy
ACLU: Pentagon to release images of prisoner abuse
Cost cuts help tech giants ride out weak economy | Technology |
Amazon net profit up, Kindle sales praised
Turkmenistan defends right to diversify gas exports
Apple apologizes for iPhone 'Baby Shaker' game
Recent Justice Dept. videos show Demjanjuk walking
abandoning GeoCities
Donors raise $213 mln for Somalia: communique
Israel risks losing Arab support against Iran: Clinton
Yahoo pulls the plug on GeoCities
Russia ready to slash nuclear arsenal: general
Mich. men charged with burning buttocks of boy, 6
More red ink for McClatchy
Boy suspect's family blames 7-year-old in death
German GEMA in talks with YouTube on video dispute
Calif. approves nation's 1st low-carbon fuel rules
Nokia CEO: too early to call bottom of phone demand
Bomb in Afghan capital kills police officer
Japan pop star freed after arrest over indecency
Taiwan's president upbeat ahead of China talks
Taiwan and China to increase economic cooperation
2 US journalists set to stand trial in N. Korea
An Error has occured |
'No need' for nuke talks, NKorea tells Russia
Beyonce thriller Obsessed leads new releases | Entertainment |
Thai prime minister lifts state of emergency
US Marine leaves Philippines after rape acquittal
Land mine blast kills 5 polling officials in India
Elton John, McCartney hit by economic crisis: rich list | Entertainment |
JAL, ANA say may scrap fuel surcharges
Pressure grows on S.Lanka for ceasefire with rebels
Twilight role at stake in German reality show | Entertainment |
Samsung says first quarter profit plummets
Battle of the Bulge director Annakin dies at 94 | Entertainment |
Oz Minerals sells Indonesian gold, silver project
HSBC closes equity business in Japan
Tarantino back in Cannes with Almodovar, Campion | Entertainment |
Seoul shares retreat as Samsung Elec, Hynix fall
South Korea stimulus puts recession on hold
Pakistani c.bank sells 15 bln rupees of T-bills
Toyota's incoming president to race Lexus
G7, G20 meet to 'follow-up' on London summit
"Twilight" role at stake in German reality show
Kia Motors reports $73 mln net profit for Q1
Reggaeton star Flex wins 8 Latin Billboards
List of key winners at 40th Annual Dove Awards
Chapman wins artist of the year at gospel awards
Beyonce thriller "Obsessed" leads new releases
Miss Calif. receives strong support at Dove Awards
Jay Leno misses first "Tonight Show" in 17 years
3rd 'Twilight' film director selected
Indian police end probe of 'Slumdog' star's dad
"Battle of the Bulge" director Annakin dies at 94
Twin suicide attacks kill 55 near Baghdad shrine
North Korea to boycott nuclear talks: Russia | International |
Russia's Medvedev sacks military spy chief | International |
Toll from bombs at Baghdad shrine reaches 60 dead
Downturn hits Elton John, Paul McCartney
Left to win vote in crisis-hit Iceland | International |
Baghdad shrine blast kills 30
UK economy shrinks at fastest rate since 1979
US seeking Chrysler bankruptcy plan: reports
India presses for Sri Lanka truce as casualties rise | International |
No talks unless peacekeepers quit Somalia: opposition | International |
Pillay blasts disinformation around U.N. race meeting | International |
Former VP Gore endorses House global-warming bill
Microsoft still sees potential in Yahoo partnership | Technology |
Former VP Gore endorses House global-warming bill
Rocky start for fledgling online news ventures
SC wildfire may accelerate after overnight calm
NY adviser indicted in $413 million Ponzi scheme
Deadly outbreak of swine flu in US, Mexico
Stocks open higher as Ford results top view
Thieves steal Mass. Little League's equipment
Russia sacks military intelligence chief
US worried about recent Taliban moves in Pakistan
Ford posts $1.4 billion 1Q loss, burns less cash
World Bank: Globe bracing for more poverty
Home Depot garden center becomes young owl's home
Elton John, McCartney hit by economic crisis: rich list | Entertainment |
Japan pop star free after naked arrest
Paintings attributed to Hitler fetch $143,000 | Entertainment |
North Korea to boycott nuclear talks
No concessions to Pakistan militants: army chief
Malaysia vows action on Myanmar human trafficking
Thais who rioted last week call for new protests
Land mine blast kills 5 during India's elections
Thai PM lifts emergency rule ahead of new protest
NZ climate scientist fired for unapproved comments
Group says China's new postal law restricts market
Thailand lifts state of emergency
Pakistani stocks rally, heartened by Taliban retreat
Macau casino operator Galaxy posts $1.5 bln loss
Japan's Nomura posts record $7.3 bln loss
Taiwan's AU plans T$0.3/share cash dividend
'Madden NFL 10' to cover Polamalu, Fitzgerald
Cathay: 70 pct of staff join unpaid leave scheme
Scottish singing sensation gets dye job, makeover
China reports 76 percent increase in gold reserves
Paintings attributed to Hitler fetch $143,000
Leonard Nimoy open to more 'Star Trek'
Seoul court accepts KIKO suspension suits vs banks
Latin America in spotlight at Cannes Critics' Week
Taiwan dlr at 2-wk high on fund inflows, U.S. pressure
BBC sends `Ethical Man' on global warming quest
Grammy for 'Big Bad John' survives Dean home fire
Hong Kong architect gets 24 rooms into one tiny flat
Indonesian volcano spews lava and ash into the sky
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01