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Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet

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Re: Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet

#54

Post by dredmorbius »

SpacemanSpiff wrote: post #22

My wife and I live in a ~720 sq. foot loft we built inside of an airplane hangar. The story is here: http://www.makingthishome.com/hangar-loft-remodel/ We really love living in smaller spaces.

So ... I saw Katie's "Tire House" post. I've seen and read some of Mike Reynolds' work, but hadn't seen anyone specifically critical of the Earthship design. Is there a specific post which gets into the downsides of the mode of construction or do I have to read her whole blog to find out?

http://www.makingthishome.com/2009/05/27/earthship-tour-aka-...

Re: Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet

#55

Post by rsync »

clarkm wrote: post #50
nostromo wrote: post #16

I think technology is the enabling factor behind the tiny house movement. Books, CDs, movies, photos, files, paperwork, videogames: all compressed down to the size of a hard drive. So many random gadgets have been replaced by a smart phone, like camera equipment, phones, flashlights, calendars, etc. Now people are ditching TVs as well and just using iPads and laptops to watch video. There are other more subtle things…

I just finished watching BBS: The Documentary and noticed the same thing. It seemed like everyone they interviewed had an entire room full of old computer equipment. They had boxes of software, walls of hardware manuals, stacks of monitors, cabinets of capacitors and resistors, rows of soldering irons, and at least one fully-equipped workbench. Up until the past decade or so if you wanted to be a serious computer ent…

BBS: The Documentary is so, so wonderful.

Re: Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet

#56

Post by odoren »

officemonkey wrote: post #18

My sister, who lives in midtown Manhattan, lives in an apartment smaller than this place. If you're downsizing from a bigger place, you basically get rid of everything. I have 30+ wine glasses in my condo in Chicago. My sister has two. The other thing that happens in a tiny space: you end up buying quality. You will wait to find "just the right desk lamp" and then pay a premium for it.

don't the minimum room size guidelines for apartments in the city prohibit such small living quarters?

Re: Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet

#59

Post by icelancer »

z92 wrote: post #43

The difference is 'Family'. Inevitably you will need to have a partner and say, four children, for the human race to survive. At that point you have to go the traditional route.

Most people who choose to live this way in highly-efficient areas are +3 standard deviations away from the mean when it comes to wealth, which is also highly correlated with lack of progeny. So I wouldn't be worried about that.

Re: Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet

#60

Post by bhixon »

odoren wrote: post #56
officemonkey wrote: post #18

My sister, who lives in midtown Manhattan, lives in an apartment smaller than this place. If you're downsizing from a bigger place, you basically get rid of everything. I have 30+ wine glasses in my condo in Chicago. My sister has two. The other thing that happens in a tiny space: you end up buying quality. You will wait to find "just the right desk lamp" and then pay a premium for it.

don't the minimum room size guidelines for apartments in the city prohibit such small living quarters?

Nope, no minimum room size for single-room occupancy. Minimum square footage in NYC for 2 people is around 140 square feet I believe. I lived in a 6'x10' space on east 82nd street for years, and paid a fourth what my neighbors paid in rent. Of course that was still more than I pay now for my 2BR in Seattle...
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