Methods and systems for database optimization include detecting a plurality of columns in an unoptimized database that co-appear in queries to the database. The plurality of columns are compacted into a single hyper-column to form an optimized database. Each entry in the hyper-column includes data from a corresponding entry in each of the plurality of columns. An interface is generated for the optimized database that accepts queries according to a schema for the unoptimized database and translates the queries into queries according to a schema for the optimized database.