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Architecture

Gallery: Tiny homes in narrow spaces - a look at the skinny house revolution

By Rich Haridy
February 20, 2018
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The skinny house revolution leaves no urban space undeveloped
Keret House is the world’s narrowest living space, built in Poland by architect Jakub Szczesny. The house's interior width varies from 122 cm to 72 cm (48 - 28 in), with a length of 12 m (39 ft) and two floors
Dom Kereta, © Polish Modern Art Foundation
Keret House is the world’s narrowest living space, built in Poland by architect Jakub Szczesny. The house's interior width varies from 122 cm to 72 cm (48 - 28 in), with a length of 12 m (39 ft) and two floors
Dom Kereta, © Polish Modern Art Foundation
Keret House is the world’s narrowest living space, built in Poland by architect Jakub Szczesny. The house's interior width varies from 122 cm to 72 cm (48 - 28 in), with a length of 12 m (39 ft) and two floors
Dom Kereta, © Polish Modern Art Foundation
Keret House is the world’s narrowest living space, built in Poland by architect Jakub Szczesny. The house's interior width varies from 122 cm to 72 cm (48 - 28 in), with a length of 12 m (39 ft) and two floors
Dom Kereta, © Polish Modern Art Foundation
Keret House is the world’s narrowest living space, built in Poland by architect Jakub Szczesny. The house's interior width varies from 122 cm to 72 cm (48 - 28 in), with a length of 12 m (39 ft) and two floors
Dom Kereta, © Polish Modern Art Foundation
Slim House in London was built in an empty alleyway and measures just 91 in (2.3 m)-wide. The total floorspace is 1,058 sq ft (98 sq m) and is one of the city’s skinniest homes
Savills
Slim House in London was built in an empty alleyway and measures just 91 in (2.3 m)-wide. The total floorspace is 1,058 sq ft (98 sq m) and is one of the city’s skinniest homes
Savills
Slim House in London was built in an empty alleyway and measures just 91 in (2.3 m)-wide. The total floorspace is 1,058 sq ft (98 sq m) and is one of the city’s skinniest homes
Savills
In Ho Chi Minh City, designed by VTN Architects is Stacking Green, on a plot only 157 in (4 mt) wide. The front and back walls of the building are entirely covered by stacked planter boxes making the entire facade green, contrasting the granite wall interiors
Hiroyuki Oki / VTN Architects
In Ho Chi Minh City, designed by VTN Architects is Stacking Green, on a plot only 157 in (4 mt) wide. The front and back walls of the building are entirely covered by stacked planter boxes making the entire facade green, contrasting the granite wall interiors
Hiroyuki Oki / VTN Architects
In Ho Chi Minh City, designed by VTN Architects is Stacking Green, on a plot only 157 in (4 mt) wide. The front and back walls of the building are entirely covered by stacked planter boxes making the entire facade green, contrasting the granite wall interiors
Hiroyuki Oki / VTN Architects
In Ho Chi Minh City, designed by VTN Architects is Stacking Green, on a plot only 157 in (4 mt) wide. The front and back walls of the building are entirely covered by stacked planter boxes making the entire facade green, contrasting the granite wall interiors
Hiroyuki Oki / VTN Architects
This wooden house in Kobe, Japan, designed by Fujiwaramuro Architects is just 98 in (2.5 mt) wide. There are three floors, each the entire footprint of the property just 236 sq ft (22 sq mt)
Toshiyuki Yano / Fujiwaramuro Architects
This wooden house in Kobe, Japan, designed by Fujiwaramuro Architects is just 98 in (2.5 mt) wide. There are three floors, each the entire footprint of the property just 236 sq ft (22 sq mt)
Toshiyuki Yano / Fujiwaramuro Architects
This wooden house in Kobe, Japan, designed by Fujiwaramuro Architects is just 98 in (2.5 mt) wide. There are three floors, each the entire footprint of the property just 236 sq ft (22 sq mt)
Toshiyuki Yano / Fujiwaramuro Architects
Another innovative Japanese design slipping a house in an alleyway between two existing buildings. The livable width of the house is just 70 in (1.8 mt) with the four floor structure opening up at different points to filter natural light from top to bottom
Sobajima Toshihiro / YUUA Architects
Another innovative Japanese design slipping a house in an alleyway between two existing buildings. The livable width of the house is just 70 in (1.8 mt) with the four floor structure opening up at different points to filter natural light from top to bottom
Sobajima Toshihiro / YUUA Architects
Another innovative Japanese design slipping a house in an alleyway between two existing buildings. The livable width of the house is just 70 in (1.8 mt) with the four floor structure opening up at different points to filter natural light from top to bottom
Sobajima Toshihiro / YUUA Architects
This stunningly bizarre construction was wedged onto the corner of two narrow intersecting streets. The land, only 473 sq ft (44 sq mt), demanded an intricate polyhedron shape to fulfill all the building codes as well as delivering a covered parking space
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
This stunningly bizarre construction was wedged onto the corner of two narrow intersecting streets. The land, only 473 sq ft (44 sq mt), demanded an intricate polyhedron shape to fulfill all the building codes as well as delivering a covered parking space
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
This stunningly bizarre construction was wedged onto the corner of two narrow intersecting streets. The land, only 473 sq ft (44 sq mt), demanded an intricate polyhedron shape to fulfill all the building codes as well as delivering a covered parking space
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
This stunningly bizarre construction was wedged onto the corner of two narrow intersecting streets. The land, only 473 sq ft (44 sq mt), demanded an intricate polyhedron shape to fulfill all the building codes as well as delivering a covered parking space
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
This stunningly bizarre construction was wedged onto the corner of two narrow intersecting streets. The land, only 473 sq ft (44 sq mt), demanded an intricate polyhedron shape to fulfill all the building codes as well as delivering a covered parking space
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
Another innovative space from Atelier Tekuto, this incredibly narrow bit of property alongside a street resulted in a structure resembling an elongated trapezoid. The width at the front of the property is 128 in (3.26 mt), narrowing down by the tail to just 31 in (.79 mt)
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
