Living in That House Outside SLC | By Jane Law
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| Illustration by Lin Zhenming & Carmen. |
If you’ve had the chance to visit campus before it was closed, it’s not hard to notice that tiny white building located just at the brimmed corner of Amphitheatre, outside the Student Life Centre. During the month of August 2018, Taylor’s University presented an innovative approach to solving the pressing issues of urban living in conjunction with the Taylor's Future Movement Open Day Event. Partnered with Me.reka Makerspace, an impact-driven enterprise, both parties redefined the traditional concept of a ‘home’ and introduced the future of housing, a microhouse.
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| Microhouse night view. Screenshot from Ricci Wong's YouTube video. |
Designed to be space-efficient, the house fits the footprint of two car spaces. It is fully equipped with sustainable facilities like solar panels, a rainwater system that helps filter collected rainwater for daily use and a mini edible garden just outside the house. Moreover, the house is furnished with futuristic building elements such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and motion sensor which can detect any movements as well as automatically turn on the lights inside the home, allowing a smarter way of living.
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| There is a sink in the house with a rainwater filtration system! Screenshot from Ricci Wong's YouTube video. |
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| The edible garden outside the microhouse. The grey container behind is the rainwater collection system. Screenshot from Ricci Wong's YouTube video. |
If you haven’t seen his vlogs, Mohamad Danniel Iskandar Bin Abdul Rahin was invited by the Taylor’s marketing team as an initiative to introduce the anchored project of Taylor’s Future Movement Open Day 2018. He stayed there for a week and recorded his little ‘staycation’.
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| Relaxing inside the microhouse. Screenshot from Taylor's University's YouTube video. |
“It was a fun experience! I've never lived in anything like it before,” exclaimed Danniel. “The house was comfortable, nice and cozy. Due to it being small, it was such a convenience as everything is placed so near to each other. Therefore, it was never too much trouble to get around inside the house.”
“The only downside of it was that I did feel a bit lonely during my stay and that the microhouse was actually a little too big for me but that was because I stayed alone,” explained Danniel.
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| Great place for us to chill with friends for some tea. Screenshot from Ricci Wong's YouTube video. |
“However, it felt just nice for a mini hangout. If I wanted a place dedicated to just chilling with my friends, this would absolutely be it.”
Taylor’s Creative Office noted that the microhouse acts as an encouragement for the students to try this so-called style of living.
They further indicated, “We urged students to make any add-on relevant projects of their interest to the house. For example, engineering students can make some sort of prototype for sustainable living and add it on to this microhouse for testing. It can also be seen as a hub for sustainable living.”
“Yes, I would but it also depends on who you are,” stated Danniel after being enquired if he would recommend living in a microhouse to others.
“My friends complained that the house was stuffy and hot but that wasn’t the case for me as I could feel the bustles of the wind through the house from time to time. I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it is definitely live-able for everyone.”
When asked how his overall experience was, Danniel replied, “This experience has taught me that I can live in a small house logistically. I'm super glad I took part in this project because I realised I learned a bit more about myself, a bit more about sustainable living, and a bit more on how to vlog. It was such a rich experience for me that I got to learn a bunch of things from different areas! The whole experience was fun, exciting, new, and adventurous!”
Can you imagine yourself in the future living in a microhouse? With scientists heavily researching the possibility of life on Mars, maybe you might consider it once the Earth becomes too overcrowded. Till then, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Microhouses, or minimal living, may really be a viable option in the far future.
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