The relatively short walk from the 103rd Street subway station was a bit frightening for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Museum of the City of New York. Our tour guide was welcoming and very informative. I learned a lot from the Making Room exhibit, especially from the statistics. The numbers were surprising – more than a third of New York City’s population consists of single households. I am sure the number would be greater because many people don’t report to the Census Bureau. Statistics on the population growth was particularly shocking for me. The Bloomberg administration predicted that the population of our city would reach nine million by 2030! I cannot imagine how New York city would be like with that amount of people. There will definitely be many, many dense housing complexes. “Making room” would be vital.
An interesting part of the exhibit was the comparison of housing across our five boroughs. As I expected, all the boroughs, with the exception of Manhattan, would have more plots of land and houses. There are more nuclear families in these boroughs. Manhattan on the other hand, has a lot of single households and there are many apartments. It is cramped and densely populated. However, I have personally observed that Queens (particularly Long Island City and Flushing) transforming to that as well. There are a lot more high-rise apartment buildings built to accomodate the increasing population. The costs of living in these areas are also becoming increasingly more expensive.
With the need to build more efficient residences to accomodate a greater amount of people, the demand for engineers and interior designers is high. They will build the future of New York City. When I saw the models in the exhibit, I was amazed at all the structures, both inside and out. Unconventional curving architecture not allowed gave an aesthetic appeal, it also made space more efficient in apartments. High ceilings can be taken advantage of. I find that these models are so futuristic because they depart completely from what we are used to.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the exhibit was the micro apartment. I actually saw Mayor Bloomberg reveal the concept on the news a couple of days ago. But seeing it in person, I was completely blown out of my mind knowing how a small space can become so efficient. At the same time, it was so aesthetically pleasing. I thought it was better than how IKEA can make a small space efficient. It was better than any picture in the IKEA catalogue! I thought it was amazing how the chair can be transformed into a ladder, how the couch can become a queen-sized bed in an instant, and how a wall cabinet can become a work station. Going through this micro apartment made me think about how I can make my own room just as amazing.
I am certainly looking forward to the future of housing, especially with these micro apartments. When the experiment in Kips Bay is completed next year, I will definitely look into it and consider renting. I find that is much better than a dormitory… and it is super close to Baruch. I also hope that concept will become accepted by the public, especially for singles. With the predicted population of nine million by 2030, these new housing structures will definitely play an important part in the future of New York City.
