Five tiny homes with European flair
By Rob Bear | Curbed – Wed, Nov 14, 2012 5:25 PM EST
Le Corbusier's Cabanon. Click the photo to go to a slideshow. (Photo credit: Des Jeunes Gens Modernes)MORE AT curbed
Patriotism aside, there's much to love about Europe's devotion to small-space living. Take the tale of midcentury starchitect Le Corbusier, who, despite his considerable wealth and architectural prowess, decided to build himself just about the most minimalist home we've ever come across, in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. The summer escape, which ended up being the only home the master architect ever designed for himself, was a 150-square-foot cabin. Known today by the French name "Cabanon," the structure was built to plans that took Corbusier just 45 minutes to sketch up, while dining at a café on the Côte d'Azur.
Photo via Dezeen↑
Where Corb's cabin had a rustic exterior and a modern minimalist
interior, this mountain home, nestled between two historic farmhouses in
the Italian Alps, takes the modern look outside, with a facade of
sliver-gray painted panels and a natural lacquered wood interior. The tiny home was designed by Enrico Scaramellini,
who described the minimalist pad as "a wardrobe in the landscape," a
finely crafted piece of furniture that just happens to be made to house
people. The total area is 376 square feet, but much of that is used up
by the staircase and a narrow hallway.
Photo via Dezeen↑
In the last roundup we took a look at one of Richard Horden's many
microhome designs, called the Micro Compact Home. They have been
springing up all over Europe lately. There's even a village of the
little cubes in Munich. This one, however, has been transported much
further afield, to the side of a Swiss mountain, by helicopter.
The heli lift may have cost more than the house itself, which comes in
at a just $62K, but it took just four minutes and nine seconds to
deliver the microhome to the hillside plot.
Photo via archiCentral↑
Sadly, this project never quite made it to fruition, but that may be
because it was one of the largest microhome projects ever attempted.
Planned for a city block in London, the Microflat project
called for a series of modular, 355-square-foot units to be joined
together into a housing complex for first time buyers. Developed by
Piercy & Company Architects, the concept was tested when one of the
units was installed in a shop window at the Selfridges' department
store. A couple lived in the apartment for two weeks, in full view of
passerby, but even that wasn't enough to green-light the project.
↑ Barcelona-based architect Valentina Maini wanted to stick close to the city center,
but couldn't afford anything larger than 269 square feet, so she put
her architecture skills to use, transforming the tiny room into a
full-featured apartment with some simple tricks. First, she removed an
existing bathroom and cut a new window and door out to the roof,
creating a terrace. Then she commissioned a bamboo platform for her bed
and a sliding table with, guess what, a bathtub hidden beneath the
dining bench. Watch a full video tour of the surprising flat:
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