The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space | Azby Brown

The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space | Azby Brown | Really enjoyed the book

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The Very Small Hom...

	The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas for Living Well in Limited Space Azby Brown Kodansha International, 2005 - 112 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Building small can be a sign of higher ambitions, and those who take the time to peruse these pages will undoubtedly grow to appreciate that creating a small home can be an amazingly positive and creative act, one which can enhance life in surprising ways. The Very Small Home presents stunning design advances in Japan. Eighteen recent houses, from ultramodern to Japanese rustic, are explored in depth. Particular emphasis is given to what the author call the Big Idea-the overarching concept that does the most to make the house feel more spacious than it actually is. Among the Big Ideas introduced here are ingenious sources of natural light, well-thought-out atriums, snug but functional kitchens, unobtrusive partitions, and free-flowing circulation paths. An introduction by the author puts the house designs in the context of lifestyle trends, and highlights their shared characteristics. For each project, the intentions of the designers and occupants are examined. The result is a very human sensibility that runs through the book. A glimpse of the dreams and aspirations that these unique homes represent and that belies their apparent modesty. The second half of the book is devoted to illustrating the special features in the homes, from clever storage and kitchen designs, to ingenious skylights and nooks. As with his earlier Small Spaces, Azby Brown has given home owners, designers, and architects a fascinating new collection of thought-provoking ideas.

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Origami you can live in, or at least marvel at...

I LOVE this book! I don't think I could live in most of these houses... But, oh wow, would I love to spend a weekend.

In the truest Japanese tradition, these very, very small homes are morsels of perfection. No detail is too small; no corner neglected.

Somehow, ancient Japanese design seems modern. So these "modern" homes, in the Japanese context, carry on tradition.

My favorite house may be the little gem squeezed into what was a long, narrow driveway. It manages to be private, spacious, light filled and warm, AND incorporate a charming courtyard between the kitchen and traditional bathhouse.

There are so many ingenious ideas packed between the covers of this book. If you love architecture or small houses or big houses or live in a house or apartment or refrigerator box (especially the box--it's roughly the size of some of these houses) you may enjoy this book.

My main objection to these designs, is that I would require more privacy for the master bedroom. Many of them were open loft types, many of them barely segmented from the children's space. But, I still marveled at these tiny wonders. Some had the aura of cathedrals.

Highly recommended.

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Really enjoyed the book

I always think a large house is a terrible burden. Having complete and perfect control over my space and possessions means that they have to be compact and logical. I don't want to spend time maintaining a large burden. A small house also encourages one to join the larger outside community more instead of being too self-absorbed. The examples in this book really fit my idea of the perfect size and space. I also really like how it shows the internal structures and functions of the houses very clearly. This book allows me to dream about my future home!

Excellent!

it is obvious that someone was thinking when they created this book!
I am very happy with the content and graphics.
Lots of great ideas for building a new, more efficient house.

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How small can you go

For those considering a smaller home, this book will challenge your sense of size. Most of the featured homes are under 500 sq ft. While this may work well in urban Japan, I think most Americans would be very hard pressed to fit two people into anything under 700-800 square ft.

That said, many of the design solutions are elegant with clever ideas for spatial layouts, storage, light, and movement.

Brown does a very nice job illustrating each of the selected houses with a 2 page spread of photos. The photos are followed by another 2 page spread that clearly illustrates the floor plans in lovely, hand-rendered, axonometric views. Accompanying text describes the drawings and the key innovation / "big idea" of the design. The final section of the book discusses "small" design principles for specific areas of the house.

I would have given this one 5 stars, but I found myself really missing an additional 2 pages of pictures for each house so that I could really understand the spaces better.

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Beutiful Photagraphy and uncluttered writing

I bought this book to research small space architecture as we are finishing our basement and planning expansion to our small home. The full page and collage photo spreads are gorgeous throughout this book. It contains much inspiration and thoughtful commentary on each of the featured homes.

The primary focus of the book is contemporary architecture throughout Japan. There is very little coverage of traditional, fuedal or colonial architectural styles I was hoping to find. Still, the space saving innovations shared by the featured designers and firms are a great resource for anyone planning small area multipurpose, or contemporary Japanese, home building.

Great as a reference and as a coffee table book. Beutiful and informative. If there's ever a revised printing, I'd request more fine grain detail on the space savers.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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