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Stow | Transformative Interior

research

This research examines how motions associated with revealing or concealing components, coupled with certain types of specialized hardware, transformed interior spaces at various scale. The development of Stow can be divided into two categories according to the transformative action: 1) fold motion and 2) push-pull motion.

The fold motion utilizes a section of an interior plane that falls, folds, or flips out to provide a horizontal surface. Stabilizing mechanisms such as hinged legs, bars, and poles are often part of the component. A cavity within the housing plane is required to store the object in motion. When closed, a uniform materiality of interior planes reinforces the spaciousness and openness of the space, fulfilling aesthetic need of users.  Examples show a wide range of uses in residences, clothing retail stores, food and beverage facilities, and hospitality interiors.

The push-pull motion transforms an interior through the emergence of retractable furniture pieces. A volume of space within a plane stows the moving component. The face of a plane is flush with the frontal side of the component. The difference between materiality of the plane and furniture pieces may become visual cues, creating a unique composition. Most of push-pull motion has been found in residential interiors where highly personalized usage of space is desired.    
  
Stow Motions Related to Furniture Types and Hardware
Chief among the hardware types that enable the motions of fall, fold, push-pull, swing, or multiple motions is the simple hinge—a jointed or flexible device that allows the turning or pivoting of a part, such as a door or lid, on a stationary frame. There is a long history of the use of metal hardware, but the first achievement in joining elements together was lashing, and the first materials were “thongs of hide, leather, narrow copper bands, or linen string.”1 

The first door hinge was a socket stone. As early as 4500 B.C. in Hassuna, Assyria, a block of stone with a cup-like depression in the upper surface was fixed in the floor of the doorway.2 Until the metal hinge came into use, doors were swung on poles projecting slightly above and below the edges of the door frame. The upper end hung freely in a loop of hide fixed to the door post, and the lower end stood in a hollow in a stone embedded in the floor at the foot of the door post.

The use of metal hardware emerged during the Fourth Dynasty when Egyptians made hinges and locks for boxes and furniture. During the Eighteenth Dynasty (1575-1315 BCE), Egyptians added the bronze “butt” hinge and the “blackflap” hinge to their hardware inventions. The camp bed of Tutankamen (1350 B.C.) had massive copper hinged sockets with subsidiary hinges for folding legs.4 After 1680, iron replaced bronze and copper.

During the European Renaissance (15th-16th centuries), cabinet makers began using the “butterfly” hinge to make furniture pieces that open, close, and expand. This simple hinge was used for doors, flip-top surfaces, or to expand a surface area. In the 15th century in England and France, the draw-top table described a refectory type table with a double top, the lower of which is in two sections pulling out at the ends to increase the length of the extended table.5 Draw-top gaming tables were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

During the 16th century, English cabinet makers developed a gate-leg table, a classification of tables in which one or more drop leaves are supported by a leg or gate which swings away from a central fixed structure. Underneath the table top, a leaf at each end is drawn out, supported on sliding bearers, with no hardware. The gate-leg table was popular in England, the Netherlands, and America between 1650 and 1720. The butterfly hinge was first used between 1700 and 1750 by American furniture makers to support the leaves of the gate-leg table. In mid-17th century Europe, flip-top consoles appeared using a butterfly hinge as the counter balancing mechanism to provide an extended surface area when needed.6

In the late 18th century English furniture designers and cabinet makers, such as George Hepplewhite, Thomas Shearer and ThomasSheraton, designed a piece of furniture that housed the functions of the present day’s bathroom. The functions were concealed; Sheraton stated that wash basins “may stand in a genteel room without giving offense to the eye.”7 A chest with drawers design with a fold-out top hid essential features like a mirror, bidet, sink and storage for toiletry.

Several types of dressing tables utilizing push-pull motion appeared toward the end of the 17th century in England and France; they continued in popularity through the 19th century. Featuring mirrors, storage bins and grooming devices contained in drawers, dressing tables were simpler in form than wash basins. All of the drawers could be pulled-out at once to reveal everything one needed. Beau Brummel was the name given to a form of dressing table made popular in late 18th century France The form was actually known as a “poudreuse” meaning “powder” in French, or, in French slang, “duster of the man,” referring to the generous use of face powder in makeup. Fixed mirrors did not become a part of the dressing table until the early 19th century. The popularization of the poudreuse predated the heyday of the celebrated English dandy, George Bryan Brummel (1778-1840) by several decades, but his name became associated with the form merely because of his notoriety.8 

Demountable and folding beds were used by travelers, campers, settlers and soldiers, including Dutch colonists who used hinged beds in their American settlements. In the 17th century, a Swedish traveling cot could be folded into a box form which contained leg supports for the bed. A Bed Trunk made by Louis Vuitton in 1892 featured a foldable cot within a trunk designed specifically for explorers.9 Patents were registered for convertible beds that folded into sofas, chairs, wardrobes, and even piano cases.10 

