ABSTRACT

 What are the challenges architects face when designing dwelling spaces of a limited size? And what can these projects tell us about architecture – and architectural principles – in general?

In BIG little house, award-winning architect Donna Kacmar introduces twenty real-life examples of small houses. Each project is under 1,000 square feet (100 square meters) in size and, brought together, the designs reveal an attitude towards materiality, light, enclosure and accommodation which is unique to minimal dwellings. While part of a trend to address growing concerns about minimising consumption and lack of affordable housing, the book demonstrates that small dwellings are not always simply the result of budget constraints but constitute a deliberate design strategy in their own right.

Highly illustrated and in full-colour throughout, each example is based on interviews with the original architect and accompanied by detailed floor plans. This ground-breaking, beautifully designed text offers practical guidance to any professional architect or homeowner interested in small scale projects.

chapter |20 pages

Introduction

chapter |10 pages

Timeline

part One|53 pages

Porous Dwellings

chapter 1|6 pages

Watershed

Float

chapter 2|8 pages

Music Box

John Grable Architects, Inc.

chapter 3|7 pages

False Bay Writer's Cabin

Olson Kundig Architects

chapter 4|6 pages

Ravine Guest House

Shim-Sutcliffe

chapter 5|6 pages

Writer's Studio

Cooper Joseph Studio

chapter 6|8 pages

Hill Country Jacal

Lake/Flato

chapter 7|9 pages

Kemper Cabin

Suyama Peterson Deguchi

part Two|50 pages

Focused Dwellings

chapter 8|7 pages

Marfa 10×10

Candid Rogers Studio

chapter 9|6 pages

Keenan Tower House

Marlon Blackwell Architect

chapter 10|7 pages

Sky Ranch

The Miller Hull Partnership

chapter 11|7 pages

Scholar's Library

Gluck +

chapter 12|6 pages

Roland Cabin

David Salmela

chapter 13|6 pages

Small House in an Olive Grove

Cooper Joseph Studio

chapter 14|6 pages

Stacked Cabin

Johnsen Schmaling Architects

part Three|45 pages

Protected Dwellings

chapter 15|7 pages

Williams Cabin

Atkinson Architecture

chapter 16|6 pages

Craven Road Studio

Shim-Sutcliffe

chapter 17|8 pages

Pool House

Koning Eizenberg

chapter 18|6 pages

Blossom Street 03

Nonya Grenader

chapter 19|7 pages

Nested House

Lojo

chapter 20|7 pages

Envelope House

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson