Smaller homes have become more and more the norm around the world. Overcrowding is a major social challenge, particularly in low-income areas, and in many countries, including South Africa, shipping containers are being converted into surprisingly beautiful homes. And while the national government builds houses in townships, the number of people who need proper housing seems to be growing.
MAKING THE MOST OF SPACE
A Cape Town-based NGO called Shoebox Homes has been playing a major role in giving people their dignity back by helping to improve living conditions in low-income and overcrowded areas. Shoebox Homes has transformed cramped spaces into more convenient homes where families are able to live more comfortably. Taiwanese architect Y Tsai co-founded the organisation after his design, Nested Bunk Beds, won a national competition. Designers were challenged to find clever ways to make the most of the floor space in small homes.
Tsai showed, through brilliant design innovation, how to turn 36 square metres into a comfortable home. His Nested Bunk Beds offer an attractive and highly functional way to save space. ‘In many areas in South Africa, a typical house is 36 square metres,’ says Tsai, ‘often occupied by many people. You wonder how people sleep in these spaces. The first thing we looked at was the bed, and how we could make it multifunctional.’
Tsai’s nested beds design basically stacked five single beds on top of each other. But the beds have multiple uses. ‘We were given the chance to pilot this at an orphanage in Wellington, Western Cape, to illustrate space saving,’ says Tsai. They redesigned the floor layout to accommodate the Nested Bunk Beds to maximise the sleeping capacity for the 20 children at the orphanage.
The result is a generous multipurpose room with four sets of the bed system in a row along the walls. During the day, the space is turned into a big playroom for the children, with each bed set pushed back into a standard bunk bed area. Even better is that the beds can be configured differently to suit the needs of the children. ‘By night, all the beds can be fully extended, giving all 20 children a comfortable place to sleep,’ he explains.
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SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR
The Nested Bunk Beds idea took flight and was soon awarded various prizes. It won a Top Billing-Momentum Lifestyle Award in 2007 and was also voted the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa at the Design Indaba Expo the next year.
Tsai started Shoebox Homes to ‘manage the rollout of the bed system for orphanages and townships across South Africa.’ He has also further converted small homes in low-income areas into more useful spaces. In Factreton, Cape Town, he maximised a 60-square-metre home for a family of 10 people. ‘With mobile cupboards and fold-up beds, the spaces can retract and expand according to the needs of the family,’ he says. ‘During the day, bedrooms are the least used, so folding up the beds and pushing back the mobile cupboards creates a lounge during the day. In the evenings, the bedrooms expand to allow the beds to fold down, and the unoccupied lounge becomes the smaller space.’
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MINIMUM RESOURCES, MAXIMUM RESULTS
Meanwhile, his design company, Tsai Design Studio, is kept busy on commercial projects. Established in 2005, it focuses on architecture, interior and furniture design and has completed major projects for big companies and private clients.
Tsai Design Studio has also won a number of awards and was named the South African winner of the International Young Design Entrepreneur Award. Tsai says his non-profit and commercial work are guided by the same principles – to produce provocative designs that are unconventional, yet instilled with a strong sense of cultural and social relevance.
‘I believe design can make a positive social impact,’ he says. I use minimum resources to achieve maximum results. My aim is to show how designers can make a dent in the universe.’ He adds that the greatest reward is seeing the end results, and the lives changed in the process.
Y TSAI: MEET THE MAN WHO’S TRYING TO IMPROVE LIVING CONDITIONS FOR THE POOR
Reviewed by Michelle Pienaar
on
July 09, 2021
Rating:
Reviewed by Michelle Pienaar
on
July 09, 2021
Rating:
