dan price: my tiny house aug 21, 2012 dan price: my tiny house ‘my tiny house’ by dan price image © dan price with a refreshing contrast to the seemingly budget-less, material extensive projects published around the internet, dan price‘s ‘tiny house’ offers a more sobering sustainability in construction and consciousness. the concept revisits the basic principles of a site, finding that perfect natural balance between sun, shading, ventilation, and a water source. danny hudson I designboom Tree House / Robert Potokar and Janez Brežnik The Tree House, designed by Robert Potokar of Robert Potokar Architecture Office and co-designer Janez Brežnik, is a wooden play structure that is elevated without requiring nearby trees to support its weight. The concept, originally designed in February 2008 as since been realized three times. More on this project after the break. The freestanding, self-supporting house-by-a-tree is a playhouse designed with contemporary design principles, deviating from precedents that model real houses or garden sheds. Instead, the design was guided by the goal of creating interesting and different spatial experiences for children that inspire new forms of polay. The house is made of spruce spruce plywood, protected on the exterior by a colourless nano-varnish. The furnishings are minimal and simply constructed from dowel pins that allowed children to participate in the making of their playhouse. © Andraž Kavčič, Robert Potokar, Robert Marčun plan and sections
renzo piano's micro-home 'diogene' installed on vitra campus jun 14, 2013 renzo piano's micro-home 'diogene' installed on vitra campus renzo piano’s ‘diogene’ installed on vitra campusimage © designboom ‘…the idea of a small house always came back, because it’s kind of a primitive idea. it’s the idea of basic shelter– the minimum living shelter you need as a human being–then you can go and make many places for collective activity. civic places, places for people to enjoy music, to enjoy university, to enjoy education, a civic center. you can do many, many things; but it sticks, this idea somewhere, this one different image– it’s called silence.’ renzo piano speaks about the micro-home as a career-long endeavor that was informed by boat making and decades of architectural experience video © designboom the home was prefabricated in italy and lifted onto a gentle hilltop site image © designboom an interior skin of wood is met with aluminum cladding in elevation the 20 square meter home sports choice glazing and a solar panel system view of the beam removal
Treehouse / RPA Architects: RPA Location: Nichols Canyon, Los Angeles, CA, USA Project Area: 16 sqm Project Year: 2009 Photographs: Eric Staudenmaier Located on a high eastern-facing ridge with views downtown Los Angeles in the distance, the Banyan Treehouse is a diminutive art studio and sanctuary. Perched atop steel pylons that abstractly emulate natural branches, the project is not literally a tree house but rather a modern interpretation of one. Every surface of the tree house is appointed with wood, creating an unparalleled level of warmth. Serving both as a studio and as guest accommodation, the tree house is completely self-sufficient with a water closet, fireplace, refrigerator, daybed, and television.
Tiny House with your own Rooftop Terraces I thought you’d like this tiny house that’s in Yport on top of a cliff in Normandy, France. My favorite part about it is not only the location but the rooftop terraces that are accessible on the second floor from the bedroom. Directly underneath the rooftop terraces are some covered patios. These are available as wings on opposite sides of the home. It was created by architect Franklin Azzi and can actually be finished in a variety of ways which I’ll show you below. I encourage you to tour the rest of this tiny home below: I thought you’d like this home too. Materials & Construction It’s built mainly of wood with some masonry. All of the materials that were used to build this house were locally sourced from within 62 miles of the area. Heating & Cooling The ventilation and cooling in the Shelter House are passive and its heated during the winter by a wood-burning stove and under floor heating. Living Room It’s great how the home is so open. Kitchen Bathroom Other Variations of the Shelter House
Treehouse / Baumraum Check out this cool treehouse nestled into Maple trees near the Hudson River in New York designed by German-based Baumraum. Far from a child’s treehouse, this residence provides simple interiors with a touch of elegance. Constructed for a family with two children, the treehouse serves as an outlet for relaxation and is connected to their main residence via a slender wooden catwalk. More images and more about the treehouse after the break. While the residence looks to be suspended in midair, it is actually perched atop a wall of rocks and then extends off the cliff. The oak tree carries the weight of the terrace with heavy-duty straps and steel ropes. In the evening, the lighted room illuminates the tree tops. As seen on Tiny House Design.
Wooden Egg Is A Floating Apartment Artist Stephen Turner teamed up with PAD studio and SPUD to create this egg-shaped abode. He plans to use the Exbury Egg, which was made with boatbuilding techniques, as his living and working space for the next year. Inside there is a stove, a shower, a desk and a hammock. And solar power too. Future in Ruins: Small Open-Plan, Concrete & Wood Cabin Death, decay, destruction? Wait, what? No, there are no plans to demolish this place now or in the near future – but years, decades or centuries from now if the retreat becomes abandoned it will decay in a visually-dynamic way, wood pealing away from a poured-concrete platform and central cast-in-place chimney. While it is not the first worry of any architect (let alone a client), considering the way a building will weather and age both while it is used and if (when) it is eventually deserted shows forethought and imagination above and beyond the basic call of designer duty. Fortunately, Olson-Kundig Architects have a knack for thinking beyond the narrow logistical confines of a given house-as-project. First, the footing and certain core structural walls – most notably those wrapping the hearth in the middle – were poured on site and show the steel rebar holes that mark the means of their construction.
A Micro House To Love The ZeroHouse “zeroHouse” I gotta say, the name doesn’t thrill me. In this age of crappy no-calorie sodas that taste like metal or underfed actresses with no curves who can fit into a size smaller than 1, the word “zero” connotates that something vital is missing or that the product is somehow subpar. And who wants “less than”? I took one look at zeroHouse and thought “Cool design – but what’s it lacking?” That’s where reading really comes in handy. Turns out, the only things missing from zeroHouse are things you’re happy to be without: utility bills, excessive maintenance and the headaches usually associated with owning your own place. zeroHouse is touted as 100% automatic – a home that generates its own electrical power from solar panels and then stores it in a battery backup. Water pumps? Cooler still, everything is connected to sensors and controlled by a centralized laptop known as the “house brain”. Self-reliant and comfortable. But apparently you’re not supposed to live in it.