How square would you like you home to be? So square? Me too. Let’s talk about this house right here. It goes by the name of “Backyard House” and it’s designed by Thomas Schaer of SHED Architects. Sitting right up on the hill looking down over downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay. Spaces and finishes and big fat giant walls of glass for optimum in livability and having a really, really amazing time just sitting in the living room.

So you’re sitting over Seattle. It’s going to rain somewhat of a lot. That’s what Seattle does, it rains! So you’re going to want to have an amazing house to sit in. Unobstructed views all around, looking over the city, peeking at the people around you. It’s open wide, yet secluded enough to make you feel fabulously elite. The whole place is “Built Green” certified with environment, community, and one more thing in mind:

two and a half words,

rooftop deck.

TreeHugger favourite Andrew Maynard was on a budget with his Tattoo House in Fitzroy North, Australia, and writes “Every element needed to perform multiple functions for maximum return- hence the kitchen bench becomes part of the stair.”

I am not sure much money is saved by walking on the kitchen counter….

But it certainly is an economical use of materials, and very elegant.

Maynard solved another problem, a local rule that demanded that 75% of a second storey be opaque to minimize overlook into the neighbours’ yards, by putting stickers on the windows.

Daniel Libeskind does modern prefab with the first of the Studio Series, a 515 square metre (5,500 square foot) number that Libeskind claims is built to “the highest level of sustainability in the world.” It has solar power, “the maximum amount of insulation, and of course, is beautifully built to last hundreds of years- “that’s sustainability!”

Libeskind tells Kevin Brass in the IHT:

“this is really the first time I have taken on the issue of doing something which is a limited artistic edition of a new space, a new way of living….I did everything in reverse in my career.

exterior view

exterior view

Design: Suppose Design Office, Japan
Lead Architect: Makoto Tanijiri
Site area: 246 m2
Building area: 50.41 m2
Total floor area: 115.51m2
“When I always create, I think that I want to find the charm of the plan,” claims 35 year old talented architect Makoto Tanijiri, chief architect of Suppose Design Office. In the nine year existence of Suppose Design Office they have built more than 50 works of architecture, almost all single-family homes, among other projects. The impressive number of works completed topped up in 2007 with the modern pit dwelling in Saijo, Hiroshima.

Architects: Jackson Clements Burrows Pty Ltd Architects
Location: Cape Schanck, Victoria, Australia
Project Team: Tim Jackson, Jon Clements, Graham Burrows, Kim Stapleton, George Fortey, Brett Nixon
Design duration: 12 months
Construction duration: 18 months
Landscape: Site Office Landscape Architects
Mechanical: Griepink & Ward Pty Ltd
Structural: Adams Consulting Engineers Pty Ltd
Contractor: BD Projects
Constructed Area: 400 sqm
Photographs: John Gollings

The undulating landscape at Cape Schanck is primarily a combination of cleared grass dunes (locally known as the Cups region) and expansive areas of dense Coastal Heath and Ti-tree shrub. The site is a designated wildfire zone and prior to the landscape being significantly cleared by early European farmers the area was inhabited by local aborigines.

Compact four-rooms-in-one house.
Designer Luigi Colani has created a space-saving house with a six square meter cylinder inside that contains a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. The cylinder rotates left or right bringing the room you want into view of the main living room. There’s a separate toilet and a small hallway, and everything is controlled with a remote. The house was designed for young professionals who need minimal space while they focus on career…

View of the cylinder from the living room.

The bathroom.

The bedroom.

The kitchen.