What just started as an idea for architects to compete against each other to find the best talent, Mayor Michael Bloomberg finally announced the winning entry for the micro-apartment design competition. “Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers” – organized by the Citizens Housing & Planning Council and the Museum of the City of New York. After announcing the winning entry in February, The Museum of the City of New York is now showcasing this magnificent work of art.

Mayor Bloomgberg’s adAPT committee chose a development team composed of Monadnock Development LLC, Actos Fund Housing Development Corporation, and nARCHITECTS to design, construct and operate the city’s first micro-unit apartment building at 335 East 27th Street in Manhattan.

9 – 10 foot floor-to-ceiling heights and Juliette balconies, with floor spacing measuring between 250 and 370 sq ft.

My Micro NY, the proposal includes 55 micro-units between 250 and 370 square feet on a well connected site in Manhattan. Here, it will be the first multi-family building utilized modular construction, as all components will be prefabricated in a facility at the Brooklyn Navy Yards. The development will provide housing for one-and two person households across a variety of incomes.

The Making Room exhibition features a full-scale mock-up of a 325 sq. ft. apartment that is fully furnished.

The space-efficient apartments use a combination of transformable furniture solutions to provide four rooms within one space, such as wall beds built in behind sofas, and roll-away walls that conceal a full-depth closet. Storage is provided through a 16-ft overhead, loft space, with compact kitchens manage to include a full-height pantry and fridge alongside the cooker.

The Making Rooms exhibitions runs between January and September this year. Visitors can view housing designs by architectural team commissioned in 2011 by Citizens Housing & Planning Council, in partnership with the Architectural League of New York, that include examples from other cities including Seattle, Providence, Montreal, San Diego, and Tokyo, in addition to the Bloomberg administration’s new apartments models.