03-01-25 // DB DEUTSCHE BAUZEITUNG

Cover of db deutsche bauzeitung

The Cabanon appears in db deutsche bauzeitung 1-2/2025, under the headline “Miniapartment »The Cabanon« Rotterdam – Maximal Minimal”. The article gives an in-depth tour of the compact rooftop apartment and uncovers the design logic behind its radical spatial economy.

In her text, the author describes how the architects Beatriz Ramo and Bernd Upmeyer transformed a small rooftop structure in Rotterdam into a fully-equipped mini-apartment of just 6.89 m² floor-area and 21.19 m³ volume. With a ceiling height of 3m and clever stacking of functions they used vertical space to create a rich, luxurious interior in the smallest of footprints.

The piece emphasises how the design is not a tiny-house gimmick or minimalist manifesto—but rather a thoughtful re-thinking of spatial economy: as Upmeyer puts it, the Cabanon is an “epikuräisches Exempel im Kleinstformat” (an Epicurean example in miniature). Material choices (black marble, terracotta-hued walls, custom joinery) and bodily-tailored dimensions (for the users) underline the precision of the concept.

Founded in 1867, db deutsche bauzeitung is Germany’s oldest architecture magazine and one of the country’s most respected professional journals for architecture, construction, and design. Renowned for its critical essays, detailed project analyses, and focus on contemporary building culture, db serves as a key platform for architectural discourse among practitioners, researchers, and students alike.

“Maximal Minimal”

Pages 34 – 35

Pages 36 – 37

Pages 38 – 39

Title: db deutsche bauzeitung 1-2/2025
Contribution: The Cabanon
Authors: BOARD, STAR
Date: January, 2025
Publisher: Konradin Medien GmbH
Location: Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany
ISSN: 0721-1902
Pages: 34 – 39