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There is a lot to say, we think, about the value and attraction (and sometimes strangeness) of smaller things. It seems only right to dish out the goods in portions. Welcome to sm2.
In 1952, the Dutch launched a good-hearted campaign challenging the notion that bigger must be better by building something grand on a very very small scale. Madurodam in the Hague is a mini-representation of Holland as a whole that can be wandered through in half a day.
Houses, public buildings, canals, canal boats, railways, airport…tiny tulips and cheeses. The effect on the Dutch and the zillions of visitors seems to be calming, amusing, reassuring. So cute.
The idea has spread. There are now “miniature towns” all over the place–many in the UK, many in Asia, maybe one down the road from you. Their success says something about what appeals to us, almost all of us, for escape and amusement.
But how about the real spaces we need to live in and work in. How small is just right? Well we live at a moment when smallness is all the rage in houses. You’ve seen the pictures, you’ve found yourself cooing “ahhh, look at that!”. Here’s a few we found at our fingertips:
Aren’t they adorable? We are as smitten as anyone by these diminutive domestic dwellings, but being of the wondering kind, we wonder if this craze might just be an economic necessity wrapped in a personal preference, dusted with big dollop of copy-catism, and bound together with quite a large dash of moral superiority.
But hey, it is also entirely possible that these are, in fact, just what we all need
But but…OK just one more, inside and out, from Brazil, all white.
Our local art gallery is currently presenting a show called “cabin fever” running all summer if you are in the area.
Images of these houses rarely show any people in them so it is hard to gauge how effectively they serve the real needs of actual living and working. But there is strong evidence to show that great things can be achieved in modest surroundings.
E.B. White (the New Yorker, Charlotte’s Web, The Elements of Style, etc etc) hammered out some of the most graceful, beautifully realized sentences in any language on a bench in a tiny cabin with a view of salt water. The spare, plain, durable qualities of the cabin and everything in it perfectly match the products of Mr White’s mind and fingers.
Producing great work, it seems does not (always) require a lot of space. 
Joan Miro at work, no bench, no table, no window, no ocean, no net. Art needs only the artist.
So maybe we can live smaller, a lot smaller, without giving up the dream of doing great things. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Adorable small houses designed by:
bornstein lyckefors architecture
Everyone should live alone–at least for a while, we think. It teaches you how to take care of yourself and your cave. It will make you a better roommate when the time comes. If you make the choice–or it is made for you–to live on your own, you mostly have to make do with a place designed for two or three or seven. Unless you get lucky.
A few designers have, luckily, turned their heads to solo living. Above dwelling (“close to transportation”), is in Tokyo (of course) and is a solo abode designed for a 60-year-old woman above a tobacconist shop. Architects : Hideshi Abe / Avehideshi Architect and Associates. Photos by Hiroki Kawata. Viewed at dezeen here
The cost of land being what it is, the building has a small foot and lots of stairs to climb–beautiful stairs in this case, so take your time.
This drawing shows where the living quarters (or eighths) are, but how the solo householder has arranged it all is her secret.
Nor is this little lady telling us how she arranges her life and her bonnets inside this tiny red place. Chances are it’s either neat as a pin or a spectacular mess.
If you want some space around your home alone, here’s a nice little cube among the trees and rocks to call your own.
This is a tiny onesy tucked right into the woodsy countryside for the winter. Fits right in (“Maybe I should have the Birches over for hot chocolate”). Seen here.
Back to the future, this prototype for one is designed to supply food, energy, heat and oxygen to its occupant. Its maker calls it Oogst 1 Solo. Sadly for us, no mention of it providing wine and potato chips. Seen at polychroniadis on tumbler.
This is Piiri house, mostly wood, just for one, good for thinking about where you are and where you aren’t.
And if you aren’t yet sure where you want to live, consider the mobile option. This one in Lego colours folds up into a trailer and folds out into different rooms. More here
Mmmm. Designed for one, maybe but surely occasional sleepovers are allowed. APH80 tiny home designed by the Spanish design team at Abaton,
Once you start looking, it turns out there are more people than we thought, professional designers and just plain soloists, who have considered the uni-dwelling:
Blob VB3, Designed by Belgian architectural firm, dmvA above.
A bit of a cliffhanger, by Front Architect
The lovely L41home, designed by Architect and Urban Designer Michael Katz and Designer Janet Corne
So if you’re ready to go it alone, at least for a while, you just might be able to find the right fit after all. Lots more here and here Just don’t be a stranger, OK?
Who’s that up on the roof? Well, it seems lots of people like it so much up on the roof that they’ve built themselves a place to live and play and sometimes work. This woman in Paris (from a Jacques Rivette movie) has come up to take a look for herself.
