We can't rule out that our interest in the project zTuA by Hochschule Rosenheim students Marko Steininger, Martin Winkler and Fabian Steiner is a direct consequence of the current situation in the (smow) blog HQ. That our professional opinions are being influenced by personal circumstances.
We hope they aren't.
But can't rule it out.
zTuA is an acronym of "zwischen Tür und Angel" - "between door and hinge" - a nice German idiom that refers either to a necessary urgency, to being in the process of leaving, moving on, hurrying. Or alternatively to finding oneself between two equally unpleasant choices.
A genuinely awful name for a genuinely innovative and fascinating project.
In small flats space is always at premium, especially hallway space. Yet even the most compact and bijou of hallways is expected to play host to shoes, coats, dog leads, and ideally a small table for keys, letters, umbrellas, the like.
And so most of us fill our hallway with such.
zTuA offers an alternative.
zTuA transforms a door into storage space.
Resembling in profile a triangular slice of cake, zTuA hangs like a normal door in a normal door frame; however, is angled diagonally inwards on the hall side. The result is a door frame sized void in front of the door on the hall side.
If that makes sense......
And for this space Marko Steininger, Martin Winkler and Fabian Steiner have created a small shoe rack-cum-storage table and a hanging rail which in their form compliment the angle of the incline and the volume of the available space
And thus one can use the door to store shoes, coats, dog leads, keys, letters, umbrellas, the like.
On the rear side of the door, so in the room, you do have "bulge." An fairly unsightly bulge.
However, on the one hand, we believe with a bit of reconfiguration one could negate the necessity for the bulge. And even if that doesn't prove possible, at the moment the bulge is unused, yet has possible functions. Needn't remain unsightly.
As a concept zTuA is clearly not applicable to all situations, by default the amount of storage space available in the door frame is limited, and so, for example, a family of four would struggle to store all their coats, shoes and dog leads. However, demographic and social changes mean that, as we all know, there are and will continue to be ever increasing numbers of single person households, and for most singles, or couples of reserved lifestyles, zTuA would seem to offer a wonderful alternative to unsightly hallways.
All in all a most fascinating, thought provoking and downright exciting project, and one we genuinely hope Marko, Martin and Fabian develop further.
And rename.
As Johnny Cash would no doubt put it, "Bill or George! Anything but zTuA!"
