Living in a Box: Big ideas for small spaces

Rainlight Creative Director, Yorgo Lykouria, discusses microliving and BoxLife design with Anna Fixsen of Architectural Digest, Jenn Chang of Common, Elisa Orlanski Ours of Corcoran Sunshine, and Scavolini Creative Director Daniele Busca.

54% of the 7.6 billion humans on earth live in cities; by 2050, that number is expected to rise to 66% of a forecasted world population of 9.6 billion. The strain is being felt around the globe, according to the United Nation‚’s World Urbanization Prospects 2014 report.

In North America, about 82% of the total population, roughly 473.8 million people lives in urban areas. The number of single-person households is rising, although housing has not kept pace with demographic change. Many of the new units being built are shrinking, challenging municipal housing codes and zoning regulations. This problem is not going away. We need to question not only how we live but what we expect from our dwellings from a design perspective, both aesthetically and its functionality. It is time to explore alternatives, such as micro-units for single-person households and legal shared housing, which will inevitably impact how we organize and furnish our spaces.

A panel of industry experts (developers and public sector experts) from North America to London, led by Rainlight Creative Director Yorgo Lykouria, will investigate the opportunities and challenges these global trends pose to the design community.

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