Small Innovative Houses

The most effective and appealing breakthroughs in houses built within the past five years—to make the most of every foot of space.

Forget the McMansions; budgets aren’t what they used to be, houses are smaller, and lifestyles are changing rapidly. Clients today want to create a home that is easy to maintain, environmentally responsible, and inexpensive to operate. Own less, live more.

Ranging from glass cabins to copper-clad tree houses, Small Innovative Houses features an international collection of more than fifty residences in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Discover how to use flexible space and make the most of a narrow lot, how to use every square foot of living space, while also responding to rising ecological concerns and skyrocketing energy bills. Examples include a mountain barn converted into a modern vacation home in Switzerland; a mobile home built on a flatbed trailer chassis that can be transported on U.S. highways; a Japanese sunken house with movable partitions that creates as many as nine rooms; a summer cabin in Norway that appears to float above the ground; and a spectacular glass cabin in the wilds of Alberta, Canada. From world-famous architects (Steven Holl, Todd Saunders, Snøhetta, and Tadao Ando) to the freshest new talent, this book reveals architectural invention on a whole new small scale.

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and was editor in chief of the leading French art journal Connaissance des Arts for over two decades. He has published numerous articles and more than 100 books, including Rizzoli’s Tadao Ando Houses and I. M. Pei: The Complete Works.