Tiny Houses

Gallery: Micro-houses, dumpster dwellings and the art of extreme downsizing

View 55 ImagesThe Wheelie Shack is a micro-house measuring just 12 ft (3.6 m)-long
The Wheelie Shack is a micro-house measuring just 12 ft (3.6 m)-long
Wheelie Shack
View gallery - 55 images

A lot of the tiny houses we've covered lately have been getting bigger and bigger, with some approaching the dimensions of small apartments. The homes we're highlighting today buck this trend and are so small that only the most enthusiastic proponents of small living would ever choose to live in them.

The Terraform Three, by Richard Ward, is a micro-house measuring 6 x 10 ft (1.8 x 3 m). It runs off-the-grid with a solar power array and features a composting toilet, bed, and some storage space inside. A small rooftop deck area can be reached through the skylight, while the kitchen and shower are accessed from outside.

Terraform Three has some storage space inside
Richard Ward
Terraform Three has some storage space inside

The aVoid home, by Leonardo Di Chiara, has a total floorspace of only 9 sq m (96 sq ft) but is surprisingly fully-featured thanks to all its furniture being hidden in the walls. This includes a Murphy-style single bed, kitchenette, desk, table, seating, and storage space.

aVoid's furniture is hidden in its walls
Giacomo Terracciano

The Dumpster Project, by Dr. Jeff Wilson, involved cleaning a 33 sq ft (3 sq m) dumpster – very thoroughly, we hope – and modifying it to serve as a shelter by adding insulation, a bed, toilet, solar panels, and even an air-conditioning unit.

The Dumpster Project definitely isn't for everyone but Wilson seems happy enough living in it
Sarah Natsumi Moore

Visit the gallery to see more of these micro-houses, and others, including a tiny house designed by a starchitect, a man who lives in a box in his friend's living room to avoid high rent, and an egg-shaped micro-house that can be delivered by helicopter.

View gallery - 55 images
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5 comments
guzmanchinky
I have a Sportsmobile 4x4 pop top campervan. It has everything I could ever need, and i can park it on any remote mountaintop and spend as long as I like.
Expanded Viewpoint
So what's up with "New Atlas" going so agog and goo goo eyed over all of these tiny houses, some of which look more like an outhouse than a real house?? Is this supposed to be some kind of a social engineering gimmick or reaction test or what? Is all of this coverage of these minuscule abodes an experiment in conditioning us, to see how well and fast we will accept living in tiny amounts of space where they rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em?? To what ending? We've already seen a ton of coverage of these electric powered (in actuality, they are mostly coal powered!) cars, trucks, motorcycles and even airplanes that are promoted as being "green" when they are anything but that!! How much of an impact on the environment is made by all of the processes needed to make the batteries, and then recycle them when they wear out and need to be replaced? It's like us getting "free" health care that no one ever has to pay for, except through an increase in already confiscatory high levels of taxation and bureaucracies!!
Randy
Josh!
@Expanded Viewpoint : You managed to turn an article about Tiny Homes into a rant about electric vehicles (filled with typical EV mis-information) and then moved it to arguing against universal healthcare. I'm a little surprised you didn't bring up a political remark or two.
S Michael
Right on the mark Randy..
bhtooefr
@Joshua Tulberg: Expanded Viewpoint basically already did - they're accusing New Atlas of being part of a UN conspiracy to enslave the populace and trap them in studio apartments in cities. (Look up Agenda 21 conspiracy hypotheses (they're not theories, to be theories, the hypotheses actually have to be tested) for a laugh. The giveaway that it was one of *those* was the "rack 'em, pack 'em, and stack 'em" language that Agenda 21 conspiracy hypothesists use against urbanism.)