Man in the Box
May 15, 2006 10:09 AM   Subscribe

Michael Wolf (previously mentioned for his Architecture of Density series) has a new project called 100x100, cataloguing 100 individuals and their apartments. Each apartment is 10 feet by 10 feet in size. (via kottke)
posted by tim451 (21 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
oh, such a goober... link is here:

http://www.photomichaelwolf.com/100x100/index.html
posted by tim451 at 10:14 AM on May 15, 2006


No link to the new project? I don't see it on his homepage. Architecture of Density though, wow, dystopian.

On preview, ah-ha.
posted by GuyZero at 10:15 AM on May 15, 2006


10x10? Where would anybody be crazy enough to live in a 10x10 apartment?

Oh.

Hong Kong.
posted by dhartung at 10:46 AM on May 15, 2006


After going through half of them I find that its virtually impossible to maintain order in such small space.
What a mess!
posted by lorbus at 10:49 AM on May 15, 2006


Tremendous and endlessly fascinating. Notice the Golden Arches covering the air vents in picture 5. And also notice the time on the clocks - he obviously went door to door in one go. Fantastic.
posted by nylon at 11:13 AM on May 15, 2006


Wow, cluttered prison cells!
posted by blue_beetle at 11:33 AM on May 15, 2006


This project and Architecture of Density bring to mind the JG Ballard short story 'Concentration City', and by that I mean I find them pretty fucking disturbing.
posted by tula at 11:38 AM on May 15, 2006


Wow, cluttered prison cells!

Except, uh, that they're not locked in?
posted by Tlogmer at 11:43 AM on May 15, 2006


lorbus : "After going through half of them I find that its virtually impossible to maintain order in such small space.
What a mess!"


I suspect that it's just that the messy ones made for better photography, the culture tends towards messiness, or some other factor. Lots of 10x10 apartments here in Japan, and few are messy like those pictures (I'm a messy guy, and my old 10x10 apartment was way neater than those pics), sp I don't think they're messy because maintaining order is impossible.
posted by Bugbread at 12:11 PM on May 15, 2006


Good observation Bugbread; Messy = better photos.
posted by lorbus at 12:16 PM on May 15, 2006


@ nylon: Actually, almost 20% of the photos have a "page a day" calendar with dates ranging from the 22nd to the 25th. But it is still less than a week.
posted by tim451 at 12:27 PM on May 15, 2006


It pretty astonishing what some people have managed to create in 10 square feet. Some of them actually looked like comfortable little homes. I suggest this is how all college students should be housed. One student per room.
posted by ddf at 12:27 PM on May 15, 2006


It does remind me of the dorms at my college, but with less bongs and more old Chinese women.
posted by mullacc at 12:42 PM on May 15, 2006


I like how one can get a feel for the different personalities of the people pictured here, and I spent quite a bit of time trying to imagine what their day-to-day lives might be like in these apartments. Thanks for posting this.
posted by sotalia at 12:46 PM on May 15, 2006


Great stuff. It reminds me of Harrison Ford's Blade Runner apartment without the mood lighting (but even he had a window and a bathroom).
The scary thing is this is nothing but population density meeting limited space and limited resources. America's future in a nutshell (if not the worlds).
posted by doctor_negative at 12:55 PM on May 15, 2006


Why do they all have calendars that look the same?
posted by wolftrouble at 1:27 PM on May 15, 2006


Reminds me of the dorms at college, but with two people crammed in there.
posted by porpoise at 1:41 PM on May 15, 2006


Amazing photos, but I am afraid its all a fake. I have only been through the first 15 pictures or so, but 5 of them have butter cookie tins in them!

But really, I had no idea that the people of Hong Kong loved butter cookies so much.
posted by batou_ at 4:40 PM on May 15, 2006


From one of my Hong Kong haikus (written during the time of the Danish cartoon protests):

Muslims to protest
Is it too late to give them
a tin of Kjeldsens?

Yes, for some strange reason, Danish butter cookies are all the rage, especially during Lunar New Year.

That, and Ferro Rocher ...
posted by bwg at 4:56 PM on May 15, 2006


Why do they all have calendars that look the same?

No one buys calendars. Everyone gets calendars annually as a gift from their bank, airline, real estate agent, local merchant, etc. All these companies order their calendars in bulk from the same few vendors stocking the same few designs. My parents have about 6 different calendars around the house and they haven't paid for one in... ever.

---
As for why they're all the same date - all these flats are in one complex so I assume Michael Wolf got all his permissions in order in advance and then banged out the photos 5-10 floors at a time.

Interesting in the sense that you almost expect this type of 10x10 room layout "monoculture" given that they're all close neighbors. What would have been better is if Wolf had somehow tracked who were friends/acquaintances of each other. From that, you could maybe see patterns in layout or room necessities develop among cliques. For example, among friends who enjoyed playing mah-jong together, you'd almost expect a majority of them to have mah-jong tables.
posted by junesix at 8:18 PM on May 15, 2006


Nice post. Brings back memories of my old, tiny apartment (though it was about 200 sq feet).
posted by dead_ at 11:49 AM on May 19, 2006


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