One of the earliest furniture applications of the fold motion was the fall-front writing desk (secretaire, escritoire, secretary desk) with a fall-front surface. The desk emerged during the 17th century, a period in which no room was considered fully furnished without writing facilities for the literate and upper classes.11 The secretary desk provided a hinged writing surface that also functioned as a door front for safeguarding drawers or letters. The butterfly hinge enabled the fall-front motion. In Spain, the vargueno, a wooden chest with a drop-front writing surface, a series of cupboard and drawers, and handles on the sides, was carried by members of Spanish court as they traveled from one place to another.12

In the mid-20th century, designers incorporated similar hinges into their furniture designs. Marcel Breuer, one of the master architects of modernism, also designed furniture that utilized fall-front surfaces as a part of cantilevered wall cases for Heal & Son in London. Two other mid-century designers adapted the fall-front into storage: 1) a desk (1940) by architect Eero Saarinen (which won a prize at the “Organic Design Competition,” Museum of Modern Art); and 2) George Nelson’s furniture line for Herman Miller Furniture Company. Nelson set out to design a modular storage system for residences and workplaces. His “Comprehensive Storage System” offered versatile ways to arrange standardized storage modules, one of which included a drop-front writing surface that performed like a secretary desk.13 The ease of simple construction and its usefulness enabled fold mechanisms to develop into modern pieces of furniture. The New York City showroom (1960) for George Tainer featured a cupboard with a folded-out.14

Pull-out surfaces evolved into modern furniture storage which were popular in residences during the mid 20th century. Architect Felix Augenfeld designed a cocktail cabinet (1943) that stored liquor and bar tending equipment with serving trays that pulled-out from the unit.15 The cabinet provided an instant mini-bar for entertaining purposes.

Another popular American invention using the fold motion was the reclining chair in which the foot platform was raised to near the height of the seat. The La-Z-Boy, patented in 1928, involved slots along which its back, seat, and the supports for a rising foot platform could slide. Shoemaker and Knabush, the inventors of “La-Z-Boy” introduced a series of variations, such as a built-in ottoman chair, the “Otto-matic,” and a reclining chair with vibrating mechanism called the “Tranquillator.” The reclining chair, manufactured by Barcalounger (1940) and others, became a symbol of relaxed life in America during the latter half of the twentieth century.

The idea of a mobile furniture unit was proposed by Italian designer Joe Colombo. In 1963 Colombo imagined a Mini-Kitchen (monoblock kitchen on castors) as a 40” x 40” x 26” container with almost all of the functions of a full kitchen. The container included a two burner stove, a refrigerator, storage, cutlery drawers, a chopping board and a pull-out tray and fall front worktop—everything but the kitchen sink. Designed to serve up to six people, the container on wheels used just one electrical hookup.16 Currently, the kitchen systems manufacturer, Boffi, sells an updated version in Corian.

The Fold Motion in Spaces
Along with the development of hinges, mechanisms for concealment and storage of furniture component were adapted for planar elements in interior spaces. Many mid-century modern furniture designers incorporated fold-out surfaces as one of the components of modular storage system. The plane that opens depends on a counter-balance hinge to form a horizontal surface parallel to the ground. Depending on the height of where the fold-out occurs, and the size of the door surface, additional leg supports are used to stabilize the activity being done. Primarily, fold focuses on the utilization of the horizontal surface when opened. The component that folded-out could serve as a place for general activities requiring a hard flat surface, thus become a writing desk, bar top, dining table or display shelf. The door plane closes and protects what is being stored inside the cavity, and when opened, provides a stable flat for activities usually involving the objects that it stores.

Fold | Wall Plane
In the 19th century fold-down beds were introduced in the disguise of a piano, a desk, a bureau, a fireplace or a wardrobe. About 1870 John Higgins designed a “cabinet bed.” When closed, the Higgins Parlor Cabinet Bed appeared as a walnut console with silvered mirrors, suitable for a reception hall or formal parlor, but when open, a mattress folded-out of the millwork frame.17 A more mechanized version of a stowed bed appeared in the early 1900s and became one of the most popular space-saving designs. The “Murphy Bed” was invented in the early 1900s by Californian William L. Murphy who sought a way to accommodate a larger bed for himself and his new wife in their one-room San Francisco apartment. The Murphy Bed consisted of a steel frame and utilized various types of diverse spring and mattress combinations, including steel ribbon fabric springs, box and inner springs, and single or double deck coil mattresses. With the bed concealed (flush with the wall), a room could function as a living or dining room. When the bed was revealed (folded-out), a room shifted from its previous use to become a bedroom. Leading designers also incorporated hideaway beds in affluent urban interiors. For example, in 1939 the architect Erno Goldfinger installed a hideaway bed for a small bedroom in his Hampstead House.18
 
