With the economic downturn and
a steady downward trend in family sizes,
the end of the McMansion could be at hand. Some people are
living in and
building tiny houses (
previously) to decrease their impact on the environment, while others can't afford more (or wish to own something small instead of paying off something big).
Sergio Santos saw his
small budget and limited space as a challenge (
gallery), maximizing his 77 square foot space as a bedroom, office, and mini-kitchen.
Claire Wolf lists the four pieces of living small: building, gadgeting, decorating, and coping. If these spaces are too small for you,
Dan Maginn suggest 900 square feet for a 2 bed, 2 bath house, and
outlines how to design your own small home (his tips: think "events" more than "rooms," and don't forget the cupboards and water heater closet).
posted by filthy light thief
on Sep 1, 2009 -
95 comments
"The brief was simple: to
build a house to retire to in order to grow food, entertain and enjoy the East Anglia landscape. The outcome was as unconventional as they come. A structure that has the ability to vary or connect the overall building's composition and character according to season, weather or simply a desire to delight.
Wallpaper* took a trip to the site to capture the physical phenomenon in the only medium that serves it justice - film."
via
posted by Knappster
on Mar 2, 2009 -
15 comments
"Future House Now is dedicated to exploring ideas about better living in family homes that are affordable, modern, efficient, healthy, environmentally responsible and available today."
posted by dobbs
on Jun 4, 2007 -
8 comments
The most modern home built in the world. "From the outside it looks
like a spaceship you cannot enter. But if you go inside, it feels very cozy… very Zen and calming. Maybe because you are
floating above the city, in the sky".
John Lautner's
Chemosphere residence is the product of a
fortuitous union of architect, client, time and place.
Leonard Malin was a young aerospace engineer in late-1950s L.A. whose father-in-law had just given him a plot north of Mulholland Drive, near Laurel Canyon. The only catch: at roughly 45 degrees, the slope was all but unbuildable. Lautner sketched a bold vertical line, a cross, and a curve above it. "Draw it up," he told his assistant.
Now publisher
Benedikt Taschen owns Chemosphere (NSFW), and after 20 years of neglect the house has been beautifully
restored (.pdf) by
Frank Escher.
posted by matteo
on Apr 7, 2005 -
24 comments
Small house, big ambitions. I've always lived in small houses and flats so this would be the perfect little place for me. As people are progressively continuing to stay single for longer into their lives, are homes like these what they'd be looking for to settle into?
posted by feelinglistless
on Sep 28, 2002 -
23 comments
