Loftcube, Berlin
Werner Aisslinger's smart mobile home
The reason why real estate is also known as "immovable property" is because - by its very nature - it is tied to a particular place. The designer Werner Aisslinger has turned this concept on its head with his ingenious loftcube: a transportable temporary home that offers urban nomads the greatest possible freedom in the smallest possible space.
At the "Berliner Designmai 2003", Aisslinger put the prototype of his futuristic white cube on the roof of a former cold storage warehouse on the banks of the river Spree. The Loftcube consists of a 39-square-metre steel frame structure with a covering of fibreglass-reinforced plastic. With windows reaching down to the floor and supported on 1.50-metre legs, it gives you a privileged view of the city's rooftops. And when you're tired of the view, the cube can be packed up and moved elsewhere within days, as it only weighs nine tonnes (or eleven, for the larger 55 m2 version). All its parts can be accommodated in two standard shipping containers.
Aisslinger's "Tree Lights" and the rest of the lighting in the Loftcube were installed by Berker Integro (see the page on the right). In the deluxe version, the Berker Master Control performs this task. The smart touch panel is also ideal for controlling a network of Loftcubes to form a residential or office unit. In order to create as much airiness and transparency as possible in such a limited space, Aisslinger developed a row of ingenious and practical bathroom and kitchen panels with Corian surfaces by Dupont where, for example, the shower head also functions as a kitchen tap. The kitchen counter is a modified bulthaup B3 kitchen, while the domestic engineering is controlled by switches and systems supplied by Berker. "Its minimalist design means the Berker Integro is ideal for the Loftcube", says Aisslinger. He also said it was a logical decision to opt for Berker Master Control for the two deluxe models, the "Passion" and the "Werner Aisslinger Edition". "The Loftcube looks like an intelligent building, so it makes sense to use a truly intelligent control panel for the lighting, heating and blinds."
This concept has been enthusiastically received by cosmopolitans and design fans all over the world. New York investors dream of Loftcubes on top of skyscrapers. Clients from Tokyo and London seek to avoid the astronomical prices for houses and apartments by putting a Loftcube on the roof and living there permanently. Fans of design and architecture want to use the cube simply as a summer house, holiday home, guest house or office. Aisslinger advises anyone who is seriously interested to first look at the conditions on site (such as rooftop safety or access to service pipes and cables), as well as the tolerance of the local planning authorities. "In our experience," he says, "the hurdles are lower than you think."