Tiny House Design

This is just a fun design exploration I’ve been daydreaming about. It’s a tiny ceramics studio that measure 6′ by 6′ and is configured for a studio potter. You see before the internet took-off and web design took my professional focus, I was a studio potter. While I studied architecture in college I ended up graduating with a BFA in ceramics.

Back in the mid-90s the internet was just beginning to become interesting. Google hadn’t been founded yet and few people had heard of eBay. So to sell my pots I had to take them on the road on weekends. I lived in a 450 square foot cabin in Mendocino County, California and built myself a little 160 square foot studio that was really more like a drafty shed. My electric kiln was on the porch of the house and shared a plug with my clothes dryer.

I’m not sure why but I’ve been really longing to make pots again, but I figure 36 square feet would be just enough space. So the other night I started this drawing and added a little gas kiln and mobile tiny house showroom to round out the day-dream.

I often wonder what I might be doing now if Etsy and eBay had been booming back then. I have no regrets on the path I chose, but I can’t help noodling over what it would be like to be a potter again, even if it was just part-time. I guess that’s the nice thing about paths and life, we can follow our noses where they take us if we give ourselves the permission to dream.

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This is the work of a Michael Jantzen, the architect behind the M-Vironments. The Homestead House is a design concept that leverages common agricultural building components to create a simple habitable space. This particular example is not tiny by any means but the concept could easily be downsized. I also have a strong appreciation for small building clusters so when I saw one of my regular readers, Craig, post this on Google Buzz I knew I had to share it with you. Thanks Craig!

This design approach allows for the addition, modification, and removal of the small independent spaces making it ideal for a growing family and changing needs. The only main disadvantage of a cluster of buildings is that if heated and cooled by fossil fuels the cost could become greater than a single space. But by leveraging natural heating and cooling systems this disadvantage can be quickly overcome.

The main advantage of building with a common prefab material like corrugated steel is that it’s relatively inexpensive and easy to put together. This particular material choice would also last quite a long time. The main challenge would be insulating the house. Michael suggests building another lighter gauge metal structure inside the outer shell and insulating the space between.

Visit his website to take a closer look at Michael Jantzen’s Homestead House.

This is a novel idea, a small shelter that folds flat for shipping. It’s the creation of Adrian Lippmann, the founder interior design firm form-al. The interior of the basic shelter measures only 8 square meters (86 square feet) but can be expanded to 13 to 18 square meters (140-194 square feet). The walls are made from a lightweight composite material. The intended use is a disaster relief shelter.

What I like about this idea is that it stretches the imagination and shows that normal construction methods may not be needed for similar small structures. After all a sheet of plywood (or similar material) is pretty darn strong, so when you have a tiny structure maybe you don’t need so many framing members (2x4s). It sure seems like there are some opportunities for more exploration based on this theme.

Read more about the Fold-Flat Shelter at Design Boom

I also want to thank one of my long-time readers, Dav, for sending this my way. Thanks again Dav!