Tetris Style Housing Creates Flexible Living Options

Swiss architect Hans Zwimpfer has designed a housing solution that combines the size and flexibility of a freestanding suburban home with the small physical footprint and efficient use of space of an urban apartment building. The Pile Up design concept is patented in Europe and the United States and helps to solve the problem of suburban sprawl.

Pile Up housing units are shaped like a capital L rotated 90 degrees, with the short leg vertical. A spacious outdoor area is placed in the two story vertical section of the L shape. Residents can customize the units any way they like, as all interior walls are non load bearing. To keep buildings human scale, Zwimpfer does not allow units to be piled more than 20 high. Four Pile Up projects have been built in Switzerland so far with at least nine more scheduled to be constructed around the world.

[New York Times via designboom]