Contemporary with the Murphy bed, pull-down beds became popular in train and ship cabins. Due to the popularity of traveling and developments in technology, designers and engineers were motivated to provide comfortable, yet space efficient sleeping spaces in 19th century steamships and train cars. In 1867 George M. Pullman began manufacturing the first railroad sleeping cars with bunk beds. Pullman cars continued to develop until about 1950 when the “Roomette” was introduced. The Roomette, with its convertible beds and fold-out surfaces, targeted traveling families and business travelers. In the 1930s, when travel time between Germany and New York was shortened to three days, commercial air flights introduced a folding washstand, and a collapsible writing table.19

In residential environments the advantage of stowing horizontal surfaces provided relatively large additional space, creating an effect of owning another room. An apartment designed by architect Albert E. Herbert in 1963 featured a modern living-study area.20 During the day the bed was stowed behind a storage cabinet enclosed by a wood surface from floor to ceiling and a section of adjoining wall. No visible cue was present on the elevation. Once opened, the fold-out wall bed turned the space into a guest bedroom. Stow utilized the limited square footage in the apartment without sacrificing essential living functions for the resident.

During 1970s Interlubke, a German furniture company, distributed modular storage units for offices and residential interiors. Advertisements of storage units with horizontal fold-out surfaces, such as a writing surface for a desk, and a wall bed, emphasized functional efficiency and flexibility. Customizable floor to ceiling storage units were designed to “hold, hide and display precisely as the occupants wished them to be.”21 In the same line, a “Sleeping Wall” featured pivoted display shelves to reveal a fold-out wall bed.

In 1992 designer Stephen Varady applied the Stow concept to create a “never static” space for the Perraton Apartment in Sydney, Australia. In Varady’s words, “the kinetic potential of spaces intersecting is consciously explored; thus, the design is never static, allowing the apartment to vary in size, proportion and mood depending on the required or desired function.” One of the fold-out components Varady chose was a dining table that folded-out to transform an otherwise empty space in which only cabinets could be seen.22

As a practice, Stow also has proved useful in workplace and commercial settings. At the headquarters of OXO Housewares International Headquarters and Showroom (1998) in New York City designer Specht Harpman, applied Stow to provide versatile display schemes. For a feature wall in close proximity to the reception desk, OXO kitchen utensils were showcased on fold-out shelves.23 

Fold | Floor Plane
The Suitcase House (2001), known for the transformation of 24 rooms in 32 square meters, was part of an experimental development of the Commune by the Great Wall group in Beijing, China. The architect, Gary Cheng, rethought the nature of intimacy, privacy, spontaneity and flexibility. Sliding walls and hinged planes allowed for infinite interior arrangements based on daily scenarios. The ground floor comprised an open volume that was divided by sliding walls, which could be opened up to reveal a space 44 meters by 5 meters. From the ground level, a series of sub-ground interior chambers were accessed by opening panels in the floor. Rooms are tugged into existence using a pull-ring at the edge of a floor panel, raising any of the 50 moveable wooden panels on two pneumatic brackets. Each hidden cavity under the floor was dedicated to a specific function such as meditation, music, library, study and a sauna. When all the chambers were closed, the ground level consisted of uninterrupted floor space for parties and events. The Suitcase House was the largest scale at which Stow had been interpreted.  As a house, it could be transformed completely, bases on the nature of activities, the number of guests and the degrees of personal privacy and enclosure that inhabitants chose.24

Designed by Rem Koolhaas, the Prada Store (2001) in New York City marked a departure from the white boxes of other luxury brand stores. Stow was used as a strategy to combine commerce and entertainment. Koolhaas explored a more diversified role of today’s fashion boutiques through the creation of an amusing multifunctional space. A swooping zebra wood wave spanning the length of the space provided a display area by day for mannequins. At night, a section of the wave structure folded-out, revealing a platform for a performance. Metal display cages mounted on tracks make room for cultural events while audiences sat on the steps facing the stage. Although the scales were quite different, Koolhaas’ oversized hinged plane for Prada is akin to the petite secretary desk’s that featured a stowed writing surface.25

Fold | Entire House
In the late 20th century, a new generation of architects and designers explored Stow as a strategy for transformative spatial design in portable architecture, factory-built and prefabrication buildings and shipping containers.

