Sustainable Housing - Tokyo Style

MAN MADE -one of the TV series by National Geographic-aired interesting episode: Tokyo-Living Small in the Big City and I would love to share 4 minutes of the video about "penguin house" - the extreme creativity and innovation for mere garage space.

I remember years back (circa 1990) when I used to rent an apartment in Tokyo. It was a sticker shock how expensive those tiny rentals were. But in lieu of personal space, this metropolis provides the unlimited opportunities to explore beyond your small pad.

Another article the Newest Cottage Industry is also worth the reading. Slideshow of instant history of housing trends are informative. Baby Boomers (born between 1946~1964) are largest, healthiest and wealthiest group ever appear on the US growth landscape. Builders and developers has been researching this most influential group as target market. To reflect what Baby Boomer wants, the size of average home grown from 953 sq ft to 2,200 sq ft in 50 years.

I don't see smaller homes gain popularity here in Hawaii, yet. Maybe Hawaii's home is smaller by mainland standard, and their lifestyle and choice of furniture doesn't allow any shrinkage to the Hawaii home. Once supersize it, isn't it hard to go back to the size it used to be?