It should be clear to regular readers of Grist that we love us some efficient living space. Apartments, tiny houses, houses that can be carted around by bikes — we’ll take any of those more efficient, energy-saving, sprawl-avoiding living spaces.
But there is a limit. And this is it:
These photos come from the Society for Community Organization, a human rights organization, and they show apartments in Hong Kong. Though “apartment” might be overstating it.
According to the SoCO, over 100,000 people live in tiny “cubicle apartments” in the city. These are 40-square-foot living spaces created by dividing already-small apartments into multiple units.
Residents go about their lives in these confined spaces, sleeping on one corner, eating in another, storing their belongings in a third, and perhaps watching a TV that’s found in a fourth.
People can make do in spaces much smaller than the average bloated American home. But it is possible to go too far the other way. And you can tell you’ve reached that point when your pillow is at one end of the apartment and your feet are out the door.
