Small City Homes, All Under 1,300 Square Feet

In the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, architect Barbara Bestor designed Blackbirds, a multi-family housing development with 18 detached and semi-detached homes ranging from 1,400 to 1,900 square feet each. Bestor says she approached the project with a strategy towards "stealth density," attuned to the scale and context of the neighborhood. "I have a romantic idea about individuals densifying L.A. as opposed to large developers doing twnety blocks at a time," she says. Spacious interiors open up to expansive views of the hills beyond.

Measuring just seven-and-a-half feet wide, this London home designed by architecture collaborative Alma-nac, is aptly named the Slim House. Completed in 2012, the project is a renovation and expansion of an early, 19th-century example of urban infill. The architects kept the facade intact, choosing to instead dramatically modernize it rear-facing side.

This shared micro-living space designed by Miel Arquitectos and Studio P10 in Barcelona, Spain, houses two units in a single 700-square-foot structure. Each apartment comprises separate sleeping and bathing quarters, with a shared central kitchen and dining area.

Skewed geometries and a dramatically pitched roof characterize the House in Rokko, designed by Fujiwara-Muro Architects in Kobe, Japan. Through sharp angles, the design both carves out a driveway and brings sunlight into the long and narrow site measuring just 13 by 50 feet.

These are just a few of the gems from Tiny Houses in the City by Mimi Zeiger, now available from Rizzoli Books.