Worlds skinniest house, Keret house in Poland.

Worlds skinniest house, profile.

“Editing is the skill of this century” – We the tiny house people documentary

A few weeks ago I watched a documentary on how people live in Japan.  I found it fascinating how incredibly resourceful and clever the Japanese are with their use of space.  From parking their cars/motorbikes in their living rooms, to sleeping on their lounges and washing their hands in a sink that sits above their toilet cistern.   It seems multi purpose is the approach they take to living.  Some go off site to bathe, dine, do their laundry, entertain. The Japanese allow their local community into their lives, for example instead of entertaining friends at home in their tiny house for dinner they will arrange to meet their guests at a local restaurant and when they arrive at a restaurant they most likely will be dining at a table with complete strangers, this would be unheard of for us but quite common for the Japanese.  They work smart too, for example if they commute a long way to work they may choose to stay a few nights mid week in a capsule hotel, a tiny 2mt x 1.5mt x 1.5mt space that is just big enough to sleep in therefore any late night work meetings and early starts won’t effect their productivity as they can easily stay in one of these economical capsule hotels.  This documentary led me to watch the below You Tube clip that features tiny houses and their owners search for simplicity, minimalism and self-sufficiency that have popped up throughout the US and Europe, many of the owners had been inspired by the Japanese way of life.  I find it fascinating to see how limited space leads to clever creative design.  I hope you take the time to watch this clip, I found it to be well worth it.

In Australia, where the typical garage measures the size of 2 cars side by side or for some 1, the idea of building an entire house on a piece of property that size or smaller might seem absurd. But in Japan, where undeveloped urban land is scarce, some people are turning plots that once held parking spaces or garden sheds into home sites. This small-home movement is named:  kyosho jutaku.

Rather than try to push conventional residences into these tiny spaces, architects specializing in ultracompact homes are creating homes that are as visually striking as they are efficient with the edition of modular multi purposed custom built interior fit-outs that store whole kitchens, bedrooms and lounges within cupboards.

Capsule hotel

Example of a tiny house

East Village by JDPA

“Live small = small bills”   We the tiny house people documentary.

Further reading:

How to shrink your footprint

Extreme makeovers for small apartments

Related articles

• 13 Adorably Teeny Tiny Houses (gizmodo.com)
• Tiny Houses Make a Big Difference (shareable.net)