Three generations in 50m2

A luxury flat does not have to be big. Every wall, door and piece of furniture should be able to change shape or location.

‘That’s how things are heading in mega cities like Hong Kong and New York’, says Dr Henriette Bier of the Architecture group Robotic Building. ‘Pioneering architects are building tiny flats which can be reconfigured, making it possible for even three generations to live in 50 square metres of space. At present, you still have to make all the changes to the interior by hand. This will be automated in the future.’ 

Bier is making her own contribution to this development. She and doctoral candidate Alex Liu Cheng have been working on sensors that enable a flat to tell what room the occupants are in, the room temperature, what the air quality is, etc. ‘Combined with artificial intelligence, a flat should ultimately be able to adapt itself to the needs of its occupants.’

Bier is also working on a reconfigurable workshop space that will be installed in the Science Centre in Delft.