Loftcube, Technomads Home Solution
During the course my life I changed several privileged homes. When I was younger, I used to live in Europe with my parents, in a high ceiling 1900s Art Nouveau house in Brussels. Then I moved to South America precisely in the city of Sao Paulo Brazil, where luckily I lived in Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater style home. I now live on New York’s Fifth Avenue in front of the Plaza Hotel and the problem is that my lifestyle by now is more of an urban technomad rather than a regular citizen. I have been traveling a lot and during my trips I need to feel at home and connected–my desire is to be global and cocooned at the same time. I am tired of moving all my furniture, paintings, frames, sound system, walk-in closets and numerous objects that I’ve collected from all four continents of the globe. If I had to choose, I would not even know which ones to pick and take with me. The Buddhist Third Noble Truth, the law of detachment, takes easily place in my spirit when these assets transcended into a symbolic value can be all inserted at once in my Apple iMac.
But the solution for people like me is now at hand. And why not? To have a James Bond techno-chic element in our lifestyle, German architect Werner Aisslinger, picked urban rooftops to be the the real estate of choice for the transportable 40 sq. meter Loftcube. The weight of the cube has been calculated for transport. Either the landlord can keep it there and rent it, or you can take it with you when you go. The pod-like exterior can be finished the way you want in a combination of glass and wood blinds, and the 36 square meter interior is customizable, too.
Modular wall panels separate the kitchen and bathroom, with the same tap used for both sinks (a bit like the swivel screen in the Sustainable Condo) to cut down on plumbing materials. The shower head can also water the plants, which is, if not terribly useful, sure to provide endless party entertainment.
Mountaintops, islands and other remote places are now equally interesting for this minimalist structure with its walls of glass. As expected, the entire structure can be customized to adjust the degree of translucence and subdivided per individual taste and requirement. Price is 55,000 to 11000 us dollars.
Joelle’s Picks
The Architect: Werner Aisslinger Studio, www.aisslinger.de/
Manifacturer, buy on line : http://www.loftcube.net/
The movie: http://www.spanischesdesign.de/neues/Loftcube_Deutschlandpremiere.mov
Sorces: treehugger/mocoloco
Petter Hegre's
