Polikatoikea Combines Small Space Living With Urban Design and an Ikea Philosophy

Polikatoikea by <a href="http://umfilipequalquer.com/filter/project#2478824/polikatoikea" target="_blank">Filipe Magalhaes</a> and Ana Luisa Soares took home the winning prize for a unique housing proposal as part of the open ideas competition organized by <a href="http://architecture.origamicompetitions.com/en/arqparticipacoes/arqvencedores.html">Origami Competitions</a>. The competition asked designers to come up with new ideas to rebuild the existing city of Porto, Portugal by infilling vacant lots. The concept for Polikatoikea combines a greek rule (polikatoika) and the swedish philosophy (<a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/" target="_blank">ikea</a>). The housing concept makes use of simple and easily constructed platforms on which inhabitants place their all-in-one prefab pod homes, which provides everything that is needed within a small space.

Filipe Magalhaes and Ana Luisa Soares collaborated on <a href="http://umfilipequalquer.com/filter/project#2478824/polikatoikea" target="_blank">Polikatoikea</a> for the Origami Competition to design a new urban infill housing strategy for Porto, Portugal.

heir plan is a modular concept that builds new spaces as needed in a variety of sized lots or even on top of existing buildings. The infill lots are filled with open-air platforms, each of which become a new plot for an individual home.

Each home owner or inhabitat then buys a prefab, pod home that is placed on the platform.

The pod home contains all the necessary elements of a home including a bed, storage, a kitchenette and bathroom. The pod is hooked into utilities supplied to each platform level and sits in the space as a house does in a yard.

The rest of the platform is used by the inhabitant as outdoor living space and enjoys views, breezes and a greater living area. With the pleasant climate of portugal outdoor living is highly possible and only a very small conditioned and protected living space is really necessary.

Over time, more platforms can be built on top of each other and expand out onto rooftops and other abandoned spaces.