If you twist a handle on the wall of one tiny Madrid apartment, furniture suddenly starts to appear: A picnic table lowers from the ceiling, and a bookcase, and a hammock. There’s even a swing, and a hidden disco ball.
The rest of the attic apartment is full of similar secret spaces. “The hidden compartments were the starting point of the project,” say architects from elii, the Spanish firm that designed the home. “We tried to make the most of such a small space: a space that can be many spaces at the same time–just like a stage.”
Though other micro-apartments might use a few transformable objects–say, a Murphy bed or a sliding wall–this home goes quite a bit farther. More than just saving space, the architects wanted to create rooms that invited constant change.
“Every house, in its way, is a theater where you perform your everyday life,” they explain. “In this case, the apartment was designed for somebody who was starting a new life. In this domestic stage, she will be able to test and try it out.”
Since the owner wanted a dressing table, the architects figured out a way to hide that as well. “We suggested including it as a secret dressing table that can appear all of a sudden,” they say. The owner can actually sit inside the ‘table,’ hidden in the floor; the back of the trap door holds a mirror.
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