The Push Button House (2004), designed by architect and artist Adam Kalkin, for the illy Italian coffee company. Made from a shipping container, each wall (weighing one ton each) of the house opens out in an automated movement provided by hydraulic cylinders. This example of Stow results in a furnished space consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, living room and study. All furniture pieces are bolted intact to interior surface. Although not made to be utilized as a practical home, the Push Button House elicited dialogue regarding issues such as sustainability, mobility, automation and living standards.  The walls for the living room and bedroom folded-out, like a Murphy bed, while the kitchen’s wall opened like a garage door. The remaining wall opened like French or double doors. In 2007 Push Button House was exhibited at the Venice Biennale, and at the Time Warner Center in New York City, and in 2008 in the Meatpacking District for the New York City Wine and Food Festival.26

The Push-Pull Motion for Spaces
Stow’s push-pull motions include pull-up, push-down, pull-out and push-in functions. The two essential characteristics of pull-out are retractability and concealment. Fold motions, characterized by a broken plane to provide a folded-out or folded-up platform, also conceal components in hidden cavities. However, when hidden components are pulled-out, or pushed-in, rather than folded-down or folded-up, then the transformation of the interior occurs, because of a push-pull motion. The visual effect creates a puzzle-like tectonic quality as secret components emerge out from the walls, floors and ceilings.  

Stowed inside a cavity, some objects may offer a visual cue to their presence in the interior. For complete concealment, however, the face of the component that is capable of movement is disguised with the same material as the adjoining plane, rendering a seamless elevation. On the other hand, some designers deliberately differentiate the material and color of the stowed element, forming a geometric composition on the interior plane.

In the early 1970 decade Joe Colombo extended his Mini-Kitchen prototype by designing a Total Furnishing Unit as a dwelling unit for mass production. He believed that the space within this unit needed to be dynamic, adapting to an inhabitant’s life style. The unit includes both fold and push-pull motions. A bed folds-out, but all the surfaces for dining, working and storage are pulled-out (on a slide) from various heights and locations. A closet also is pulled-out of the capsule. The push-pull motion becomes an agent in supporting multiple living functions, transforming the nature of space at any instant.27 In 1972 the Total Furnishing Unit was part of the “New Domestic Landscape” exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art.

In the 1980 decade, designer Allan Wexler created an experimental art installation titled “Little Building for Two Activities” at the Katonah Museum of Art in New York. Wexler explored the concept of an inexpensive, compact house for daily living, as well as the perception of furniture groups in small or large settings. He modified the suburban backyard shed to store pieces of furniture in “crate-like projections that bulge” out of the walls of the building. The furniture vignettes, such as a table and two chairs, could be pushed-from an interior wall to an exterior wall, and pushed-back from the outside to the inside. When the furniture was located inside of the shed, the chairs and table were perceived as quite large, dominating the interior space. In contrast, when the furniture was pushed-out the wall to the exterior, the furniture appeared smaller and insignificant in the context of the larger environment. Wexler further developed his idea into a full-scale interior when he designed the Living Quarters for an artist-in-residence at the Mattress Factory. The bed and night stand pulled-out from the wall on wheels. The bed moved through a shared wall, emerging into the space when it was needed.28 When the bed, lights and end tables were pushed-back into the wall, they were not totally concealed. Rather, the elements were projected slightly on the wall elevation.

In 1998 the architectural firm, pool Architektur ZT GmbH, converted a rooftop space with a load-bearing restriction into “Penthouse T.Q.”, a habitable space equipped with essential living functions. The penthouse featured a 200 square- foot rooftop retreat with a bed, table, and cupboard—all of which slide in and out from a wall. When all of the furniture is tucked into the wall, the empty floor area became visually and functionally expansive. Depending on which pieces of furniture were acquired from their hidden places, the room transformed from one function, such as work place, to another, for example, a bedroom.29

Stow saved valuable circulation area in a house on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan designed by Architect Yoshio Maruyama. Created to fit between storage units, the ladder-staircase can be fully concealed by pushing it into a wall cavity. Only the red diagonal line of the ladder’s stringer is seen on the interior elevation. The ladder creates a focal point among the storage units. The ladder is accessed through the push-pull motion, sliding out on ceiling-mounted track.30

Stow was used in the apartment of environmentalist, Leslie Hoffman. Hoffman was able to fit a bed, desk and sofa in the same space without compromising any functionality by using a pulley system for the drop down bed. When closed during the day, the volume of the bed structure formed a dropped ceiling with recessed lighting that defined the work area. At night, the electronic pulley system suspended the bed and positioned it on top of the desk unit, which stabilized its weight.31 

The Drawer House (2003), designed by Nendo and architect Oki Sato, was another example of an entire residence operated by transformative motion. The residential functions were condensed into one side of the wall, and could be pulled-out when necessary, like drawers. In the closed condition, the space appeared empty, devoid of furniture and miscellaneous objects, all wall surfaces in white ash wood. However, a full range of essential household functions (kitchen, bathroom, office); furnishings (tables, beds, shelves, partitions) and entire rooms, could be pulled-out when required and pushed-back into the wall cavity when no longer useful. When everything was stowed away; the house provided a big open space, a scarcity in Tokyo. It was reported that Drawer House was in a constant ebb and flow of action, movement and rest. Throughout the day, it operated between a multifunctional cluttered space and a restful minimalism.32 Drawer House empowered residents to choose the interior layout fit for various occasions. 

