The small house is the most recent in the panoply of clearly identifiable building types- which gives rise to a paradox: the small house is both the first building in human history and the one with the shortest record in terms of architectural history. However, if architecture is seen as a conscious process in which ideas, abstractions and received theories inform the practice of building, then the earliest architecture belonged to the realm of the sacred, devoted as it was to sites of worship, ritual and recognition of the divine. Art and architecture reflect human evolution, and this first architecture-manifested through monumental structures and buildings to house gods rather than people -illustrates a complete lack of human individualization or self-awareness...

Small Houses begins with an introdudion that explores in detail the social and historical background behind compact housing in the twentieth century. This is followed by thirty-seven illustrated case studies that represent some of the best examples of small houses built worldwide within the past decade. Plan areas are approximately one thousand square feet or smaller, and each project embodies a particular design approach toward compad accommodation. The case studies are organized into three chapters-Rural Retreats; Urban and Suburban Bases; and Small Clusters and Multiples-and include work by such architects as Toyo Ito, Lacaton & Vassal, LOT/EK, and Kazuyo Seiima.

Chapter 01

Rural Retreats

Hall on Syros, Greece

Walter PJchler, 1995

Atelier House, Luen, Switzerland

Dieter J0ngling and Andreas Hagmann, 1996

Casa Campo Vallemaggio, Italy

Roberto Briccola, 2000

Ching Cabin, Maury Island, USA

Miller I. Hull Partnership, 1997

Think Tank Boathouse, Skibbereen, Ireland

Philip Gumuchdjian, 1998

D"Alessandre House, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Vinicius Andrade and Marcelo Morettin, 1998

Kawanishi Camping Cottage, Nigata, Japan

Atelier Bow-Wow, 1998

Case Les Meranges, Catalonia, Spain

Alvarez and Minguill6n, 1999

Little House, Vilches, Talca, Chile

Smiljan Radio, 1995

Sky House, Hummingen, Denmark

Flemming Skude, 1999

Penllyn Fach, Wales

Christopher Day, 1996

House in Hellschen, Germany

Klaus Sill, 1996

Summer Cabin, Fanas, Switzerland

Valentin Bearth and Andrea Deplazes, 1999

ithaca House, New York, USA

Simon Ungers, 2000

Villa Ella, Guinea, West Africa

Mikko HeJkkinen and Markku Komonen, 1995

Chapter 02

Urban and Suburban Bases

Small House, Tokyo, Japan

Kazuyo Sejima, 2000

Villa Tolu, Kyoto, Japan

Jun Tamaki, 1997

Studio House in Winchester, England

Richard Rose-Casemore, 2000

House in a Suitcase, Barcelona, Spain

Eva Prats and Ricarclo Flores, 2001

Maison Latapie, Roriac, France

Lacaton and Vassal, 1995

Kern House, Lochau, Austria

Carlo Baumschlager and DJetmar Eberle, 1997

House on Twin Peaks, San Francisco, USA

Ace Architects, 1997

Mews House, London, England

Seth Stein, 1997

Morton Loft, New York, USA

LOT/EK Architects, 1999

Schetter Apartment, Vienna, Austria

Eichinger, Oder, Knechtl, 1998

Colonial Cottage Conversion,

Sydney, Australia

Burley/Katon, Halliday, 1999

Chapter 03

Small Clusters and Multiples

Houses at La Clota, Vail d"Hebren, Spain

Enric Miralles and Benedetla Tagliabue, 1999

Hyperdense Housing at

Borneo/Sporenburg, Amsterdam, Holland

Two houses by Christian Rapp, 2000

Aluminium House Prototype, Japan

Toyo Ito, 2000

Urban Village Housing, Edinburgh, Scotland

Richard Murphy Architects, 2000

Musholm Bay Vacation Cenlte,

Korsor, Denmark

Arkos Arkitekter, 1997/2001

Fred, Su-Si and Urban Addition

Portable Housing, Austria

Oskar Kaufmann and Johannes Norlander,

1996 and 1999

Tampa Skull and The Good, the Bad and the

Ugly Prototypes, USA/The Netherlands

Atelier van Lieshout, 1998

Hut Earthship, Taos, USA

Michael Reynolds, 2000

Holiday Houses in Jupilles, France

Edouard Franncois and Duncan Lewis, 1996

Minibox, Innsbruck, Ausltia

Holz Box Tirol, 2001

Apartments and Houses in Paris

Herzog and de Meuron, 2000