Students from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany have been experimenting with a very unique new type of modular housing unit. Rollit is a cylindrical experimental house that includes everything you’d need in a home for one. A bit like a mouse in a wheel, the resident pushes the unit by walking in the center to rotate the structure to the desired position. Simply exert a little bit of energy to access a bed, a lounge chair, a table, built in storage, a shower, a toilet, or even the kitchen sink!
The unit is built from four support rings over a rigid inner shell, while a translucent membrane wraps the cylinder and can be printed with advertisements. Thin wooden slats circle the unit to provide a smooth running surface to roll it and openings on the side and slated windows let light into the interior. Mattresses and cushions are held on with velcro or put away inside cabinets when not in use. The interior is covered with 15 mm thick OSB panels.
Rollit, which won a design competition in collaboration with the Institute for Industrial Design and construction output (IFIB), was carefully designed and configured to incorporate multiple uses inside a small living space. The table, lounge chair and bed all cooperate with one another at the far end of the unit – the seat for the lounger is top of the table, while the bed is directly overhead. Just make sure that you’re on flat ground with a break – otherwise things could get way out of hand if you started to roll down a hill.
+ Rollit
Via Arch Daily
They forgot where this design will be the most useful… somewhere without gravity! So you don’t have to roll it at all.
Quickly, someone patent this and sell it to NASA!