I would like to introduce an architectural and social movement which advocates living in very small houses.
The first thought that usually comes to mind is: why would anyone deliberately chose to live in a smaller house? People usually try to get the biggest houses they can afford. A person’s wealth is usually estimated by other people based on the size of their houses. The bigger the house the richer its owner appears to be.
There are many reasons why people decide to join the movement.
Smaller homes are cheaper to build, heat, maintain and repair. They are also more ecofriendly, take fewer resources, what leads to producing less pollution.
Another reason is that some people feel that they just don’t need that much space or just don’t like vacuuming and dusting: a small house means less space to clean.
What is a small house?
In order to be qualified as a small house, it has to be about 90 m^2 or smaller, a typical small house is no more than 45 m^2.
There are also very small mobile houses on wheels which are often compared to RVs. A difference between a house on wheels and an RV is that it is built from the same materials as a traditional house and it looks like a house, it is only smaller.
Those houses are only about 7 m^2. You may think that it’s impossible to have all the things a family needs to function on so small space or that it has to be very uncomfortable. It is quite challenging, living on small space and it requires a lot of creativity and careful planning, but there are a lot of people who have proven that it’s possible and the effects are amazing.
Single room apartments are also a very interesting thing. Small apartments are traditionally divided into two or three even smaller rooms. For most of the people I know that’s the only thing you can do. There are people who have proven that there is another way. You can have one room which functions as your kitchen, living room, bedroom and even bathroom. It could be hard to live this way for a big family, but nowadays there are a lot of people who live either alone or just with their partner. In that case I think this option is worth considering.
Here are some examples:
This is a 8 m^2 house on wheels for two people. It is very small but when you get inside you can see that it has all the things a house needs a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and a small bedroom.
How many rooms can a person use simultaneously? Most of the rooms in a single person apartment are empty almost all the time. A Hong Kong architect turned a 32 m^2 apartment into a one big room which turns into 24 different rooms thanks to sliding walls and excellent space management.
Legostyle apartment is another example of how a person can live comfortably in a single room apartment. One of the advantages of living in this kind of apartment is that everything is always close to you.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_house_movement
The first thought that usually comes to mind is: why would anyone deliberately chose to live in a smaller house? People usually try to get the biggest houses they can afford. A person’s wealth is usually estimated by other people based on the size of their houses. The bigger the house the richer its owner appears to be.
There are many reasons why people decide to join the movement.
Smaller homes are cheaper to build, heat, maintain and repair. They are also more ecofriendly, take fewer resources, what leads to producing less pollution.
Another reason is that some people feel that they just don’t need that much space or just don’t like vacuuming and dusting: a small house means less space to clean.
What is a small house?
In order to be qualified as a small house, it has to be about 90 m^2 or smaller, a typical small house is no more than 45 m^2.
There are also very small mobile houses on wheels which are often compared to RVs. A difference between a house on wheels and an RV is that it is built from the same materials as a traditional house and it looks like a house, it is only smaller.
Those houses are only about 7 m^2. You may think that it’s impossible to have all the things a family needs to function on so small space or that it has to be very uncomfortable. It is quite challenging, living on small space and it requires a lot of creativity and careful planning, but there are a lot of people who have proven that it’s possible and the effects are amazing.
Single room apartments are also a very interesting thing. Small apartments are traditionally divided into two or three even smaller rooms. For most of the people I know that’s the only thing you can do. There are people who have proven that there is another way. You can have one room which functions as your kitchen, living room, bedroom and even bathroom. It could be hard to live this way for a big family, but nowadays there are a lot of people who live either alone or just with their partner. In that case I think this option is worth considering.
Here are some examples:
This is a 8 m^2 house on wheels for two people. It is very small but when you get inside you can see that it has all the things a house needs a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and a small bedroom.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_house_movement
Comments
Here are some truly amazing photographs of living conditions in Hong Kong. Some of those apartments are even 28 square feet (about 2,5 cubic meters): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/pictures/9888398/Overhead-photos-of-cramped-apartments-in-Hong-Kong.html?frame=2489579
I've seen the last video before, and although I admire the creativity of architects, I couldn't live in such a small place. A home should not only contain all the necessary elements, but also provide a sense of comfort, and for me 7m2 is definately not enough to feel comfortable. Various psychological studies show that a person should have different places - rooms or parts of the room - to work at home and to relax. Besides, as Paulina said, I think it would be quite exhausting to slide, unslide, open and close to be able to use anything. I don't need a whole palace for myself, but <20m2 is not acceptable.
Some of the solutions presented by these architects are worth considering (for example, my brother had a similar bed to those foldable ones), but overall I would really need a bigger space to live, especially if I'm not living alone. These are definitely one-person apartaments - imagine one person wanting to take a bath and another to sleep in the apartament with sliding walls :)
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludno%C5%9B%C4%87_%C5%9Bwiata#Tempo_przyrostu_ludno.C5.9Bci_.C5.9Bwiata
Overpopulation is a serious issue and we have to somehow force people to live in smaller apartments to save the space. What is a better idea than creating a 'fashion' and make living like that 'trendy'? :)
I also think this could be ok for people who spend most of time outside anyway - if parents are at work and kids at school until late afternoon and after that they spend time outside playing, walking etc. and use the house as a place to sleep.
At the moment I am renting not so big, 40 sq meters flat designed as a single room (with separate bathroom, of course.
The prices of apartments here in Warsaw are very high. This is a big problem for new employees and for people whos income is low (for example because of low salary job type).
I also found interesting article about very cute and creative tiny houses. This tiny Victorian cottage in the Catskills, New Yorks looks so pretty! I would love to live in it.
Here is this article: http://www.boredpanda.com/small-houses/
Wow 7m^2? Is it possible? I don’t believe it. I have heard about the narrowest house in Warsaw. One of the narrowest houses on the world
http://www.domkereta.pl/
Did you hear about it? It’s great art installation. This building is structured between two other buildings. Is it amazing? In my opinion- YES.
It’s amazing that in this small house (from your presentation) is everything which is needed to life. I really like it. The architect who are created this home is a Giant. Everything is scheduled great in this small, cosy house.
It is great but I can not imagine to live in house like this. I’m afraid that it might finish serious illness like claustrophobia.
Having said that I do not have a claustrophobia :) Of course I understand that someone might choose that kind of lifestyle because of limited finances, but if there is a choice I'd always go for the spaciousness!