Studio-apartment dwellers may feel reasonably content living a small-scale existence. But if transplanted in the country, how many would opt for a similarly sized house?
Driven by a commitment to reduce energy consumption and built space, there’s a growing trend among the eco-conscious to build tiny homes. A new book, Nano House by Phyllis Richardson (Thames & Hudson), gathers 40 of the best-designed examples from around the world--all of which showcase an appreciation for the efficient use of space, materials, and resources.
Will they inspire “real housewives” of Beverly Hills to abandon their McMansions, short of a foreclosure notice? Not very likely. But they may get a few die-hard city slickers wistfully contemplating a simpler life.
Check out the slideshow of 7 houses from the book. And if you want more, it's available for $20 from Amazon.
Fablab House, IAAC with MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, Spain, 635 sq. ft.
The pointof Fablab House is to get as much solar energy and provide as much living space in a compact, thermally efficient, and low-cost structure. According to the team, it's a "paraboloid section positioned for suitable solar tracking and deformed in appropriate steps aimed towards an optimal orientation for summer (narrowing to the west, widening eastward, and flattening towards the zenith of 70˚)." Since the project was designed for the hot Madrid summer, the group created shaded outdoor space by raising three legs of the building off the ground.
Since the project was designed for the hot Madrid summer, the team created shaded outdoor space by raising three legs of the building off the ground. The legs contain services, equipment, and water.
The house is built solely of wood, cut from laminated timber using CNC technology.
Click Images To Enlarge
Blob dmvA Architecten, Antwerp, Belgium, 215 sq. ft.
It took a contractor six months to hand-craft the ovoid shape of Blob, a guesthouse out of polyester. The interior is lined with a gridlike storage system, which also has compartments for lounging and sleeping. The nose of the blob and a side door can be opened to create an airy pavilion.
The interior includes 360 degrees of shelving stacked four levels high, skylights and windows to let in natural lighting and a built-in shower.
Click Images To Enlarge
Blob looks a lot like a big Easter egg. Here's the exterior view with the sidedoor and front open to let in air and sunlight. The bottom image shows Blob fully-closed to reveal its egg shape, almost spaceship-like in appearance. Imagine a cluster of Blobs in different colors. Just wished there were more windows.
Click Images To Enlarge
Click Image To Enlarge
Villa Hermina HSH Architekti Cernin, Czech Republic, 635 sq. ft.
This box on a hill has two attention-grabbing features: its Pepto-colored exterior and its interior slant. The color refers to the designers’ favorite building, Ludwig Leo’s Versuchsanstalt fur Wasserbau und Schiffbau, in Berlin, whose external pipework is painted pastel pink. The steep incline is in part a response to the client’s request for a movie theater with raked seating. The lower level is connected to the upper by bright-green ramps, which provide more floor space than traditional stairs. The floors are covered in an anti-skid material common in sports facilities.
The steep incline is in part a response to the client’s request for a movie theater with raked seating. The lower level is connected to the upper by bright-green ramps, which provide more floor space than traditional stairs. The floors are covered in an anti-skid material common in sports facilities.
Click Images To Enlarge
Roll-It Institut fur Entwerfen und Bautechnik University of Karlsruhe, Germany, 6 ft., 6 inch x 10 ft.
Designed by students Christian Zwick and Konstantin Jerabek as a competition entry, Roll-It is the ultimate mobile home. Not only does its barrel shape allow it to be easily transported but its interior rotates like a round Rubik’s cube. It’s broken into three rings: at one end is a sleeping/living area, at the other is a kitchen and bathroom hub, and in between is the “corridor,” which can the user can turn by walking up its slope like a hamster wheel. Apart from providing exercise, the middle wheel functions as a dial to rotate either of the outer rings into the desired position.
The interior is broken into three rings: at one end is a sleeping/living area, at the other is a kitchen and bathroom hub, and in between is the “corridor,” which can the user can turn by walking up its slope like a hamster wheel. Apart from providing exercise, the middle wheel functions as a dial to rotate either of the outer rings into the desired position.
Click Images To Enlarge
Sunset Cabin Taylor Smyth Architects, Lake Simcoe, Ontario, Canada, 274 sq. ft.
Sunset Cabin's architect Michael Taylor describes this one-room house, located on the southern shore of Lake Simcoe, as a “simple but sophisticated Canadian bunkie.” Despite its seemingly complex pattern of louvers, the entire structure was constructed from prefabricated sections in four weeks.
Click Image To Enlarge
Lumenhaus, Virginia Tech University, Solar Decathlon Europe 2010, Spain, 667 sq. ft.
Lumenhaus beat out 17 other research universities for the Solar Decathlon title. This unit adapts to changing weather conditions with high-grade insulation, solar panels, and a centrally controlled energy system. A series of sliding doors was inspired by the mushrabiyahfound on traditional Arab houses. The stainless-steel screens feature a sophisticated pattern of disk-shaped cutouts; The rotation of each of the 9,000 disks was determined by Grasshopper software, which was used to calculate the angle of the sun and the degree of visibility in different areas of the house. The higher the disk placement, the more light is let in.
Click Image To Enlarge
House Arc Joseph Bellomo Architects, Hawaii, 753 sq. ft.
The idea for this house has its origins in a bike shed. The eco-minded California architect Joseph Bellomo partnered with the cycling enthusiast Jeff Selzer to design a bike-storage unit that could be installed in parking lots, parks, and city centers. The result was the Bike Arc, a structure made of curved steel ribs and covered in semi-opaque polycarbonate. Bellomo adapted the model for housing, using the same basic shape but with the addition of cedar cladding (which can vary depending on what’s locally available) and sliding glass doors. The house can consist of two modules--one with a kitchen and living area, the other with sleeping quarters--that are joined by a breezeway. Bellomo envisions the Arc being used as a prefab housing solution for people who have been displaced by natural catastrophes.
Click Image To Enlarge
COMMENTARY: Now that's what I call compact living at its finest. The Nano Houses are sleek, modern, minimalist in their design concept and designed to optimize limited space. Small by normal home standards, but sufficient for a single person willing to live in tight quarters, but at a very low price. If you can find a small plot of land, let's say somewhere on a bluff overlooking the sea or valley below, that has plenty of trees, plants, flowers and shrubbery, now and that would be heaven for a guy like me. I could blog there all day in absolute comfort. Bar-B-Q on the wooden desk or small balcony, and we are in business.
So instead of having to buy a new house when you have to move, you simply take your Nano House with you. Now that's what I call mobile housing.
Courtesy of an article dated November 12, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design
Comments