Drawer House demonstrated that a primary advantage Stow’s push-pull motion is the possibility of obtaining open space in a limited area. Architect Gary Chang’s Hong Kong apartment (2006), offered a new conceptual model for small apartments. The 344 square-foot space was comprised of twenty-four spatial layouts, including kitchen, library, laundry room, dressing room, a lounge with a hammock, an enclosed dining area and a wet bar. Shifting wall units were suspended from steel tracks bolted into the ceiling; each wall unit contained necessary furnishings equipped for different functions. Unlike other precedents that achieved open space through the clearance of moving wall components into an interior plane, Chang’s apartment featured various types of spaces created between these units operated by push-pull motion. Chang hoped that his design will solve the city’s ongoing shortage of space.33 
 
Many of these examples may give the impression that Stow was a recent development; however the simple idea of revealing or concealing interior components has been practiced since 15th century. Stow started with furniture pieces that fell, folded, or were pushed or pulled. Gradually these early innovations were applied to interior architectural elements, such as wall, ceiling and floor planes; staircases; and eventually entire rooms or spaces. A half century ago designers Joe Colombo and Ettore Sottsass incorporated Stow into their experimental projects in anticipation of the future home. Development of hardware enabled heavier components to be stowed. Automated functions activated by the push of a button became possible. With innovative materials and hardware, Stow in the 21st century is often executed in visually streamlined fashion within existing architectural elements focusing on concealment and alleviating aesthetic concerns of exposed hardware. The stowing of a single furniture piece makes room for another, thereby eliminating the need for floor area without sacrificing essential living components. The concealment of daily activities offers a refuge in overly populated and stimulated life styles of the contemporary era. The chronological evidence of Stow shows a true variety of execution, scale, use, and applications of how we “stow” away spaces.34