This is one of those pictures that you can never quite forget. The pool is on the roof of a house designed by Rem Koolhaas called Villa dall’Ava outside Paris. It’s an iconic image for life on your own terms. Take the plunge here
New York is also renowned for people who live life with both style and daring. Diane von Furstenberg built her studio up on the roof of a 6 storey building in an area of the city once known for meat-packing. Supply your own quip if you feel the urge. (credit to Work Architecture Company; Image by Elizabeth Felicella Photography). See more at archdaily
New York being New York the desire to be on top has captured more than one resident. This is in Tribeca (found here) and it results in a splendid cupcake effect to our eyes.
Whereas this New York roof topper has more of a …what, French country house feel? Generous water supply very close by. See here.
But no matter what anyone says, you can actually find cool examples of unique living beyond Manhattan, even when it comes to rooftop living. The blue beauty (designed by MVRDV) above and below is in Rotterdam, Netherlands and was built for the Didden family. See more at archdaily again
The two pics above are of a playful rooftop residence (designed by JDS Architecture seen here) in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. Dad and son are having a nice bonding moment taking in the Danish summer sun–though the boy looks like he is not about to move his head and look down.
There are books about the high life of course, above from NAI publishers and Cloud 9 below from Loft Publishers available here for example.
This remarkable book above takes us far from Paris, New York, and Scandinavia. Portrait from Above is a chronicle of rooftop living in Hong Kong. These roofies are not thinking about being cool or unique. They are just taking up residence in the only place available to them. More here
There is a neat video here of a guy who designed for himself a very compact home on a rooftop in Barcelona.
The above film series was hosted on a rooftop in good old Austin Texas. It was last year, but if you want to celebrate this idea of getting on top of things, you might look for a rooftop near you and see if you can organize a wingding or two.
This was in London atop Selfridges department store above Oxford Street, photo from here
Or maybe you could get a band to play some lively music like this one did on another London rooftop some time ago.
This is the front entrance to the Shaw House. It is located along a much desired strip of waterfront property in Vancouver. It was designed by Canadian architects Patricia and John Patkau and their incomparable team. Image seen here.
When you’re in the Shaw pool, you can look down and see who’s at the door, and you can look north to see the ocean and mountains that people come thousands of miles to see. Image here
Above is one of the first of the Patkau’s fabulous houses, the Barnes House. It sits on acres of rugged land near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, looking back toward Vancouver. It has won many awards. Image from their website here
Above are three photos of an amazing library in Montreal known as La Grande Bibliothèque du Quebec. It is essentially the national library of the Province of Quebec, serving both as a public library and a repository for important archival material. Images here and here.
Model building is an important part of the design process for the Patkaus, and the models themselves become beautiful objects, not simply miniature versions of the building. Above models for Church of the Assumption Coquitlam from here.
Above is the model for Seabird Island School, an important project in Canadian architecture and the architecture of Canada’s first people. Image from here.
The Patkau major renovation and addition to Winnipeg Manitoba’s Centennial Library. Just really really nice. From their website again.
We’re not sure what you need to say about the work of John and Patricia Patkau and the superb, incredibly hard working architects and support people who, project after project, produce stunningly good work, from the big idea to the tiniest detail. It pretty much speaks for itself.
Maybe you just say Thanks and More Please.
Marcio Kogan has designed some beautiful houses. Some house hunters think they are among the most beautiful houses you’ll ever see. We pretty much agree.
He is Brazilian, and he says he is as much influenced by great film makers–Fellini, Bergman, Jacques Tati–as by great architects.
Whoever or whatever inspires him, we hope it keeps coming. Above is known as Casa Mirindaba Sao Paulo, seen at the contemporist. Photography by Brazilian architectural photographer Nelson Kon
Mr Kogan’s houses are identifiable by their long clean lines, the satisfying play of light inside and out, and the feeling that forms in your heart while you look at them, a feeling that is roughly 7 parts admiration, 90 parts lust, and 3 parts regret that you didn’t manage to arrange your life in a such a way as to own a house like this. (Proportions may vary according to your age, current location, and upbringing.)
The three above photos are of Panama House, also in Sao Paulo, seen at the daily icon.
This one above was named C16 H14O3. Perhaps this is the formula for houselust. Seen everywhere, including here
Recent award winning BEACH house known as Paraty on a coastal island between Sao Paolo and Rio De Janeiro.
Paraty is nice inside too.
And the house comes with a kitchen. More of Paraty here, for eg, and at the coolhunter, here
When Mr Kogan gets out of the house, he continues to do remarkable things. This is a furniture store in Sao Paulo he designed. It’s the VITRA furniture store.
I think that’s rebar on the left wall. carumba. Seen here.
Wallpaper magazine likes Mr Kogan a lot, as you’ll see here, and here
There is an interview with Marcio Kogan here
C16 H14O3 again, saying everything that needs to be said, we think.
the republic of less 