MINI will present a special installation at the 2018 Salone del Mobile in Milan. The brand worked together with London architectural firm Studiomama on the project, called MINI LIVING – BUILT BY ALL. The living concept enables close collaboration between residents and architects. This makes it an excellent way of addressing each individual’s requirements.
MINI LIVING – BUILT BY ALL extends the underlying themes of MINI LIVING
And MINI LIVING is a concept of exactly what its name says – making creative use of a small living area. It already includes the principle of participation. That means people and their individual needs and ideas now play a more central role. “Today’s standardised housing market is limited in its ability to meet the requirements of the individual,” says Oke Hauser, Creative Lead MINI LIVING, explaining the approach to the installation. “So our MINI LIVING – BUILT BY ALL installation turns people into active creators and puts them back at the heart of the design process. We believe the quality of a living space is determined by how well the residents identify with their home.”
Besides the installation, MINI is once again setting up an experience area
The MINI LIVING FACTORY OF IDEAS gives visitors the opportunity to create their own visions for the living spaces. The MINI LIVING installation itself is in an adjacent room. It showcases four example living space concepts along with a public area, such as a communal kitchen or outdoor gym. It all adds up to produce a micro-neighbourhood, while at the same time demonstrating that even the interior of an empty building can be of good use for the future of urban architecture.
MINI LIVING is an initiative first launched by MINI in 2016. Its aim is devising creative architectural solutions for the urban lifestyles of the future. MINI LIVING has already exhibited visionary concepts for shared and collaborative living/working in our cities over recent years.
The new installation will be on show at the Salone del Mobile on Via Tortona 32 in Milan. The exhibition in the Italian city is from 17 – 22 April 2018.
@hellenicspot, shows us #ClassicMini symmetry. pic.twitter.com/ezKldphGL5
— MINI (@MINI) March 22, 2018
“Creative use of space” has always been at the core of the MINI brand
It is also the core of the MINI LIVING concept which debuted a couple of years ago. The project addresses one of the most pressing challenges of urban living – the shortage of attractive, affordable housing. It is an obstacle for many while turning into a global problem.
As a closed space, MINI LIVING provides its occupants with all the security of living in their own four walls. But since those walls are flexible, the installation blurs the normal boundaries between the private and the communal. When and to what extent occupants actually want to share their space and time with the community around them is entirely up to them. However, as the overall motto of the MINI LIVING installation, “Do Disturb”, already implies, this concept has a design specifically to encourage interaction and to provide an alternative to urban anonymity.
MINI LIVING takes to the next logical stage what was always the mission behind the MINI brand right from day one
And that is the mission to improve the quality of urban life. Back in 1959, MINI already offered a clever solution to one of the most relevant problems of that time. It happened by offering urban mobility at an affordable price. The solution took the form of a vehicle that combined high functionality and maximum driving excitement with minimal road space requirements. Even back then, by offering “creative use of space”, MINI proved that even a small car can be extremely exciting.
And over the generations that followed it continued to set the agenda for personalised urban mobility. Today, finding attractive, affordable living space is one of the biggest challenges of urban life. That is true not only for young people and families just starting out in life but for a far bigger group. Here too, the answer lies in the creative use of space. MINI LIVING applies the brand’s essence to further areas of urban life unconnected with the automobile while again, the accent is on squeezing maximum potential from the smallest possible physical footprint.
