Small Houses for the Next Century

The American home is getting squeezed from all sides. Tight zoning restrictions, lack of available land, and cost constraints are just some of the forces driving this inevitable trend to downsizing. The forward-looking architect, planner, developer, contractor, or housing consumer needs to know everything there is to know about the unique challenges of small house design in the 21st century ... beginning now!
This innovative book provides you with the comprehensive, practical, and thoroughly detailed guide you need to understand and master those challenges. Following in the success of The Small House, this strikingly illustrated sequel is packed with ideas - ideas that will appeal both to the house-buying public and to the professionals in architecture and real estate who serve it. In Small Houses for the Next Century you will find in-depth analysis of award-winning as well as never-before-published projects ... including project histories, client requirements, site selections, budgeting concerns, construction approaches, and technical innovations; statistical analysis of residential space allocation - living space, circulation, bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens; future trends in prefabrication, environmentally sensitive design, and the response to changing demographics; and sometimes surprising perspectives from architects and owners as to why projects succeed ... or fail - with a wealth of specific case examples.
Professionals in the field should know that all plans included in this book are drawn to the same scale. Beautiful illustrations abound, and are used to reinforce specific concepts and to provide a comprehensive analysis of the changing features of small house design. Author Duo Dickinson's formulaic and numeric technique recognizes the perceptual impact of designed space - space that is felt and experienced rather than calculated two-dimensionally. This idea of perceived space is enhanced by the concept of a house's fit - that quality that makes living in it effortless.
One-, two-, three-, and four or more bedroom single-family residences are explored in every imaginable context, including urban infill sites, rural developments, poorly sited lots, standard subdivisions, coastal sites, second homes, home offices, subsidized housing, luxury housing, owner-built housing, and design/build housing.