end notes

  1. 1) Joseph Aronson, The Encyclopedia of Furniture (New York: Crown Publishers, 1938), 12.
  2. 2) Charles Singer and E.J. Holmyard, eds., A History of Technology: From Early Times to Fall of Ancient Empires (London: Oxford University Press, 1955), 194.
  3. 3) Aubrey F. Burstall, A History of Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 1 (London: Faber and Faber, 1963), 43.
  4. 4) Singer, A History of Technology, Vol. 2, 235.
  5. 5) Aronson, Encyclopedia of Furniture, 54.
  6. 6) Peter Phillp, Furniture of the World (London: Optopus Books Limited, 1974), 100-102.
  7. 7) Louise Ade Boger, Furniture Past and Present (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1966), 355.
  8. 8) Aronson, Encyclopedia of Furniture, 181; Boger, Furniture Past and Present, 337, 350, 356.
  9. 9) Deborah Shinn, J.G. Links, Paul Fussell and Ralph Caplan, Bon Voyage: Design for Travel (New York: Cooper-Hewitt Museum/Smithsonian Institute, 1986), 69.
  10. 10) Henry Urbach, "Morpheus Mepris: The Murphy Bed and Obscene Rest," Scroope: Cambridge Architectural Journal, no. 8,1996), 17.
  11. 11) John Gloag, A Social History of Furniture Design (New York: Crown Publishers, 1966), 164; Franklin H. Gottshall, Period Furniture, Design, and Construction (New York: Bonanza Books, 1937) 73.
  12. 12) Shinn, Bon Voyage, 35.
  13. 13) George Nelson, Storage (New York: Whitney Publications, 1954), 49.
  14. 14) Tainer Showroom [1960] George Tainer, Inc.; New York City in Harry V. Anderson, "Market Spotlight," Interior Design 60, No. 6 (Jun. 1960): 73; PhotoCrd: James Vincent.
  15. 15) Cocktail Cabinet [1943] Felix Augenfeld, architect; in Interiors (May 1943): 57.
  16. 16) Ignazia Favata, Joe Colombo and Italian Design of the Sixties (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1988), 102.
  17. 17) Higgins Parlor Bed [c1870] New York; Decorative Arts Collection, Brooklyn Museum; Closed: 12 7/8 x 9 9/16 x 4 1/4 in. (32.7 x 24.3 x 10.8 cm) Length when open: 11 5/8 in. (29.5 cm). http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/2589/Higgins_Parlor_CabinetBed_Bed_Closed/set/c9ad68df838eaa663cf7b7338124b4c9?referring-q=parlor (Accessed June 13, 2010)
  18. 18) Urbach, "Morpheus Mepris," 18; Murphy Bed Company, Inc., "The Murphy In-A-Door Bed," 1925.http://www.murphybedcompany.com (Accessed 3 / 6/ 2009)
  19. 19) Annie Carlano and Bobbie Sumberg, Sleeping Around: The Bed from Antiquity to Now (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2006), 113.
  20. 20) Carlano and Sumberg, Sleeping Around, 101-103; Pullman Sleeping Car, 1865. Patent no. 499992, patented Sep. 19,1865; http://www.google.com/patents?id=WW8fAAAAEBAJ&dq=49992 (Accessed Jun. 22, 2010).
  21. 21) Private Apartment [1963] Albert E. Herbert, architect; Manhattan, NY in Ivan Rigby, "The Contemporary Idiom," Interior Design 34 no. 6 (Jun. 1963): 99; PhotoCrd: Albert E. Herbert.
  22. 22) Advertisement, "Sleeping Wall"  [1972] Interlubke in Interior Design 43 no. 4 (Apr. 1972): 99; PhotoCrd: Anonymous; Advertisement, Interlubke, "Living / study / dining / sleeping environment. ...and you can take it with you," Interior Design 43, no.8 (Aug.1972): 89; Interior Design 43, no. 9 (Apr. 1972): 99.
  23. 23) Perraton Apartment [2000] Stephen Varady, architect; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in AD: Architectural Design (2000): 81; "The Perraton Apartment," A Pocketful of Apartments (Sydney, Australia: Images Publishing Group, 2007), 193-94; PhotoCrd: Stephen Varady.
  24. 24) OXO Housewares International Headquarters and Showroom [1998] Specht Harpman, architect; New York City in Henry Urbach, "Sure Grip," Interior Design 69, no. 12 (Oct. 1998): 160; PhotoCrd: Michael Moran.
  25. 25) The Suitcase House [2001] Gary Chang, EDGE, architect; Beijing, China  in Gary Chang, "In the Age of Indeterminacy: Towards a Non-Visual Pragmatism," Architectural Record 70, No.4, (2003): 63; Arian Mostaedi, Great Spaces: Flexible Homes (Barcelona, Spain: Page One Publishing, 2006), 94; PhotoCrd: Howard Chang, Gary Chang.
  26. 26) Prada Showroom [2001] Rem Koolhaas; New York City in John Pile, A History of Interior Design (Hoboken, NJ: Laurence King Publishing Ltd., 2005), 428; PhotoCrd: Office for Metropolitan Architecture; Ana Canizares, Antonio Corcuera ed., Corporate Architecture: Building a Brand (Barcelona, Spain: Parramon Ediciones, S.A., 2009), 16.
  27. 27) Push Button House [2004] Adam Kalkin Architecture; in Adam Kalkin, "Push Button House," L'Architecture D'Aujourd'hui 36, no. 7 (Nov.-Dec. 2006): 106, 107; PhotoCrd: Peter Aaron / ESTO; illy Coffee, "It's the Ultimate "Open House": illy Push Button House,"  http://www.illy.com/wps/wcm/connect/us/illy/art/project/push-button-house/ (Accessed June 13, 2010)
