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Small Buildings With a Big Impact: ’Small Architecture Now!’
United Kingdom Architecture News - Apr 05, 2014 - 13:59 23523 views
Diminutive Design in 'Small Architecture Now!'
Philip Jodidio's new book includes 64 structures that show how building small can make a big architectural impact. Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects/TASCHEN
Good ideas often come in small packages. That was the inspiration for writer Philip Jodidio's new book "Small Architecture Now!" (Taschen, $59.99). It includes 64 structures, a third of them residential, that show how diminutive design can make a big architectural statement. As reduced budgets have led to more interest in smaller buildings, architects have found other benefits too—such as greater creativity. With bigger buildings, some clients "shy away from doing things that are unusual and inventive," says Mr. Jodidio. And as architect Tom Kundig told the author about his single-room Gulf Islands Cabin on a small island near Canada's Vancouver Island: "It's so small you have to go outside. That's the point!"
José Cadilhe | House 77 | Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal
Crosson Clarke Carnachan | Hut on Sleds | Whangapoua, New Zealand
Terunobu Fujimori | Beetle's House | Victoria & Albert Museum, London, U.K.
Jorge Gracia | Endémico Resguardo Silvestre | Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Mexico
Haugen/Zohar | Fireplace for Children | Trondheim, Norway
Kota Mizuishi | Riverside House Suginami | Tokyo, Japan
Small Architecture Now!
Over the years, talented architects have occasionally indulged themselves with the challenge of designing small but perfectly formed buildings. Today, with reduced budgets, many architects have turned in a more focused way to creating works that may be in diminutive in their dimensions, but which are definitely big when it comes to trendsetting ideas. Whether in Japanese cities, where large sites are hard to come by, or at the frontier between art and architecture, small buildings present many advantages, and push their designers to do more with less. A dollhouse for Calvin Klein in New York, a playhouse for children in Trondheim, pop-up stores for fashion stars, vacation cabins, or housing for victims of natural disasters are all part of the new rush to develop the great small architecture of the moment. The 2013 Pritzker Prize winner Toyo Ito is here, but so are emergent architects from Portugal, Chile, England, and New Zealand. Alvaro Siza and Kazuyo Sejima (SANAA) display their eye for tiny detail alongside artists Doug Aitken and Olafur Eliasson. From world-famous names to the freshest new talent, come discover architectural invention on a whole new, small scale.
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Taschen (June 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 3836546698
ISBN-13: 978-3836546690
Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.7 x 1.4 inches
Philip Jodidio (born 1954) studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His books include TASCHEN’s Architecture Now! series, and monographs on Tadao Ando, Norman Foster, Richard Meier, Jean Nouvel, and Zaha Hadid. He is internationally renowned as one of the most popular writers on the subject of architecture.
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