Design Thinkers: Graham Hill

Graham Hill is the designer and founder of LifeEdited, a design and architecture consulting firm with the goal of designing ways to live luxuriously in small spaces.Hill first began this mission when he moved to New York City and realized the lack of space available to most people in a city apartment. As a result of this realization, in 2009 Hill purchased two small NYC apartments and set out to prove that with design, people could fulfill all of their needs and wants of an apartment with fewer belongings and fewer square feet. Today, Mr. Hill lives in a 420 square foot apartment with over 1,000 square feet of functionality as a result of his unique and creative use of design.

Hill did not accomplish this feat alone. When he realized the necessity of innovation for small living spaces, he reached out to the entire design community in order to ensure he had the best and freshest ideas to fulfill his vision. Over 300 people responded to a crowd-sourcing campaign that Hill created to encourage people to design a blueprint for a fully functional space with room for 12 dinner guests, a home theatre, and room for two guests, amongst other requirements within a 420 square foot space. Two Romanian designers were the winners with their submission of a design entitled "One Size Fits All." After development with architecture firms and other tweaks to the design, the final version of this "one size fits all" apartment was dubbed as "the apartment of the future" by the New York Times.

The video above goes through just a few of the incredibly inventive ways the LifeEdited firm has solved the long-endured issue of not having enough space while living in an urban area. Some of my favorite aspects are the ways in which the firm transforms the space into an area that has the ability to entertain. So often, people living in the city are unable to have others over for meals or to stay the night because there simply is not enough space. But Hill and his collaborators were able to figure out where the space was wasted and how to make the most of every square inch. Additionally, the focus on functionality rather than inherent attractive interior design really intrigues me. While having others over, it is far more important to be able to sit 12 people in collapsable chairs than only being able to entertain a couple with beautifully crafted pieces of furniture. Hill's design has inspired me to look past the traditional models of "pretty" furniture and search for ways to be functional while also being inherently attractive.

As a college student, the LifeEdited apartment is extremely relevant and could revolutionize dorm life. The firm's current project is working to find ways to incorporate these creative design fixes for small spaces into larger spaces in order to make every area efficient and innovative. But I am interested to investigate the future of college dorms with this type of design mindset. Oftentimes college students live in a 12x10 room with a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. We've come to accept it because that is how it has always been, but Hill has shown us that small spaces do not have to be lived in as though they are small. I hope to use inspiration from the LifeEdited team to think of ways to make the most of all spaces and encourage higher education institutions to do the same while designing spaces for students to live, study, and learn in.

Video and information courtesy of lifeedited.com.