Micro in New York:
Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced the winner of the city’s micro-unit apartment design competition, aimed at fostering an innovative use of limited space.
All of the units will have 10-foot-high ceilings, Juliet balconies (which don’t project from the building), big windows and ample storage, according to Bloomberg. The New York Times writes that “if the rendering is any indication,” the micro-units “manage to feel roomy and inviting.” (Click here or on an image to go to a slideshow of the winning micro-apartment design.)
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Prefab in Toronto:
With their latest prototype, Toronto-based designer Jason Halter and developer Michael de Jong are taking modular design to a whole new – and accessible – level. Their firm Mekaworld’s two-storey house – created from shipping-container-sized custom steel frames, clad in cedar and mass-produced from 70-per-cent-recycled material – is available starting at about $115 a square foot.
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Eight rooms in 350 square feet of SoHo:
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UPDATE – From Michael Geller on an exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York:
An exhibition at the Museum of New York on designing smaller homes … 
includes the ‘suite within a suite’ or ‘mortage helper in the sky’ that was incorporated into some of the first projects at UniverCity. (I consider it one of our better innovations.)
