I really enjoyed the Making Room exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. I think that the new plan for innovative housing construction in New York City shows great potential. It is an exciting new idea to design single occupant houses in the city. As a college student, I am familiar with the stressful process of finding affordable living spaces, particularly the need to look for roommates in order to cut costs.

However, even though the main attraction of these apartments was advertised as the fact that they were designed for single occupants, I was particularly impressed by how so many of the designs allowed for communal spaces. I actively support the idea that single people should have spaces where they can afford to live independently. Having such apartment complexes that allow for this function while also providing for social interaction and community building would really make urban living attractive.

I would like to know more about how eco-friendly these houses are. I recently studied abroad in Florence, Italy during the winter intersession and was deeply struck by how environmentally conscious Europeans seem to be. If these modern apartments are to symbolize the future of New York City, then they should definitely take into account the latest eco-friendly practices in design and building. I hope that these new construction ideas will maximize the potential for eco-friendly living.

However, I would say that this mission is already halfway accomplished by the effective utilization of space in these designs. As our tour guide mentioned, “land is actually shrinking” in this age of over population and climate change.  It is essential to find creative ways to utilize available space for maximum utility and these ideas seem to be doing that very well. Thus, I think that this is a commendable direction for the city to focus its planning efforts toward.

I hope that the space conserving and economical apartments grow to be a trend in urban building in the near future. As a member of the target clientele for these designs, I would definitely love to rent or invest in one of these apartments!