TIKKU Micro-apartment

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar

TIKKU MICRO-APARTMENT

Marco Casagrande

ARCHITECTS
Marco Casagrande

STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Timber Bros

ORGANIZER
Helsinki Design Week

IN CO OPERATION WITH
CrossLam Kuhmo, Woodpolis, City of Kuhmo, Profin, Plantagen, Sponda, PEFC, Kainuu Vocational College

CURATOR
Martina Wuoristo-Huhta

PHOTOGRAPHS
Jenni Gästgivar, Nikita Wu

AREA
37 m²

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Helsinki, Finland

CATEGORY
Houses, Small Scale

“Tikku ('stick') can be built in one night. It takes a stand for the urban planning of the future: as cities grow denser, there is a need to find more agile ways of building and spatial solutions.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar

In an insightful way, Tikku demonstrates the development of cities and a future vision of combining different spaces.

A dense urban structure that combines different purposes offers new opportunities for developing communality and brings life to cities when buildings can also be used outside of office hours.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu

A micro apartment building also sets for us an example of a future," says Anita Riikonen, Marketing and Brand Manager at Sponda.

TIKKU is a micro-apartment building with a foot-print of one car parking place 2,5 x 5 meters.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar

It is assembled out of CLT cross-laminated timber spatial modules and can be erected on site overnight at any car-city of the world. Where ever a car can go, Tikku can grow.

Tikku is a safe-house for neo-archaic biourbanism, a contemporary cave for a modern urban nomad. It will offer privacy, safety and comfort. All the rest of the functions can be found in the surrounding city.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar

Tikku is a needle of urban acupuncture, conquering the no-man’s land from the cars and tuning the city towards the organic.

Many Tikkus can grow side-by-side like mushrooms and they can fuse into larger organisms.

Tikku is self-sufficient. It produces its own energy with solar panels and it has dry toilets.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar

Fresh water is carried in. Showers, saunas, laundry machines and food is around. Modern man has to die a bit in order to be reborn.

CLT is 5 times lighter that reinforced concrete. With normal streets Tikku does not require any foundation, it will just simply stand on the street.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar

There is a sand-box in bottom balancing the building. 10 cm CLT is plenty for the structure and 20 cm CLT is sufficient even for cold winters. No added insulation is needed.

The functions and combinations of the spatial modules are endless. For example: room, green-house, office, shop, kitchen, sauna, dojo, workshop, hotel-room, knitting etc.

TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu

The first 1:1 scale prototype of the Tikku was realized for the Helsinki Design Week 2017 outside of Atheneum in the heart of Helsinki. This Tikku had 3 floors: sleeping, working and green-house.


TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Nikita Wu
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar


TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar
TIKKU Micro-apartment
© Jenni Gästgivar


TIKKU Micro-apartment
Sketch