MINI Living, in collaboration with LA and New York-based studio FreelandBuck, has unveiled its new urban cabin on a rooftop of an apartment in Los Angeles. Named Global Village, the tiny cabin has first been presented at the 8th edition of Los Angeles Design Festival held between June 7-10, 2018. 

MINI Living Urban Cabins are developed as a series of five different cabins, proposing real solutions for how we live, work and interact in our cities in a minimum footprint.

MINI Living' new urban cabin is designed as a temporary home providing alternative flexible solutions with minimum footprint to many local people, the Global Village is the third iteration of previous tiny homes, which were previously shown in London and New York. 

The new home sits on a 15-square-metre footprint and offers flexible solutions that bring MINI’s design credo of "creative use of space" to life, all while examining the cities' new, global cultural identity.

Created by Oke Hauser, creative lead at MINI Living, Corinna Natter, designer at MINI Living, and David Freeland, principle architect of Freelandbuck, Los Angeles, the new cabin is built from different materials and construction techniques to give different personalities to the structures, also carrying the traces of different cities.

"On only a 15 m2 footprint, they create space for a global identity on a local level. Each cabin is located in a different city and enables its inhabitants to feel at home wherever they are," said the creatives of MINI Living.

"With the first fully operable co-living hub opening in April 2019 in Shanghai, the idea of this global village will be taken to the next level."

The five different Urban Cabins will be placed in five cities and delve into five locally relevant topics. From exploring the decreasing number of libraries in London with a microlibrary, to Beijing where visitors can enjoy a meditative break from the bustling city streets. Each cabin will be equipped with an experience room that is solely related to the specific topic. 

The creatives of MINI Living are working with local architects to reflect the spirit of the city. In the Global Village, the room is developed by a local architect who knows his/her city’s needs and desires best and is able to create a meaningful experience in LA. 

"Each Urban Cabin reverberates with the spirit of the city it represents, and the cabins’ focus theme will be reflected in one of the elements in MINI Living Shanghai as well," added the team of MINI Living.

"Beyond the respective themes that the Urban Cabins explore, the materials used in their construction will also give them distinct personalities. Where the core material of timber provides warmth and a sense of home to the interior, additional secondary materials are sourced locally. These materials give texture, colour and a style that only LA, Beijing, Tokyo, New York or London could create."

Although on a tiny footprint, each cabin maximises the space it can provide to create a comfortable living space for two people. These flexible miniature houses can be reconfigured with a rotation, a fold, a slide or with the pull of a wall, to suit the people who live in it. 

"As a result, the character and feel of the spaces change, shifting from day to night and according to the changing needs of its inhabitants." 

"During the day, the Urban Cabins open up to the city, inviting communication and fostering community. At night on the other hand, they can be closed, creating flexible, comfortable and beautifully designed homes."

"On the one hand, each temporary and inhabitable Urban Cabin is a concise approach to a new way of urban living, but on the other hand it is a creative ambassador for open-minded global togetherness – a commitment to collaboration, communication, exchange and dialogue. In line with MINI Living Shanghai, the cabins demonstrate how we can create architecture for our shared global identity that adapts to our way of living," added the team. 

Plan of the Global Village

Section of Global Village

All images © Laurian Ghinitoiu

> via MINI Living