The house embodies for us the archetype of dwelling small, not temporarily, but permanently.
This is a fundamental distinction. Much of small-scale living today, such as in caravans or compact housing, prescribes every act and position within its confines. Efficiency dominates, leaving little room for personal agency or transformation. The house emerges from our ongoing exploration of what people truly need to live small; not merely to stay, but to dwell; not to adapt to predetermined constraints, but to shape space as one’s own.
Time and Space
‘The length of time depends upon our ideas.
The size of space hangs upon our sentiments.
For one whose mind is free from care,
A single day outlasts a millennium.
For one whose heart is large,
A tiny room expands into the space between heaven and earth.’
Saikontan (Vegetable Roots Discourse), Yuhodo, Tokyo, 1926
‘MA’ is a Japanese word that speaks of the interval, the space between things, between structural elements, between moments. It denotes not only form but also emptiness and the inseparable relation between the two. Our research and experience suggest that a sense of home, especially in a small space, relies upon four essential conditions. Together, these offer the possibility of not simply living small but feeling at home within it.
At the heart of the house lies a central, generous room measuring three by four meters. In small-scale living, this may seem spacious, but it is crucial. This is a space left deliberately undetermined, free from fixed functions or restrictions, where daily life unfolds on one’s terms. It grants inhabitants the sense of control so essential to dwelling: the ability to shape one’s rituals and rhythms.
Transformation is a second essential quality, not through folding or retractable furniture, but through spatial sequences that evolve naturally over the day, the week, and the year. The power of architecture lies in the succession of spatial experiences. Even in the smallest dwelling, this principle remains vital. In the space, daily routines activate spatial transformations: opening the bathroom door expands the space with a textile enclosure, or sliding a kitchen element shifts the open area into two distinct zones. Such changes generate a lived choreography of spaces-in-time.
In many small dwellings, activities are assigned to predefined locations: this is where one sits, stores, or sleeps. The house resists such a prescription. Instead, it invites residents to exercise authorship over their spatial order. The ability to organise, to improvise, rearrange, and claim is essential to making a place truly one’s own. Here, for instance, the act of cooking transforms the open room into a dual space; one side domestic, the other a place of work or reflection.
Finally, small-scale living asks for subtle thresholds; spaces that mediate between interior life and the outside world without abrupt exposure. In the house, a window seat projects like a bay window, offering a semi-withdrawn place to sit between the intimacy of home and the openness of the outdoors. Small apertures allow contact with the surroundings without surrendering privacy.
The house is composed of four identical volumes, each measuring 1.5 by 2.3 meters and standing three meters tall. These volumes house the essential functions: kitchen, bathroom, bed-sofa, and toilet. Arranged like the blades of a windmill around the central open space, they allow light and views in all directions. Large floor-to-ceiling windows open the interior to its site, while a roof light positioned centrally draws in northern daylight and provides access to storage in the ceiling void.
By day, the 12 m² central space remains largely open, adaptable to changing light, activity, or mood. Opening the kitchen volume creates a partition, a thickened door containing storage on both sides, subtly dividing the space into zones for cooking and working. When the bathroom door opens, it draws a lightweight fabric enclosure with it, expanding the bathroom from 1.4 m² to 3.3 m², while generating a new spatial sequence. Sleeping occurs on the ground floor. By day, the bed serves as a sitting area or window seat, extending the living space beyond the immediate interior. A curtain suspended from the lowered ceiling allows the sleeping area to be enclosed at night, offering intimacy and enclosure within the larger volume.
Above all, the house is a response to the question: What does it take to dwell well within a small space? Not a house where everything is predetermined, but a house shaped by space and by emptiness. A place that invites participation, fosters personal agency, and embraces the rich possibilities of living small, with generosity, clarity, and grace.