  28. 28) Total Furnishing Unit [1971] Joe Colombo; Italy in Emilio Ambasz, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1972), 172; Ignazia Favata, Joe Colombo and Italian Design of the Sixties (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1988), 102; PhotoCrd: Ignazia Favata;  Mateo Kries and Alexander von Vegesack, eds.,  Joe Colombo: Inventing the Future (Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum, 2005), 271; Evelyn Clark, "Eurodomus 4: Two Faces of the Home Living and Services," Interior Design 43, no. 8 (Aug. 1972): 115; PhotoCrd: Anonymous. 
  29. 29) Allan Wexler, "Assemblage," House Rules No.24 (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press: 1994), 94; Living Quarters for the Mattress Factory Gallery [1988] Allen Wexler, design; Pittsburgh, PA in Carlano and Sumberg, Sleeping Around, 112-113, pls. 1, 2; PhotoCrd: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York.
  30. 30) T.Q. Penthouse [1998] Pool Architektur ZT GmbH; Vienna, Austria; Arian Mostaedi, Great Spaces: Flexible Homes (Barcelona, Spain: Page One Publishing Private Limited, 2006), 66-67; PhotoCrd: Hertha Hurnaus.
  31. 31) Private Residence [2004] Yoshio Maruyama, architect; Hokkaido, Japan in Michael Freeman, Space: Japanese Design Solutions for Compact Living (New York: Michael Freeman, 2004), 206, pls. 1,2,3; PhotoCrd: Michael Freeman; Mostaedi, Great Spaces, 66.
  32. 32) Leslie Hoffman's Residence [2003]  Leslie Hoffman, design; New York City in Marisa Bartolucci, Living Large in Small Spaces (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003), 114, 115; PhotoCrd: Radek Kurzaj.
  33. 33) Drawer House [2003] Nendo, design; Oki Sato, architect; Tokyo, Japan in Mostaedi, Great Spaces, 202, 203; PhotoCrd: Nacasa & Partners.
  34. 34) Virginia Gardiner, "24 Rooms Tucked into One," New York Times (Jan. 15, 2009), Home and Garden section, New York edition; http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/15/garden/20090115_HONGKONG_index.html (Accessed Jun. 12, 2010)
  35. 35) Evidence for the use and the chronological sequence of Stow as a Transformative Interior archetype was developed from the following sources and from site visits conducted by the researcher, Elizabeth Erin Lee, in the 2007 to 2010 period in New York City: 1950 Residence [1956] Everett Brown; San Francisco in Anonymous, "Designed for Compact Living," Interior Design 27, no. 2 (Feb. 1956): 72; PhotoCrd: Anonymous / 1960 Tainer showroom [1960] George Tainer, Inc.; New York City in Harry V. Anderson, "Market Spotlight," Interior Design 60, (31) no. 6 (Jun. 1960): 73; PhotoCrd: James Vincent;  Private Apartment [1963] Albert E. Herbert, architect; New York City in Ivan Rigby, "The Contemporary Idiom," Interior Design 34, no. 6 (Jun. 1963): 99; PhotoCrd: Albert E. Herbert; National Hotel-Motel Exposition [1963] John Courtney; Shirley, Long Island, NY in Alexandre Georges, "And the Livin' is Easy," Interior Design 34, no. 6 (Jun. 1963): 105; PhotoCrd: O. Philip Roedel;  The Midas Room [1963] Barbara Dorn; New York City in Anonymous, "Hotels and Motels," Interior Design 34, no. 10 (Oct. 1963): 156; PhotoCrd: Alexandre Georges;  Mini-Kitchen [1963] Joe Colombo, design; in Ignazia Favata, Joe Colombo (Massachusetts; The MIT Press, 1988), 123; PhotoCrd: Ignazia Favata;  Rooms of Tomorrow / National Hotel-Motel Exposition [1964] Richard Himmel; New York City in Anonymous, "Hotels and Motels," Interior Design 35, no. 10 (Oct. 1964): 150; PhotoCrd: Anonymous;  Room of Tomorrow/ National Hotel-Motel Exposition [1965] Henry End; New York, NY in Anonymous, "Hotels," Interior Design 36, no. 10 (Oct. 1965): 195; PhotoCrd: Anonymous; Wardrobe Bed [1967] Salvati and Tresoldi; Italy in Emilio Ambasz, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1972), 127; "All in One" [1967] Internotredici; Italy, Ambasz, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, 133; PhotoCrd: The Museum of Modern Art;  Central Block [1969] Snaidero; Italy, Ambasz, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, 125; PhotoCrd: The Museum of Modern Art; Visiona [1969] Joe Colombo; Italy in Favata, Joe Colombo, 103; PhotoCrd: Ignazia Favata / 1970 Total Furnishing Unit [1971] Joe Colombo; Italy in Favata, Joe Colombo, 111; PhotoCrd: Ignazia Favata;  Eurodomus 4 Competition [1972] Alberto Rosselli; Turin, Italy in Evelyn Clark, "Eurodomus 4: Two Faces of the Home Living and Services," Interior Design 43 no. 8 (Aug. 1972): 115; PhotoCrd: Anonymous;  Interlubke "Sleeping Wall" Advertisement [1972] International Contract Furnishings (ICF); Interior Design 43, no. 4 (Apr. 1972): 99; PhotoCrd: ICF; International House of Marshall Field & Co. [1972] Pat Hoffman / International Contract Furniture; New York City in Anonymous, "In the News: Commerce and the Consumer," Interior Design 43, no. 8 (Aug. 1972): 82; PhotoCrd: Anonymous;  Interlubke Storage Unit Advertisement [1972] Interlubke in Interior Design 43 no. 8 (Aug. 1972): 89; PhotoCrd: Interlubke; Igloo-9 Minibar Refrigerator [1978] Paolo Peolegrini / ICF; Interior Design 49, no. 13 (Dec. 1978): 45; PhotoCrd: ICF;  Single