I was just watching An American in Paris for the umpteenth time and noticed in the beginning that Gene Kelly lived in a teeny studio apt. and had a single bed that raised to the ceiling on ropes when not in use. I thought I would call your attention to this as a potentially neat solution to tiny apts. Its a kind of bed that could be done effectively in a neo modern form language. Ah, back to the Seine.
There was a time...
..and luckely there are less and less people that remember it. When the need for housing in the post-war Netherlands was at it's worst (the cummulation of war destruction and the start of the babyboom) space was scares and in some cases people with larger houses were asked by law to share with others. These conditions started a whole range of solutions like the one you describe and DIY magazines were full of articles on how to change your kitchen in a bedroom for two, your bathroom in a darkroom (pre-digital photography lab) etc. Some of the better Dutch industrial designers have participated in these "creative" ways of making space...back to Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.
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