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Product Description
Review
"Azby Brown has done it again. I loved his first book Small Spaces: this one goes further yet in helping to demystify the art of the small house. The book is a must for anyone wanting to understand how to do more with less when it comes to home design. These tiny and exquisitely designed contemporary Japanese homes have so many lessons to teach readers around the world about how to make their homes both functional and beautiful, whatever the size. I, for one, could not put the book down, and I suspect it will have the same effect on a great many readers." - Sarah Susanka, architect & author of The Not So Big House series, and Home By Design"
Product Description
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 ultra-modern to Japanese rustic, are explored in depth. Particular emphasis is given to what the author calls '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 book 'Small Spaces', Azby Brown has given home owners, designers and architects a fascinating new collection of thought-provoking ideas.
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From the exterior, this house is a simple rectangular volume that fills the entire lot, with recesses to accommodate the ground floor entryway and a garden on the side. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
From the exterior, this house is a simple rectangular volume that fills the entire lot, with recesses to accommodate the ground floor entryway and a garden on the side. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a book of inspiring small designed houses. Dont expect a list of clever storage solutions or somthing like that, although if you look carefully you will see some.
Rather, its more a book of beautiful Japanese homes with wonderful photos - and layout sketches! Think of it as an archtectural book showing how a small home can be done.
A perfect coffee table book, I take great enjoyment every time a read my copy.
Rather, its more a book of beautiful Japanese homes with wonderful photos - and layout sketches! Think of it as an archtectural book showing how a small home can be done.
A perfect coffee table book, I take great enjoyment every time a read my copy.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The seemingly never-ending resourcefulness of the Japanese amazes me and this book shows just what can be done with limited space: if only I could start from scratch.
Whatever you are looking for, from fresh ideas to incorporate new storage solutions in your house (after gutting a room, perhaps) to research for when you win the lottery, this book is wonderfully inspirational. It contains examples of functional design in a wide range of styles - all meticulously planned. There are plenty of sketches and a good range of photographs. The text explains just enough about the designs to keep interest levels high, before moving on to the next house.
Every architect ought to have a copy, especially if they work for those housing developers who build poor-quality, poorly designed reproduction 16th Century vernacular buildings. This is what twenty-first century living ought to be like.
Whatever you are looking for, from fresh ideas to incorporate new storage solutions in your house (after gutting a room, perhaps) to research for when you win the lottery, this book is wonderfully inspirational. It contains examples of functional design in a wide range of styles - all meticulously planned. There are plenty of sketches and a good range of photographs. The text explains just enough about the designs to keep interest levels high, before moving on to the next house.
Every architect ought to have a copy, especially if they work for those housing developers who build poor-quality, poorly designed reproduction 16th Century vernacular buildings. This is what twenty-first century living ought to be like.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The offer I submitted for my first flat was accepted a few days ago, and I bought this to celebrate and help plan how my Very Small Home is going to look. The 18 houses are deftly photographed and provide accommodation for a wide variety of households, from young couples to larger families. Some of the designs are truly astonishing; I couldn't help feel a powerful envy not only for the people who live in these meticulously crafted homes, but also for the talented architects who created them.
It's apt that the focus here is on Japanese homes, for the challenge of working with limited space yields dazzling instances of creativity, much like haiku poetry. Raised floors to enable underfoot storage, glassed off interior gardens, house-tall curtains that can provide privacy or blow in the breeze to create striking art, and so on. Each dwelling is a gem that I know I'll flip back to marvel at in the future.
While there are many little touches in terms of furnishing and storage that I can take away as inspiration, much of the appeal of these houses is in their core architecture - whether it's their basic features, or the way they've been integrated with their environment, like one house with a slanted wall to avoid impinging on the roots of a treasured tree. Because of this, I feel that architects and designers will get more benefit and inspiration than a homeowner hoping to improve their interior design. I sincerely hope this book is well read by the next generation of architects here in the UK and we can finally get some attractive modern buildings on the go.
It's apt that the focus here is on Japanese homes, for the challenge of working with limited space yields dazzling instances of creativity, much like haiku poetry. Raised floors to enable underfoot storage, glassed off interior gardens, house-tall curtains that can provide privacy or blow in the breeze to create striking art, and so on. Each dwelling is a gem that I know I'll flip back to marvel at in the future.
While there are many little touches in terms of furnishing and storage that I can take away as inspiration, much of the appeal of these houses is in their core architecture - whether it's their basic features, or the way they've been integrated with their environment, like one house with a slanted wall to avoid impinging on the roots of a treasured tree. Because of this, I feel that architects and designers will get more benefit and inspiration than a homeowner hoping to improve their interior design. I sincerely hope this book is well read by the next generation of architects here in the UK and we can finally get some attractive modern buildings on the go.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Small Japanese Houses
A very use full book. Great pictures, information very clear and the 3 diensional drawing were good. It would have helped to have standard floor plans on all dwellings.
Published 9 months ago by zen Dog
Well thought out book
This is another book i often find myself turning back to again and again when i'm thinking through ideas. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr Carl
inspiring
It is a very inspiring book, in terms of designing in a limited space.Very imaginative and with fantastic design details.
Published on 23 Aug 2005
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