Introduction

In the past, the role of the home was simply to live and survive, in order to protect humans and to provide shelter from the elements. Developments in interior design have turned our homes into more than just living spaces, but a way for humans to pursue beauty. However, with a large population, tight land use and the movement of people, often between large cities, this has led to our living spaces becoming smaller and more limited in function. And in this age of fast-paced living, where work and life are inextricably linked for many of us, the functional limitations of the space can make the home a plummeting experience for us, which to a large extent makes it difficult to meet people’s needs, but an over-functional space can make the whole room cramped and small, and it can even be a little difficult to walk around the space. This is almost a difficult problem to solve in modern society. Therefore, this paper will investigate how to maximise the use of space by folding, to achieve a multi-purpose space, and to ensure that the overall space is both multi-functional and comfortable within a limited range.

Keywords：Small multi-purpose space｜Concealed folding｜An extension of light

Background

My client, Perry, is a New York-based American collage artist from Japan. Born in Japan as a child, Perry spent her childhood largely in Japanese-style duplex flats, (and Japan’s urban areas are among the densest in the world, with a long tradition of dealing with limited space, so much so that it can be considered second nature to architects, designers and homeowners alike.) [1] Most Japanese today can easily switch from one way of life to another – from sitting at the dining table for meals to sitting on the floor while watching TV – and Perry enjoys this shift in lifestyle. She often collects scraps from her life to make collage art. Because if she didn’t, these items would end up in the trash. For example, like cans, tinfoil, plastic bags, and paper cups. By reusing these used items, she redefines their value of these items and creates an artistic life for them. So I wondered if the space could also be reused and turned into a multifunctional living room. Can space be folded and stretched to create a more spacious space for more rational use?

Concealment can also be another form of folding. This is not the same as folding in the traditional sense, which is similar to origami like a spring that compresses the space. The Japanese craft of origami reminds me of the concept of folding space, which is inextricably linked to my clients. I thought a piece of paper could be seen as a space and I drew the folding pattern on the paper (Fig.1) to simulate the way it folds within the space I transformed the small ticket into multiple spaces by

Fig.1

folding it in project four. To explore the relationship between origami and space, I also went to ‘several origami-related videos on how to make, fold and then reshape a space. I found that the most

important thing that allows the paper to be folded and stretched again is the uniform diagonal crease in two opposite directions, which is how most origami spaces are realised. and then form a new kind of space. I hypothesise that rotating and stretching the space to create another space, but the most serious problem with this idea is that in reality this would not be possible and the furniture in the squeezed space would be destroyed.

In Project 1, the main design direction was to design a new type of semi-residential space for the client and to ensure that the whole is multifunctional and spacious with a minimum of practicality and economy. In my proposal I have only considered the needs of the space and its functionality, I have combined some functional furniture to form a multifunctional and functional space. The overall floor plan is a rectangle and I divided the room into four interconnected spaces according to their shape and extended it in the middle of this so that they can be connected and the client can study, eat and rest here. The most important issue that arose in this project was that I had not considered the spaciousness of the space. At first, I did not question whether the space I had designed was of a size that could be arranged in this way, but then I realised that the multiple walls I had created divided the space and at the same time made it so confined and small that it was difficult to pass one person in the aisle.

Azby Brown suggests that the most useful and common way to divide an interior space without the use of walls is to close it off by changing the height of the floor. Just a few inches of height, perhaps accompanied by a change in floor covering, can easily pull out a space for relaxing, sitting or talking from a space used for standing, and this part of the space can also be used for movement and storage.[2] I have found the answer to this idea in several examples, such as the Japanese

Fig.2

foldable tatami (Fig.2) table, which provides a foldable space for studying, eating and chatting with

friends, as well as storage space for stored objects, and which when folded can form a new guest room for the occupants to relax in. And Yanagid, the famous Japanese writer on the aesthetics of Oriental art, suggests that the pure wildflowers and unspoilt countryside often dwarf the elegance of urban and courtly culture.[3] In his book, I saw much of the culture from Japan, some of the nature motifs representing Japanese elements of flowers, birds and insects combined with simplicity and tenderness in their simplicity. These are combined with tatami mats to ‘fold’ the natural elements into the interior and add a different feel to the space. This gave me a new way of thinking about my project, finding the style of the space while looking for the ‘folding’. After this, I found a similar design – a pull-out wardrobe with concealed doors forming a partition in the wall that can be pulled out to form a bed when one needs to sleep (Fig.3) , which is multifunctional

