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Micro: Very Small Buildings contains a collection of exactly what the title purports – very small buildings. In this tribute to “micro-architecture”, author Ruth Slavid asserts that micro-architecture, or building on a very small scale, allows a movement toward perfection by reducing the number of surprises that may crop up in the building process and has the effect of blurring the lines between architecture and product design. Very often, these gem-like constructions (affectionately called “nonuments” and “pet architecture”) raise quite interesting questions about the way in which we relate to our environments and the various ideas that have formed our conception of our social selves in space.
 Savid hails the Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, as the father of these kinds of miniscule projects, not because the building is tiny itself, but because architect E. Fay Jones’ design contains many of the elements relevant to building projects on a small scale. The building is geometrically conceived, built up of small structural pieces that could each be carried individually into their setting in the woods. Hence, the construction of the building had a minimal impact on the surrounding natural environment; also, although the building is a single space, each symmetrical element of its design can be looked at as a little perfection by itself.

In essence, micro-architecture tends toward prefabrication and eco-friendly construction. Similar to the concept of ‘designing for the other 90%,’ these structures seem very often to serve those who do not fall into the financial category that allows for grand structures. Also, there is an underlying concern for the environment that informs the methods and design of the spaces, even if their intention is simply to put a smile on one’s face.

The book is divided into five sections:
‘The Public Realm’, which contains projects that include bus shelters and park benches, many focussed specifically on the needs of the homeless. For instance, Park Bench House, designed by Sean Godsell of Australia (who typically builds once-off houses for the very rich in Melbourne), seeks to fulfil a double function: in the day, it serves its normal use as a surface to be sat on in the green surroundings of parks. At night, it opens up on a hinge and is transformed as a sheltered sleeping space for those who would otherwise spend the night in even rougher conditions.

‘Community Spaces’ looks at a number of projects that are less open to the public, but still serve a communal function. Many of these buildings display a cleverness of design that allows for the most to be made out of our increasingly limited space. One such structure is the Billboard Building in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Klein Dytham Architecture to fit on a site that is hostile, at least, and impossible, to the cynic, to build on. Billboard House, which is now the shop of a jeweller, is 11m long, but only 2.5m at its widest and 60cm at its narrowest end. By an expert organisation of space and features, Klein Dytham has managed to turn this difficult challenge into a beautiful, double-storey building, one wall of which is made of glass, glazed with a bamboo pattern, with the opposite wall painted bright green, creating the impression of walking through a small forest for passers-by.

The third section of the book, ‘On the Move’, takes a look at designing structures that are easily transportable and, most often, eco-friendly. One particularly interesting project is the Miele Space Station, designed by 2012 Architecten in the Netherlands. 2012 Architecten fits into a strand of alternative Dutch thought, known as the Parasite movement (Parasite standing for Prototypes for Amphibious Ready-Made Advanced Small-Scale Individual Ecological Houses). Needless to say, this tiny structure, designed to be a kind of portable home, is made completely from recycled materials, mainly washing machines. The nature of its ring-like modular design allows for it to be easily collapsed and assembled into varying forms, the longest of which spans 20m. The mobile home, as well as being mad out of recycled materials, is also self-sufficient, using solar panels and wind-turbines to produce energy and other systems to collect water and dispose of waste. [Check out Superuse.org for more about this kind of architecture].

In the fourth section, ‘Compact Living’, Slavid selects a number of projects that, ‘while valuable in challenging our thinking about housing, they would certainly be unacceptable if imposed rather than chosen’ (132). Most of these projects defy our ideas of comfortable living quarters by squeezing their ideas into miniature proportions, in extreme versions of “less is more.” For instance, Microdwellings, the brainchild of N55 in Denmark, are envisaged as single working living spaces with floor spaces of 20m that can be stacked on top of one another to form modular communities. Or, slightly more spacious, but equally conceptually challenging, is Luigi Colani and Hanse Haus’s Rotorhaus, which has a single living area, the rest of the rooms – kitchen, bedroom, bathroom – rotate into place when needed and tuck away when not. Some of these buildings, however, are still acceptably large enough to live in, and serve particular needs, such as the Katrina Cottage, designed by Marianne Cusato as semi-permanent relief structures for families who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

‘Extra Space’, the fifth section of the book, looks at interesting ways of extending already-existing buildings. These projects range from proposals for fold-out balconies to light-weight tree-houses that appeal to one’s sense of fantasy living. For instance, Tom Chudleigh’s Free-Spirit Spheres are assembled without damaging the environment and allow the inhabitants to climb a spiral staircase up a tree and unwind in a hanging globe at canopy-level. These projects, though not as challenging, conceptually, as those found in previous sections, still provide food for thought in terms of their architectural ingenuity.

With much to challenge our conception of living spaces and projects that defy our sense or architectural possibility, Micro: Very Small Buildings is a dense yet light-hearted collection of titbits that could leave you chewing for quite some time.

Keywords: Architecture, Book Reviews, Bookstore, contemporary-architects, Design, industrial-design