I really enjoy and fascinated by the trip to the museum of city of New York. I think our tour guide did a great job in informing us about the housing market. Although I already knew that there are a lot of single people living in downtown city, I never thought that the number was as high as 33%. Also, I was surprised when she said there were a lot of elderly living the downtown area because I thought that older people might prefer living in outer borough, like suburban area because they have more space.

Also, one of the interesting things that I learned was that there were a great market demands for single room apartment. According to the information shown in the exhibit, there were actually only 1.5% of single bedroom apartment in the housing market. I was completely shocked by this number. Since the predicted population of New York City will be approximately nine million by 2030, and single person living alone will definitely increases over time, there will be a strong need for building more apartments for single person.

Another interesting thing that I learned during the tour was how architects can build up their apartment buildings in various ways. The way that we were used to be that each apartment units have same design as the ones right above it and the ones beneath it. However, the model in Making Exhibit actually have apartment units designed differently, not in a traditional way. The new design actually takes different people into account. For example, for people with physical disabilities their ceiling doesn’t have to be very high, and therefore allowing more spaces to be used in other parts of the room. I think that this new design is very efficient and creative; it not only allows more space, also adds an aesthetic beauty to the apartment unit.

I also learned that many of these housing design ideas were come from other parts of the world. For example, Japanese were famous for using space most efficiently. The most fascinating part of the tour was the micro unit model. I really like that apartment. It is very efficient in term of using space, for example the bed coming out of the wall, chairs hanging on the wall, wine storage behind the television. I love these ideas and I am really excited to see that project being done. I think it will definitely attract many people.

However, I am kind of curious about what kind of person will be living there. Because I think our tour guide mentioned that 40% of this building is going to be public housing, and the rest will be rented out. I don’t think that the price for renting a 325 square foot apartment unit will be a lot cheaper than any other apartment building. Because this micro unit apartment will definitely attract many people to live in there based on its aesthetically designed and various entertainment functions. Its great location, and large demand will definitely drive up the price. Even though I like that idea, I don’t think I can afford living in there.