Architect's Dream House: Less Than 200 Square Feet • Hacker News Board

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

#111

Post by dsr_ » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:20 PM UTC

infinotize wrote: post #98

Is there anyone on HN who doesn't aspire to the minimalist, tiny (usually urban) home, outsourced lifestyle (by that I mean, laundry service, car rental, eat out vs cooking, etc)? I'm genuinely curious.

Hi. The only part of that grouping I'm interested in is "urban". When you get enough people close together, you can do things that are otherwise unprofitable.

I live in a fairly large house on a road with real bus service that connects me to Cambridge, the Boston MBTA, and a commuter rail in and out. That means that we can get along with one car instead of two. We do our own laundry, cook most meals from scratch, and keep multiple cats. We have a standing arrangement with a housekeeper to help clean our house a few times a month.

My chief desire is to be comfortable, not to live a life of ascetic minimalism, aesthetic cleanliness, or meditative contemplation. There are books in every room in the house. There is always a computing device with internet access within a few steps. We have space for Lego, toys, hobbies and tools.

I understand how someone who lives alone might want to be in a tiny space -- because they don't really live there, they live outside the house anyway. But that's not what I want, and it's not what I have.

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

#112

Post by nilved » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:25 PM UTC

drivingmissm wrote: post #79

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many, many, many people producing children at well above replacement levels, and we are already well above the carrying capacity of our environment. I have no personal guilt at choosing not to have children.

Actually most advanced societies are not producing enough children to keep the population stable.

Which is a very good thing.

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

#113

Post by walshemj » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:30 PM UTC

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 So many random gadgets have been replaced by a smart phone, like camera equipment, phones, flashlights, calendars, etc.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…

That is a sub par experience you can't compare a tiny i pad to watching a film on a say 55/60 inch screen with a decent sound set up.

And a really efficient computer set up demands twin or triple monitors.

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

#114

Post by handzhiev » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:31 PM UTC

infinotize wrote: post #98

Is there anyone on HN who doesn't aspire to the minimalist, tiny (usually urban) home, outsourced lifestyle (by that I mean, laundry service, car rental, eat out vs cooking, etc)? I'm genuinely curious.

Yes. I like being self-sufficient, having a garden, doing cooking, woodworking, and a lot of stuff on my own.

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

#115

Post by walshemj » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:33 PM UTC

SteveGerencser wrote: post #87

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 think technology is the enabling factor behind the tiny house movement. I'm not sure why these stories keep coming up as original. I received my architecture degree in the early 90s and we had an entire studio course that included designing micro structures for dense urban populations. Yet, at least once a year I see a story about this novel new concept. It's just a little house. If you put them all together in a…

These "machines for living" tend to be very popular with single/childless architecture students - real people with real families much less so.

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

#116

Post by Goronmon » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:33 PM UTC

nilved wrote: post #112

drivingmissm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually most advanced societies are not producing enough children to keep the population stable.

Which is a very good thing.

Is it? Advanced society's dying off isn't something people usual celebrate.

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

#117

Post by Goronmon » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:36 PM UTC

gaadd33 wrote: post #36

nilkn wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people live without a home at all. That doesn't mean it's a healthy way to raise kids.

Are you comparing living without a home to living in a small apartment in a major city? Given people seemed to raise kids and survive in 983 sq ft during the 1950s (average house size) I don't see why people think we need massive houses to raise children in today.

Are you comparing living without a home to living in a small apartment in a major city?

No he's saying that an environment being "survivable" isn't an argument for what should be an acceptable environment for everyone.

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

#118

Post by nilved » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:42 PM UTC

Goronmon wrote: post #116

nilved wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a very good thing.

Is it? Advanced society's dying off isn't something people usual celebrate.

Nobody said dying off, but it's a well-understood fact that humanity is growing at an unsustainable rate.

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

#119

Post by walshemj » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:42 PM UTC

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #90

viame wrote: post #88

You can compress these things and a lot of people have, but to live like this is another story. I myself build homes, apartments, I also design kitchens, did flips, and I can tell you that I have not met one person that could live in a tiny box like that. Yes, it is a dream of everyone, to be very simple and live like this, but this is not going to happen. She moved from 2,500sqft to 200sqft, why? You don't wake up o…

Agreed. Stunts like this are done by design students; what evidence that anyone lives in it, for any significant amount of time? I've had a strange notion recently, that these things are actually not helpful in the larger scheme of things. Some creative person goes an lives in a shoebox; no room to design or socialize or have a hobby or even bring work home. Now we've taken a productive person out of society and turn…

Octu in a capsule hotel sounds like hell on earth

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

#120

Post by SteveGerencser » Sat, Dec 28, 2013, 5:52 PM UTC

aaaahhhhh wrote: post #89

SteveGerencser wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think technology is the enabling factor behind the tiny house movement. I'm not sure why these stories keep coming up as original. I received my architecture degree in the early 90s and we had an entire studio course that included designing micro structures for dense urban populations. Yet, at least once a year I see a story about this novel new concept. It's just a little house. If you put them all together in a…

Nowhere in the interview does the architect say that this is an original idea. She explicitly mentions that it is a growing trend, in fact. And also the words "micro" and "mini" don't appear at all in the article. This is cool because she did a stunningly beautiful job on an 11,000$ budget. Her aesthetic sensibilities are, from the looks of this project, almost perfectly aligned with mine... but I have none of the ta…

The point I'm trying to make is that this has been a growing trend for more than 30 or 40 years. And every year, sometimes several times a year, we see an article that talks about how great this style of living and building is. But it never goes any further than that.

And the fact that the article doesn't specifically call it a micro, mini or tiny home, does not negate the fact that there is an entire industry that caters to this market.

It's cool that she built it herself, but that's about it.