Another innovative space from Atelier Tekuto, this incredibly narrow bit of property alongside a street resulted in a structure resembling an elongated trapezoid. The width at the front of the property is 128 in (3.26 mt), narrowing down by the tail to just 31 in (.79 mt)
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
Another innovative space from Atelier Tekuto, this incredibly narrow bit of property alongside a street resulted in a structure resembling an elongated trapezoid. The width at the front of the property is 128 in (3.26 mt), narrowing down by the tail to just 31 in (.79 mt)
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
Another innovative space from Atelier Tekuto, this incredibly narrow bit of property alongside a street resulted in a structure resembling an elongated trapezoid. The width at the front of the property is 128 in (3.26 mt), narrowing down by the tail to just 31 in (.79 mt)
Makoto Yoshida / Atelier Tekuto
In Tokyo, designed by Kota Mizuishi is this triangular structure built on an odd piece of land. The clever design breaks the building up into several pieces so as to make a spacious living area and private bedrooms out of a small footprint
Kota Mizuishi
In Tokyo, designed by Kota Mizuishi is this triangular structure built on an odd piece of land. The clever design breaks the building up into several pieces so as to make a spacious living area and private bedrooms out of a small footprint
Kota Mizuishi
In Tokyo, designed by Kota Mizuishi is this triangular structure built on an odd piece of land. The clever design breaks the building up into several pieces so as to make a spacious living area and private bedrooms out of a small footprint
Kota Mizuishi
In Tokyo, designed by Kota Mizuishi is this triangular structure built on an odd piece of land. The clever design breaks the building up into several pieces so as to make a spacious living area and private bedrooms out of a small footprint
Kota Mizuishi
In Tokyo, designed by Kota Mizuishi is this triangular structure built on an odd piece of land. The clever design breaks the building up into several pieces so as to make a spacious living area and private bedrooms out of a small footprint
Kota Mizuishi
The legendary Skinny House in Boston built over 100 years ago is often referred to as a “spite house”, possibly built by a sibling to spite his brother after having his inheritance depleted
Public Domain
The legendary Skinny House in Boston built over 100 years ago is often referred to as a “spite house”, possibly built by a sibling to spite his brother after having his inheritance depleted (Credit: John Stephen Dwyer CC BY-SA 3.0)
The legendary Skinny House in Boston built over 100 years ago is often referred to as a “spite house”, possibly built by a sibling to spite his brother after having his inheritance depleted
Public Domain
This house consists of two spaces with the largest being a narrow three-storey wing only 70 in (1.8 mt) wide
Hiroyuki Shinozaki Architects
This house consists of two spaces with the largest being a narrow three-storey wing only 70 in (1.8 mt) wide
Hiroyuki Shinozaki Architects
Another 19th century “spite house”, this tiny building arose in 1830 in Virginia after a local became fed up with the noise and crime that congregated in the small alley next to his home. So the solution, he first bricked up the alley before roofing it and turning it into an additional residence
Public Domain
Another 19th century “spite house”, this tiny building arose in 1830 in Virginia after a local became fed up with the noise and crime that congregated in the small alley next to his home. So the solution, he first bricked up the alley before roofing it and turning it into an additional residence
Public Domain
Another 19th century “spite house”, this tiny building arose in 1830 in Virginia after a local became fed up with the noise and crime that congregated in the small alley next to his home. So the solution, he first bricked up the alley before roofing it and turning it into an additional residence
Public Domain
Gap House, in London from Pitman Tozer Architects began life as a side alley leading into the back garden of a property. The design incorporated three-storeys that connected with the adjacent property in a remarkably innovative way
Pitman Tozer
Gap House, in London from Pitman Tozer Architects began life as a side alley leading into the back garden of a property. The design incorporated three-storeys that connected with the adjacent property in a remarkably innovative way
Pitman Tozer
Gap House, in London from Pitman Tozer Architects began life as a side alley leading into the back garden of a property. The design incorporated three-storeys that connected with the adjacent property in a remarkably innovative way
Pitman Tozer
Saigon House is a love letter to alleyways in Ho Chi Minh City from a21 Architects. Four floors on a 118 in (3 mt) wide plot were structured around a tree at the center of the building
Quang Tran / a21 studio
Saigon House is a love letter to alleyways in Ho Chi Minh City from a21 Architects. Four floors on a 118 in (3 mt) wide plot were structured around a tree at the center of the building
Quang Tran / a21 studio
Saigon House is a love letter to alleyways in Ho Chi Minh City from a21 Architects. Four floors on a 118 in (3 mt) wide plot were structured around a tree at the center of the building
Quang Tran / a21 studio
Saigon House is a love letter to alleyways in Ho Chi Minh City from a21 Architects. Four floors on a 118 in (3 mt) wide plot were structured around a tree at the center of the building
Quang Tran / a21 studio
In 2010 artist Erwin Wurm created an installation called ‘Narrow House’. It takes a traditional house, modeled on the artist’s childhood home, and compresses everything to a comical degree, stretching the space and all the contents within it
Erwin Wurm
In 2010 artist Erwin Wurm created an installation called ‘Narrow House’. It takes a traditional house, modeled on the artist’s childhood home, and compresses everything to a comical degree, stretching the space and all the contents within it
Erwin Wurm
In 2010 artist Erwin Wurm created an installation called ‘Narrow House’. It takes a traditional house, modeled on the artist’s childhood home, and compresses everything to a comical degree, stretching the space and all the contents within it
Erwin Wurm
In 2010 artist Erwin Wurm created an installation called ‘Narrow House’. It takes a traditional house, modeled on the artist’s childhood home, and compresses everything to a comical degree, stretching the space and all the contents within it
Erwin Wurm
The skinny house revolution leaves no urban space undeveloped
View gallery - 52 images

