BMW’s Mini Living

As part of BMW’s urbanism and architecture project ‘Mini Living’, the company is transforming Shanghai’s abandoned paint factory into housing. The car manufacturer BMW is constructing stylishly-designed micro-apartments in Shanghai’s Jing’An district, China. The company believes that micro-apartments could represent the future of city living, as urban metropolises become even denser. Launched in 2016, ‘Mini Living’ is a project that explores new concepts of habitability with maximum quality in the minimum space, always following the motto of "Creative Use of Space". “MINI has always been an urban brand. It not only has its finger on the pulse of the city, it injects that pulse with extra energy,” explains Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG. The Mini Living team and Chinese developer Nova Property Investment will start the construction within this year. The companies have not yet revealed a timeline or pricing for the development. Developers will combine six buildings; each will include two to 10 residential units. The complex will also feature plenty of communal spaces such as shops, restaurants, a roof terrace, gardens, exhibition areas, and a food market. Residents will be able to partake in cultural events, rooftop farming, and a car-sharing programme. Esther Bahne, Head of MINI Brand Strategy and Business Innovation said, “We’re offering a place that can adapt to its residents, is flexible and allows room to breathe. ‘Mini Living’ gives residents their privacy, but also enables them to engage with a variety of different people.” Each apartment will be no larger than a few hundred square feet. There will be two different apartment options. One-bedroom units will have access to a shared kitchen and communal areas, while two-bedrooms will have private kitchens. “We all know the challenges: rising rents, cramped living conditions, long commutes – especially in a city like Shanghai. With Mini Living, we want to contribute solutions that trigger inspiration on how we could live better and more joyful inside of cities in the future,” Oke Hauser, creative lead at Mini Living, said in a statement. In addition to the space itself, the project also comprises additional services that can be accessed digitally. For example, residents can make restaurant reservations, book room cleaning and service, order food and rent mobility options. So ‘Mini Living’ not only demonstrates how space can be used in an intelligent way, it also offers scope for individualization and a range of digital services.