Tofu Box

It's unbelievable how our fellow Hong Kong-ers can survive living in such a small, compact space. And how might one define "small space" you might ask? Well, by putting it simply, a 2-bedroom apartment compressed into a 400+ square feet space. Yes, one might agree that even the little fishes that live within the vicinity of an aquarium might possibly lead a better life.

Not only do flats in Hong Kong come in small sizes, they also come in big extortionate prices. A 400+ square feet, 2-bedroom apartment that is located in the neck of the woods of Hong Kong Island, might cost up to HKD2.8 million and above. Hence, it is evident that space is a scarce resource and if you have managed to secure/inherit yourself a decent living space in Hong Kong, please treat it like gold. Hong Kong, where East truly meets West, is an island of only 76 sq.km. with much of that being mountainous rock. Land for development is therefore at an absolute premium and must be used to its fullest advantage.

I do admit that we, Malaysians, do take space for granted.

However, I happen to stumble onto an interesting short and sweet excerpt from Design Tavern and a video from Youtube. The following links will give you some insight to how the architect, Gary Chang, craftily used his designing skills to fully utilise and maximize the space in his Hong Kong 32 square meter apartment.  Implementing the idea of sliding walls, Chang is able to convert his little apartment into a transforming domicile capable of changing into 24 different rooms. What a genius. I would definitely hire him to design my Hong Kong home in the future. :)

Small Living: Sliding Apartment