A new off-grid tiny home being showcased at this month’s Milan Design Week is a marvel of transformative design. Specifically, the “residential building with high flexibility,” as it has been designated by the Italian architectural firm who built it, has been built to use a mechanical system that employs cranks, ropes, and pulleys to reconfigure the tiny home on demand into twenty different layouts and variations.
It’s named Casa Ojalá and it is the brainchild of architect Beatrice Bonzanigo of the Italian firm IB Studio, which plans to transport the new product into position by truck and then assemble it using its architectural team. Once in place, the tiny home will grab electricity from built-in solar panels and employ a rainwater collection system. Although it looks like the design could support a composting toilet to give it the most flexibility in terms of location, the prototype design has been configured to connect to a “small biological pit” (read: septic tank).
Meanwhile, residents will be able to change their floor plan whenever they desire, which is unusual even in the market for innovative tiny homes. Movable interior walls can be used, for example, to partition a bedroom into two rooms when residents have guests over. In addition to the mechanical devices mentioned above, the initial design employs screens made of fabric and lightweight wooden walls to change the shape of the interior. The living room can also be partitioned or even transformed into a large outdoor platform that augments the terrace area.
It has a total floorspace of just 27 square meters (about 290 square feet, for those of you who are fans of IKEA’s popular tiny house examples). That space includes two bedrooms including one with a double bed and one with a single, as well as a bathroom, kitchenette, terrace, and a living room, at least in the initial design.
“Casa Ojalá is a sustainable, minimal, compact and flexible product for a new comfort, away from TV or air conditioning,” said IB Studio in its promotional materials. “The boundary between inner and outer space no longer exists. Outdoor is a substantial, fundamental and precious part of it.”
IB Studio, led by Bonzanigo and partner Isabella Invernizzi, will showcase the installation called “Casa Ojalá / Inhabiting the Infinite Choice” at the Post Design Gallery Memphis Showroom. The company’s portfolio also includes a diverse array of innovative projects including a villa in Australia, stately homes in the Tuscan countryside, a prize-winning wine cellar in Tuscany, and a restaurant chain in Japan.
Few things ruin a quiet evening faster than a robot vacuum roaring through the living room. Most of us end up pausing the cleaning run, which defeats the whole purpose of owning one. Matic thinks it has the answer with its new Serene robot vacuum, and the big selling point is how little noise it makes.
The Matic Serene runs at 52 decibels even when cleaning at full power. To put that in perspective, Matic compares it to the hum of your refrigerator. It is available now for $1,695, which is $200 more than the original Matic’s current price.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.