The latest issue of Dwell has a look inside the Le Corbusier-meets-Cesar Chavez microdwellings of professor/architect Hector Perez. About a decade ago Perez convinced a local group of architects to develop lots in the Barrio Logan neighborhood of San Diego, a vision that stuttered when the economy did. Still, Perez has rallied, ultimately building and leasing eight live-work units together encompassing just 4,000 square feet. Perez identifies himself as "the canary in the coal mine," telling the magazine just how "incredibly scary" it is to develop a passion project amidst a hiccuping economy.
La Esquina, as the project is called, is a craftsy modernist oasis in a neighborhood filled with what Dwell describes as an "eclectic mix of prewar and colonial-style buildings." Perez had them built for just $130 a square foot, incorporating what have become the hallmarks of hopelessly hip, eyebrow-raisingly well-to-do, Portland-style artsy types: plywood paneling, ladders leading up to sleeping lofts, hanging planters, exposed bulbs at the end of ropes, broad-formed concrete walls, and, of course, a 3D mural of Cesar Chavez.
More photos, over at Dwell.
· Thriving Micro-Living Model [Dwell]
· All The Printed Page posts [Curbed National]
· All Microhomes posts [Curbed National]