Feng Shui Mini-Apartment on Wheels

How much function could you fit into a tiny cube-shaped mini dwelling? Here’s a great example of what a well designed micro apartment can look like.
Spaces that seem small to even the most urban residents in the united states are sometimes spacious compared to those found in the crowded centers of major Japanese and Chinese cities. This elegant cube is the ultimate in well-balanced living – a space-saving design that still offers multiple rooms and peace of mind.


Liu Ming lives and works out of a loft in San Francisco, but most of his space is dedicated to hosting students – little is left for day-to-day living and working. The solution? This wheeled cube of modest materiality but thoughtful construction.


Principles of Feng Shui balance went into arranging the spaces internally and in relation to one another. The result maximizes each portion of the layout without feeling cramped and uncomfortable. Plywood over a steel frame even manages to make sense and look nice rather than simply cheap or necessary.

Thanks to wheels along each corner, the cube can be rolled around as needed within the larger volume of the loft live-and-work apartment layout. Pull-down, roller-shade screens provide privacy for the enclosure as well, while a shoji screen divides one side from the other.

Remarkably, the tiny unit accommodates a study with a desk and file cabinet, a staircase with built-in storage, a book with bookshelves and a meditation zone up and away from it all on its second level.
Of the space, Liu tells The New York Times:
““In feng shui, we talk about the harmony in the place that you live in. The cube evolved out of wanting cozy with the option of keeping a big, open space at the same time. And we added wheels for feng shui purposes. Now that it is portable, I can spin it on an axis, I can point my head and point my desk in different compass directions for different projects. If I am writing something and feel blocked, I can get up and move the room.””
(Photos by Jasmine Rose Oberste via Inhabitat).