Budynek mieszkalny :: Single Hauz

you may remember my post last year about the m-ch micro compact home, a 2.6 meter cube intended for one or two inhabitants (it's now on display at moma until mid-october). i've always been intrigued by well-designed, compact living spaces (my son and my mom both tell me they share the same facscination). equally interesting to me are are treehouses and  teardrop trailers, such as the one pictured on the left. homes and mobile homes like these are, in my mind, testaments to good space allocation, a (relatively) conservative use of resources, and a rather romantic way to bunk down for the night. i've enjoyed reading about building one's own teardrop trailer, and if i were more handy with tools i'd certainly have it on my list of things to do.

now front architects in poznań, poland (north of wrocław and west of warszawa) have designed the billboard-inspired single hauz:

"…a kind of manifest, proposal of a house/shelter for a Western Worlder. The "basic unit of society", as marriage is called, is no longer the only model of life. As a detached single occupant house unit, Single Hauz fills a kind of a void in the field of housing proposal for so called "singles"…"

in any case, it's a joy to look at and to ponder a month or even a week living inside. enjoy their mockups:

Comments

[Kent Kingery]

I share your fascination as well. I love going to IKEA and sitting in the various 300sf or 600sf mockups. Makes me wonder how I ever ended up in my sprawling Texas manse.

For more interesting ideas, check out all the interest and activity around building homes in old shipping containers. Just Google "shipping container house" for a wealth of info.

[Sean A McMains]

Very cool stuff. Though I suspect they're not terrifically practical, I especially dug the ones built over water. (What do you do with power and sewer, e.g.?) I'm guessing the toilet facilities are in the opaque bit to the right. Is there a kitchen in there as well?

[Erin Syler]

paul, i am completely obsessed with teardrop trailers!!! i want one SO bad! i am constantly goolging them and day dreaming about them. if i had one i'd sleep in it in the backyard all the time! i saw one on craigslist that a guy was fixing up but stopped because they had a kid and now he doesn't have enough time. i was so close to buying it - only $1000! i'm so glad we have this love in common.

[Keith]

I want one, but I can't help imagining how they'd look after you spent a few years not getting around to varnishing the wood.