Bedroom [1978] Elaine Lewis and Terence Goldsack; New York City in Anonymous, "NEWS: Model Flats Play Part in Sharp Occupancy Rise," Interior Design 49, no. 9 (Sep. 1978): 36; PhotoCrd: Anonymous / 1980 Charles J. Dilon's Residence [1980] Udstad & Dandridge; New York City in Anonymous, "Flexibility is the Keynote," Interior Design 51, no. 3 (Mar. 1980): 221; PhotoCrd: Jaime Ardiles-Arce; "Living Quarter" for the Mattress Factory Gallery & Residence [1988] Allan Wexler; Pittsburg, PA in Annie Carlano and Bobbie Sumberg, Sleeping Around: The Bed from Antiquity to Now (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2006), 112; PhotoCrd: Allan Wexler / 1990 Perraton Apartment [2000] Stephen Varady, architect; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in Janelle McCulloch, ed., "The Perraton Apartment," A Pocketful of Apartments (Sydney, Australia: Images Publishing Group, 2007), 193-94; PhotoCrd: Stephen Varady; Parsons Kitchen [1994] Allan Wexler, architect in Ellisheva Levi, "Room in a Box: The Intrigue with Compact and Convertible Interiors," Architectural Record 189, no.8 (Aug. 2001): 93, pl. 2; PhotoCrd: Allen Wexler; Vinyl Milford House [1994] Allen Wexler, architect; in Marisa Bartolucci, Living Large in Small Spaces (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, 2003), 13; PhotoCrd: Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York; OXO International Headquarters and Showroom [1998] Specht Harpman; New York City in Henry Urbach, "Sure Grip," Interior Design 69, no. 12 (Oct. 1998): 160; PhotoCrd: Michael Moran; Penthouse T.O. [1998] Pool Architektur ZT GmbH; Vienna, Austria in Arian Mostaedi, Great Spaces: Flexible Homes (Barcelona, Spain; Carles Broto, Comerma, 2006), 66; PhotoCrd: Hertha Hurnaus; Private Residence [1999] in Anonymous; Jane Graining, Compact Living (San Francisco; Soma Books, 1999), 7; PhotoCrd: Soma Books;  Private Residence [1999] in Graining, Compact Living, 73; PhotoCrd: Soma Books / 2000 Archilab LivingRoom [2000] Juan Pablo Molestina / Gruppe MDK, Aysin Ipekici; Orleans, France in Mostaedi, Great Spaces, 23, PhotoCrd: Volker Seding; Suitcase House Hotel [2001] Gary Chang; Beijing, China in Gary Chang, "In the Age of Indeterminacy-Towards a Non-Visual Pragmaticism," Architectural Design 70, no.4 (2003): 63; Prada Store [2001] Rem Koolhaas, OMA; New York City in John Pile, A History of Interior Design (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005), 428; PhotoCrd: Office for Metropolitan Architecture; Studio Flat, Womb: Work, Office, Meditation, Base [2002] Johnson Chou; Toronto, Canada in Anonymous, "Womb Service," The Architectural Review 213, no. 1271 (Jan. 2003): 20; PhotoCrd: EMAP Architecture; Private Residence in TriBeCa [2003] Roger Hirsh in New York City in Edie Cohen, "All the Right Moves," Interior Design 74, no. 11 (Sep. 2003): 244, 247; PhotoCrd: Michael Moran; Private Residence [2003] Yoshio Maruyama; Hokkaido, Japan in Michael Freeman, Space: Japanese Design Solutions for Compact Living (New York; Michael Freeman, 2004) 206; PhotoCrd: Michael Freeman; Drawer House [2003] Nendo, design; Oki Sato, architect; Tokyo, Japan in Arian Mostaedi, "Nendo, Drawer House," Great Spaces: Flexible Homes, 202; PhotoCrd: Nacasa & Partners; Leslie Hoffman's Residence [2003] Leslie Hoffman; New York City in Bartolucci, Living Large in Small Spaces, 114, 115; PhotoCrd: Radek Kurzaj; Grand Hotel La Florida [2004] Dale Keller; Florida in Craig Kellogg, "High Hopes," Interior Design 75, no. 8 (June 2004): 184; PhotoCrd: Annie Schlechter; Black Treefrog, Apartment Unit [2004] Splitterwerk; Bad Waltersdorf, Austria in Mostaedi, Great Spaces, 23, PhotoCrd: Paull Ott;  Push Button House [2004] Adam Kalkin Architecture; in Adam Kalkin, "Push Button House, Installation," L'Architecture D'Aujourd'hui 36, no. 7 (Nov.-Dec., 2006): 106, 107; PhotoCrd: Peter Aaron / ESTO; Optibo [2005] White Design; Goteborg, Sweden in Virginia Gardiner, "Warmth and Mechanics: Optibo," Dwell 4, no. 4 (Mar. 2005): 78; PhotoCrd: Grant Scott; "Modern Murphy Bed" Advertisement  [2006] Sellex; in Interior Design 77, no. 2 (Feb. 2006): 92; PhotoCrd: Sellex; Loft [2007] Roger Hirsh; New York City in Amanda Lam and Amy Thomas, Convertible Houses (Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2007), 158, 159; PhotoCrd: Gibbs Smith; Mini Kitchen Updated [2007] Joe Colombo, Boffi; Boffi Advertisement, Interior Design 78, no. 3 (Mar. 2007): 282; PhotoCrd: Boffi; Yla-Hokkala Residence [2007] Gandini; London, UK in Bethan Ryder, "A Dazzling Performace," Interior Design 78, no. 14 (Nov. 2007): 92; PhotoCrd: Klevens Ortmeyer.

bibliographic citations

1) The Interior Archetypes Research and Teaching Project, Cornell University, www.intypes.cornell.edu (accessed month & date, year).

2) Lee, Elizabeth Erin. "Theory Studies: Contemporary Archetypical Practices of Transformative Interior Design. M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2010.