Hong Kong-style microflats arrive in the US
Architect behind New York development drew inspiration from living in Ma On Shan as a student
Memories of life in Ma On Shan are helping to influence New York's tentative first step into the world of Hong Kong-style microflat living.
Ammr Vandal, who spent two years as a student in the New Territories town as a teenager, is one of the architects behind Manhattan's first complex of flats measuring less than 400 sq ft. From 1996 to 1998, she shared a flat with other students at the Li Po Chun United World College and found it a far cry from the large, colonial home where she was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan.
"As a former Hong Kong resident, my experience of living in small and efficient living spaces definitely influenced my own lifestyle and belief in the idea of living 'micro'," Vandal said. The experience helped shape her ideas about urban design.
She had the opportunity to put those ideas into practice when nARCHITECTS, the New York firm where she works, won a 2013 competition sponsored by the city to build low-cost microflats in Manhattan.
