As a youngster living in a tiny flat with six others in one of the world's most densely populated cities, Hong Kong architect Gary Chang has been obsessed by living space, or rather a chronic lack of it. After three decades in the same boxy, 32-square-meter (344 sq ft) dwelling he grew up in, Chang has come up with an innovative answer to the increasingly cramped lives of many urban dwellers - the science fiction-like “domestic transformer.” “The idea is everything is moving. This is my laundry space,” Chang told Reuters, sliding away a wall filled with CDs to reveal a washing machine and dryer. By sliding another track-mounted metal wall that bears a plasma TV, a kitchen materialized. Beside that, there is a luxurious 1.9-meter bathtub that itself turns into a guest bed. His tiny rectangular apartment has polished chrome walls that bear 24 configurations, each suiting a specific need. The space available becomes a home theater, spa, kitchen, bedroom, chill-out zone rigged up with a hammock, depending on what Chang needs.
