In cities, new apartments often feature windows that barely open and put the kitchen in the living room. There's little space in the apartments to do anything but sleep, cook, and feed the occupants. There's no room to work, play, exercise, entertain. Instead, there's a focus on communal amenities - shared spaces for working, playing exercising, and entertaining. Some of this makes sense, but they seem to be taking it to an uncomfortable extreme in an effort to eliminate our privacy. What's next? Bunk beds for all in communal dorm rooms?
I'm not sure why you think "an apartment was never designed to be spacious." There are plenty of spacious apartments out there, especially in big cities where apartment living is a way of life and especially in the luxury market. But the newer apartments being built these days tend to be a lot less spacious. Even at luxury prices, you're not getting an elegant open concept living space in a modern apartment. You're getting a small, boxy living room with a kitchen along one wall. You can barely fit your family, nevermind guests. It seems like they're being designed to push you out of your private apartment and into the shared communal spaces.
Apartments built for the poor in the 1950s often offer more gracious room sizes and proportions than apartments being built for the pretty well-off today.
In cities, new apartments often feature windows that barely open and put the kitchen in the living room. There's little space in the apartments to do anything but sleep, cook, and feed the occupants. There's no room to work, play, exercise, entertain. Instead, there's a focus on communal amenities - shared spaces for working, playing exercising, and entertaining. Some of this makes sense, but they seem to be taking it to an uncomfortable extreme in an effort to eliminate our privacy. What's next? Bunk beds for all in communal dorm rooms?
I'm not sure why you think "an apartment was never designed to be spacious." There are plenty of spacious apartments out there, especially in big cities where apartment living is a way of life and especially in the luxury market. But the newer apartments being built these days tend to be a lot less spacious. Even at luxury prices, you're not getting an elegant open concept living space in a modern apartment. You're getting a small, boxy living room with a kitchen along one wall. You can barely fit your family, nevermind guests. It seems like they're being designed to push you out of your private apartment and into the shared communal spaces.
Apartments built for the poor in the 1950s often offer more gracious room sizes and proportions than apartments being built for the pretty well-off today.