11 February 2007

Apartment

Over at Wired News, iMomus has been thinking about the advantages of living in a very, very small apartment in Tokyo.
Who needs a big fridge when you have a 24-hour convenience store right outside your building? Who needs a big bathroom when there's a well-equipped sento (a spa-like public bathhouse) nearby? Who needs a garage when Tokyo's public transport is so great? Even a big bedroom becomes unnecessary when you can book a love hotel—equipped with a Jacuzzi, vibrating bed and a karaoke machine—by the hour. When your city has great amenities, when its public zones are safe and inviting, you don't need a lot of space at home.
Pretty much the opposite of the the “American Dream,” that.

He also offers a list of strategies for releasing your attachment to your living space. It brings back unhappy memories of Wired magazine back in the old days—dig these too-clever neologisms.

  • Hikki
  • The Guest
  • The Dole
  • Writer Nomad
  • Smart Homeless
  • Squatters and Eel Houses
  • Hay Balers and Self Builders
  • Cockpit Living
But—again like Wired in the old days—there is some provocative utopian thinking lurking in there.

2 comments:

Kate said...

Sounds a bit like your "loft" life.

:)

Al said...

I had a loft and now I have a house. I wonder if I was better off with the loft. :-)