17 Tiny Buildings with Huge Ambition

In 1980 Philip Johnson built a one-room workspace and library on his property in New Canaan, Connecticut, where his Glass House is located. Once referred to as a “monk’s cell” by the architect, his solitary, now-classic studio features a working fireplace, skylight, and an expansive bookcase that houses 1,400 volumes on architecture. More than three decades later, contemporary architects continue to make the case for thinking big, but building small. In response to growing populations, shrinking budgets, and a constant need for more housing and retail space, architects are innovating through designs for permanent and temporary tiny structures—ranging from coffee shops to emergency housing. These miniscule constructions are the subject of Taschen’s new pocket-size architecture publication, Small Architecture .

José Cadilhe, House 77, in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal.

TYIN, Boathouse, in More og Romsdal, Norway.

Crosson Clarke Carnachan, Hut on Sleds, in Whangapoua, New Zealand.

Crosson Clarke Carnachan, Hut on Sleds, in Whangapoua, New Zealand.

Marte.Marte Architects, concrete Mountain Cabin, in Laterns, Vorarlberg, Austria.

Studio WG3, Hypercubus, in Austria.

David Salmela, Yingst Sauna, in Traverse City, Michigan.

REX, Madison Avenue (Doll)House, in New York City.

Adam Kalkin, Illy Push Button House, in Venice, Italy, and other locations.

Olson Kundig, Gulf Islands Cabin Gulf Islands, in British Columbia, Canada.

Toyo Ito, Home-for-Al l, in Rikuzentakata, Iwate, Japan.

Kota Mizuishi, Riverside House Suginami, in Tokyo, Japan.

OBRA Architects, Red+Housing: Architecture on the Edge of Survival, in Beijing, China.

Jorge Gracia, Endémico Resguardo Silvestre, in Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Mexico.

Terunobu Fujimori, Beetle's House, in Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, Reading Between the Lines, in Borgloon, Belgium.

Rintala Eggertsson, Ark Booktower, in Victoria & Albert Museum, London.