Fig.3

without taking up the volume of the space, an idea I had lacked in my previous projects. However, after I viewed some videos of users who had installed foldable tatami tables, I found that they gave comments that the frequent folding of the table caused problems in their lives, especially in homes where there was not much storage. Therefore, this type of folding is more suitable for people who live in small spaces at a snail’s pace rather than in a large, spacious house.

Creating space within a space allows for a certain degree of extension of the living space. I have made good use of this in the windows of Project 2 Contemplation. Under the pressure of long working hours, sometimes clients need a space to relax and meditate. In this project, I have extended the window as a whole out of the building’s facade and designed it in the shape of an ergonomic seat, where the client can meditate or rest. However, due to an incomplete understanding of the space, the model of the windows I built was too high and it was difficult for the client to achieve a good meditation. After this, I referred to the work of Henriquez Partners – cardero – (Fig.4 a) who used a curtain wall of a thousand origami birds for the extension of the windows, inspired by the edges of envelopes and the seagulls and paper planes near the nautical harbour. [4]The deeply angled V-shaped sculptural form provides shade and privacy while reducing solar radiation. The windows I have designed extend the space but expose it to the sun. The security risks and client comfort that this design presents without taking into account light and the changing seasons of the year are the parts I have left out, there is no privacy in an interior that is exposed to direct light. In contrast, Corbusier’s work,(Fig.4b) the Longchamps Chapel. With its irregular shape, sloping walls and roof, the windows in the walls are the most unique feature. Compared with Henriquez Partners, Corbusier’s approach is to cut holes in the façade and to enhance the light by utilizing tapered windows between the mezzanines. Each wall is filled with square windows of varying sizes, making the whole space a transformative experience as the sun pours in. [5] Whereas Henriquez Partners’ windows are an extension of the space outside, Corbusier’s windows are a visual ‘extension’ of the space through light. This was very interesting to me, and an aspect I had not considered. Until then, I had only focused on the changes in real space and ignored the changes in the human visual senses. After this, I think I should think in many different ways and think in many different ways to design and research projects better.

 

Conclution

For the multiple use of space, with the addition of folded space and extensions in light, a small home becomes simultaneously spacious and multifunctional, which is feasible for my research. Throughout my research into the folding of space I have found that I have always been closed, my thinking is folded like origami and not unfolded. So the space I was designing was as limited as my thinking. Before that I had worked hard to create, thinking about designs through my own head and not looking at the work of other interior designers. I think I should improve on this by looking at other people’s work to learn something and then experiment with it in my own projects. I also lack a lot of consideration in my work, I always take a one-sided approach to a project, for example, I only consider one aspect and I start working on that one key point, while ignoring other potential problems, which is very fatal. Through the design process and reflections of the first semester project, I finally found my own design style and direction through the communication with my classmates and teachers, which is very important to me. In the pre-design period I was in a state of confusion, designing for the sake of designing, so the work I produced was poor. Now I can be clear about my goals, what I want to do and how to make good designs.

Reference list

[1]. Bechen, K. (2012.Page 23-24 )Small space organizing : a room-by-room guide to maximizing your space. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Revell.

[2]. Brown, A. (1996.Page 78-79). Small Spaces. Nissha Printing Company Ltd.

[3]. Yanagi, S. (1972.Page 139-140). The unknown Craftsman. Kodansha international ltd.

[4].peter, E. (2020). https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/undefined. [online] 小红书. Available at: http://xhslink.com/J4g4Ym [Accessed 29 Jan. 2023].

[5].Lucy, D. (2021). https://www.xiaohongshu.com/explore/undefined. [online] 小红书. Available at: http://xhslink.com/x1L4Ym [Accessed 29 Jan. 2023].

[6].Carmona, M. and Filipa Matos Wunderlich (2013.Page 256-257). Capital Spaces. Routledge.