At first sight it looks like Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth house: a steel and glass squared space with no interior walls except for the kitchen and the bathrooms. The japanese-like project by Marta Brandão and Mário Rebelo Sousa, from Portugal, is aimed at offering a flexible, stackable, affordable solution: that’s MIMA HOUSE, awarded as Building of the Year 2011 by Archdaily. It’s a glass box with 1,50 x 3,00 frames, that can be replaced by plywood panels. The inner space presents a modular grid featuring 1,50 meter wood panels, that can be arranged  by using the modular floor tracks, depending on the owner’s taste. The interchangeable panels remind of rice paper Japanese thin sliding walls. They are also available in different colors and matrial to further customize the interior.

The entire accommodation costs as much as a new car, which is pretty cheap for a 36 square meters apartment. On Mima Lab website, the buyers can arrange their place on their own, and then send their project to the studio which will create a 3d prototype to help the buyers understand any aspects of the final product. It is also possible to specify where the house will be located through Google Earth in order to make the 3d project even more realistic. Viana Do Castelo, in northern Portugal, hosts a Mima House prototype… but maybe we might see it on the Mediterranean shores soon.

INFO: www.mimahousing.com

Photo Courtesy: www.josecamposphotography.com