House & Home

The aim to live in a mini house can have various reasons: For many it stands for a better, more livable existence on the basis of what is necessary, possible and desired, making one’s life easier, more economical and more sustainable. The limitation of the floor space promotes concentration on the essentials in order to integrate what one needs for life. With well thought-out planning, cleverly organized floor plans and intelligent, compact concepts, a lot of space can be created in a small area. By now, in addition to do-it-yourself protagonists, established architects and hip design studios have taken on the interesting task of developing sophisticated solutions for small homes and tiny houses. This volume presents very different projects in terms of architectural style, construction method and interior design.

For many people home ownership is one of the most important goals in life and the biggest private investment. In Germany about two thirds of the residential building stock consists of single-family homes. With 80.000 to 90.000 new residences built every year it is by far the most important construction task for architects in this country. For this volume, the author has selected outstanding contemporary concepts and designs that deserve to be noticed and appreciated much more. Neither luxury villa not mass housing, all homes are within a middle-class budget. Apart from ground plans and elevations, key figures on square meters, building price and construction duration, facts on ecological aspects, materials used and, last but not least, the respective architects offer the potential builder exeedingly practical benefits.

The evolution from yesterday's purely functional and usually soulless bathroom to today's private oasis that comes in all shapes and sizes – sometimes almost like a piece of art – continues to open up new horizons for newly planned houses and apartments as well as remodeling projects: from introducing elements of ancient bathhouse cultures to the latest materials and products. With a careful choice of projects from all across the globe, this volume showcases an exceptional spectrum ranging from small and intimate baths to wide open spa landscapes – from size S to XL. They all have their own special way of extending an invitation to immerse, relax, and let go. The multitude of concepts presents the coming together of solid and fluid elements in architecture and interior design as an inspiration.