With space for new abodes in big cities growing harder to come by every day, some architects are getting mightily creative. The skinny house trend takes abandoned alleyways or unconventional spaces and finds new ways to construct homes in these extraordinarily narrow locations.

How small is too small? Keret House still holds the crown for the world's narrowest living space ever constructed, with an interior width of between 28 and 48 inches (72 to 122 cm). It's a marvel of creative design, and a nightmare for claustrophobic individuals.

Keret House is the world’s narrowest living space, built in Poland by architect Jakub Szczesny. The house's interior width varies from 122 cm to 72 cm (48 - 28 in), with a length of 12 m (39 ft) and two floors
Dom Kereta, © Polish Modern Art Foundation

The lineage of skinny house design goes back several hundred years with many narrow European buildings slipping into slender spaces. More recently, in 19th century United States we find tiny "spite house" structures popping up in weird little locations. Named "spite houses" because they were often built to annoy neighbors or steal extra land, these cute little buildings still proudly stand today.

Another 19th century “spite house”, this tiny building arose in 1830 in Virginia after a local became fed up with the noise and crime that congregated in the small alley next to his home. So the solution, he first bricked up the alley before roofing it and turning it into an additional residence
Public Domain

Modern skinny house designs tend to make the most of strange plots of land and impressively illustrate how creative many modern architects can truly be. These structures can be inspiring, forcing a designer to take risks and turn unused urban spaces into new livable homes.

Take a look through our gallery for a trip into the skinny home world.

View gallery - 52 images

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Rich Haridy
Rich has written for a number of online and print publications over the last decade while also acting as film critic for several radio broadcasters and podcasts. His interests focus on psychedelic science, new media, and science oddities. Rich completed his Masters degree in the Arts back in 2013 before joining New Atlas in 2016.
4 comments
Tom Lee Mullins
I think those are really neat.
ljaques
What? There are six square meters of bare space somewhere in this city? QUICK, SOMEBODY =BUILD= SOMETHING ON IT!
Sisko
It seems as if Earth is going to be all built up someday, like Trantor.
IvanWashington
not for people of size.
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