Collection by Aileen Kwun
Small City Homes, All Under 1,300 Square Feet
A new book by Mimi Zeiger, Tiny Houses in the City, tracks more then 30 homes exemplifying compact living in dense, urban areas across the world—here are some of our favorites.
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.