The original box had been created without worrying about worst-case scenarios.
Berkowitz, an illustrator, was in need of a cheap, quiet place to live. But the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco came to around $3,500, way over his budget. So, he started thinking of innovative solutions for a cost-effective dwelling, got inspired by Japanese capsule hotels, and hit upon the idea of a personal pod.
The box was born.
It was an eight-foot long, three-and-a-half-foot wide wooden structure, built with the help of a few friends, and lodged in another friend's living room. It had a door (with a curtain!), a "window" of sorts, a foldable desk to work on, good lighting, a comfortable bed, and a nook for keeping clothes and books. In short, everything a frugal young man of 25 would need.
Everything except space for an additional human. The SFist blog put it so very delicately.
"While I admire the Zen-like existence, and am jealous of the $408 he's spending in rent, I have to assume that Pete isn't intending to get laid anytime soon — or it will have to be an out-call situation. And with only a curtain there, quiet masturbation will of course need to be very, very quiet, lest he create more awkwardness with his four [flatmates]."
His dream of making more such boxes for like-minded people will in all probability remain a dream now, unless he comes up with something totally out of the box -- and safe.
If he ever designs something resembling his old box, with all the safety mechanisms in place, would you be interested in living in it? What other equally absurd habitations can you think of?
