BIG little house
Small Houses Designed by Architects
by Donna Kacmar
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.
Reviews:
'When it comes to houses, quality, not quantity, is what truly matters. Architect Donna Kacmar’s eloquently written and beautifully illustrated BIG little house underscores this point again and again. The book’s comprehensive introduction coupled with twenty, carefully curated, examples answer not just "What" but also "How" and "Why". BIG little house is a valuable resource for architects and clients alike.' - Naomi Pollock, AIA, author Modern Japanese House, Japan
'A rigorous examination of the history of the small house is presented in both sumptuous photography and in floor plans at comparative scales, which are both useful and very revealing. Common to all of the houses is an attention to the importance of detail in small spaces, the importance of opening to the exterior to borrow space from the landscape, and the belief in quality over quantity, an idea that should guide all residential design in an era of diminishing resources.' - Mark McInturff, FAIA, architect, McInturff Architects, USA
