GIZMODO - The Tiny Transforming Apartment That Packs Eight Rooms into 350 Square Feet. DOWNSIZE ME: Giga-Living in Nano Houses - May/June 2012. Sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - may/june 2012 - nano-houses - downsize me: giga-living in nano houses Text by M.P. Klier Adrià Goula For those who cringe when HGTV house hunters gripe that a McMansion's racquetball-court-size closet is too small to fit all their shoes and its two-and-a-half-car garage is cramped, the 42 dwellings detailed in Phyllis Richardson's Nano House: Innovations for Small Dwellings (Thames and Hudson, 2011) offer another way home.
Richardson—the author of the XS series on small buildings and the Archetcetera blog—shows us "structures that demonstrate a resounding appreciation for space, resources, and materials through their effective use on a small scale. " In Nano House, "small scale" means an interior space of less than 807 square feet, though more than half of the designs are under 500 square feet. FabLab House (635 square feet) Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms. Could You Live in a 120-Square-Foot House? Sage Radachowsky's 120-square foot house. (Photo: gypsyliving.org) When Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell and her husband moved from Kansas City to a 480-square-foot lake house in Northwest, Ark., they'd planned to build a larger house on the same property and use the existing house as an office and guesthouse.
Yet the recession convinced the couple to stick with the house they had and build another small space as an office and guesthouse. Fivecoat-Campbell says they're happy with a smaller footprint. "We live in an area where recreation is a big thing," she adds. "We like to be outdoors and spend time with the dogs and not have to maintain a big house. [See 10 Signs American Families Are Falling Behind.] The constant upkeep and high expense of McMansions have made smaller homes appealing to many Americans. Costs for tiny homes can vary depending on factors like the materials and complexity of the design.
Radachowsky's bed. Some tiny house-dwellers who DIY their homes wind up paying much less. Roomy Remake: 40M Garage Home, Before & After [Photos] | Designs &Ideas on Dornob. With only forty square meters of space and a single side that can access the outdoors, this little garage is an unlikely candidate for a home retrofit. Amazingly, a plan was made and successfully executed to convert the homeliest of tiny structures into an enviable abode. The before and after photographs of the renovation by Fabre/DeMarien are nothing short of astonishing – a nondescript, white-painted, corrugated-metal garage door that formerly folded upward was replaced with a warm pair of wood panels that slide past one another. Inside, a small forecourt opens up in two directions to access the interior – or serve as a secluded wooden-planked deck space when the front section is closed off to the street. ?
Suddenly, the dull curved red tiles on the roof also seem quaint and homey against the wood grain rather than awkward and old. California DIY, shipping container tiny home and a cargo trailer bedroom. 6 design tricks for a small home. Raise the roof When Mark Egerstrom and Brian Grosdidier bought their 600-square-foot cottage on a tiny lot in West Hollywood, Calif., years of neglect had stripped away all of its original 1920s charm. "There were aluminum windows, torn-off siding … there was literally a crack pipe in the closet," says Egerstrom, an interior architect. "But it was an amazing location" — near the Pacific Design Center — "and a great deal. " Egerstrom, who oversaw the two-year remodel, opened up the formerly choppy floor plan, adding glass walls, a loft room and a roof deck "backyard. " How did they expand their space? Hanse Colani Rotor House - StumbleUpon.
Designer Luigi Colani has created a space-saving house with a six square meter cylinder inside that contains a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. + hanse-haus.de The cylinder rotates left or right bringing the room you want into view of the main living room. There's a separate toilet and a small hallway, and everything is controlled with a remote. View of the cylinder from the living room. The house was designed for young professionals who need minimal space while they focus on career. The bathroom. The bedroom. The kitchen. Would "Honest Abe Lincoln" live in a home made from a dumpster? Gregory Lincoln Kloehn is. Shipping Container Homes - Cargo Container Houses. Want your own container house? There's a six-month waiting list for the Quik House by architect Adam Kalkin, who is based in New Jersey.
The distinctive Quik House comes in a prefabricated kit, based on recycled shipping containers (in fact a completed house is about 75% recycled materials by weight). The standard Quik House offers 2,000 square feet, three bedrooms and two and one-half baths, though larger options are also available. The shell assembles within just one day, and all the interior details can be finished within about three months. The Quik House comes in two colors (orange or natural rust bloom), and the estimated total cost, including shipping and assembly, is $184,000. 5 Tiny Homes You'll Love Big Time. Elegant Home Transcends Tiny Lot. Skinny Abodes Around the Globe.
The Expandable Mobile Mini House. If the idea of spending days on the road in a tent or trailer doesn’t sound appealing, consider Stéphanie Bellanger‘s Mobile Mini House. The spacious yet compact concept home is inspired by John Lautner’s Chemosphere house and has an ingenious expanding floor plan that features a bathroom, living room, bedroom, kitchen, and office. Bellanger’s design also has ample storage space for clothing, books, and more. The Mobile Mini House’s walls and floors run on rails which allow them to easily fan out to a comfortable 252° radius. In case of rain, the home also features a sliding screen. We love the colorful rooms and spaciousness of the design, but wonder about its durability during long trips. Also, it’s doubtful that most campgrounds have plots large enough to accommodate the house. Regardless, the Mobile Mini could one day be an enticing option for travelers who want to rough it while still retaining modern amenities. + Stéphanie Bellanger Via My Modern Metropolis.