What should be affordable housing in two thousand fourteen years? Conventional, small-sized, environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The modern city dweller does not need things: the mode of moderation, thrift and a responsible approach to the use of resources comes to replace over-consumption. Comfortable microspaces are gaining immense popularity in advanced countries. That is why the “Vertical House” in Tokyo, presented this fall by the Japanese company MUJI, received a lot of exalted reviews.

MUJI, popular for its minimalistic household items (as well as the fact that its stores still do not appear in Russia), has been selling houses for storage for two thousand eight years. “Vertical House” was the third in a series (when developing the first two, the company resorted to cooperation with Kengo Kuma): it is assembled at the factory in advance, and therefore is ready for quick installation. The house can fit in a tiny plot of thirty square meters.

“Vertical house”

Three-story prefab-house, which can be ordered in the largest Japanese chain of stores selling furniture, accessories and household items

Manufacturer: MUJI

Dimensions: four x eight meters

Price: $ 200,000

Location: Tokyo

MUJI has earned a reputation for itself thanks to its no brand policy: the company relies on word of mouth, hardly spends on traditional marketing and does not brand its products. Therefore, the house from MUJI looks cute, but at the same time devoid of characteristic features. And this is a plus: the company’s designers created a pleasant neutral space that does not press and looks more spacious than it is in fact. Light wooden furniture and parquet, white walls, high windows – top managers of the company like to say that MUJI produces discreet things, and this is exactly the case.

In total, seven house configurations are available for different types of families – each at a price of about twenty million Japanese yen (about two hundred thousand dollars, which is not much for Japan). In the basic version, on the ground floor there is a bathroom and an entrance hall, a storage room, on the second – a living room and kitchen, on the third – a bedroom. A staircase passing through the center of the building visually separates all the rooms from each other.