Continue reading below
Our Featured Videos

What if little aliens attacked, invading our homes and occupying our … appliances? These mini model cities shock our sense of scale, taking everyday household objects and turning them into tiny overpopulated towns … and presumably filled with small (and unseen) residents.

A senior project from the Kyoto University of Art and Design (via SwissMiss) the fictional model citizens (so to speak) of this project have made homes out of everything from a microwave and television set to a table fan and power strip.

Certainly, they will not want for energy in their miniaturized world. Perhaps when we have more advanced nano-technology the first true artificial intelligence won’t be human-sized after all, but little people who can live alongside us in the extra spaces and abandoned home fixtures.

On the slightly more serious side, though, there is a lot to be learned from this kind of design experiment. It tests our perception, for starters, and shows us possible applications of different building technologies and typologies that can work at various sizes and scales.