Courtesy of Klein
In spite of their apparent simplicity, small cabins have always been a welcome design challenge in which scale, materiality and habitability must be resolved in order to take maximum advantage of minimal spaces. Perhaps the most famous exercise in cabin design, the Le Corbusier-designed 16m2 cabanon was a container of ideas in which the Swiss architect explored the “modulor”– an understanding of the fundamentality of human scale. In the ensuing half-century, many prominent architects have ventured into cabin design both experimentally and at a primitive level, especially as a small refuge in harmony within a natural context.
We have selected 36 small cabin designs from around the world that explore different types of solutions according to context and programmatic needs.
Micro Courtyard House / Atelier Kaiser Shen (7m2)
© Nicolai Rapp
Floor Plan
Diogene / Renzo Piano (7.5m2)
© Julien Lanoo
Exploded Axonometric
The Treehouse / Wee Studio (8m2)
© RoadsideAlien Studio
Floor Plan
Antoine / BUREAU A (9m2)
© Dylan Perrnound
Section
Studentboende: Student Unit / Tengbom (10m2)
© Bertil Hertzberg
Floor Plan
Viking Seaside Summer House / FREAKS Architecture (12m2)
© Jules Couartou
Floor Plan
The Cabin / JAN TYRPEKL (12.5m2)
© Antonin Matejovski
Floor Plans
Slice / Saunders Architecture (15m2)
Charred Cabin / DRAA (15m2)
© Felipe Camus
Floor Plan
Ecologic Pavilion In Alsace / Studio 1984 (15m2)
Courtesy of Studio 1984
Section – Plan
DD16 / BIO-architects (16m2)
© Vlad Mitichev
Floor Plan
A45 / BIG (17m2)
Courtesy of Klein
Floor Plan
Permanent Camping / Casey Brown Architecture (18m2)
© Rob Brown
Section
Cabin on the Border / SO? Architecture&Ideas (18m2)
Courtesy of SO?
Section
Rolling Huts / Olson Kundig (18.6m2)
© Tim Bies
Floor Plan
The Truffle / Ensamble Estudio (25m2)
© Roland Halbe
Floor Plans
Cabanas no Rio / Aires Mateus (26m2)
© Nelson Garrido
Floor Plan
KODA / Kodasema (26.8m2)
©Paul Kuimet
Floor Plans
Tree Snake Houses / Luís Rebelo de Andrade + Tiago Rebelo de Andrade (27m2)
© Ricardo Oliveira Alves
Floor Plans
Portable House ÁPH80 / Ábaton Arquitectura (27m2)
© Juan Baraja
Floor Plan
MIMA Light / MIMA Architects (27m2)
© Jose Campos
Floor Plan
Knapphullet / Lund Hagem (30m2)
© Kim Muller
Site Plan
Thoreau’s Cabin / cc-studio (35m2)
© John Lewis Marshall
Floor Plan
Slow Cabins (TM) in Belgium / Xavier Leclair (36m2)
Floor Plan
Box House / Alan Chu & Cristiano Kato (36m2)
© Djan Chu
Floor Plans
Treehouse Solling / baumraum (37m2)
© Markus Bollen
Floor Plan
Tower Studio / Saunders Architecture (37.7m2)
© Bent René Synnevág
Section
Escondido / Alberto Kalach (38.8m2)
Courtesy of Alberto Kalach
Floor Plan – Section
Quebrada House / UNarquitectura (40m2)
© Natalia Vial
Floor Plan
Summerhouse T / Krupinski/Krupinska Arkitekter (40m2)
© Äke E:son Lindman
Floor Plan
Refugi Lieptgas / Georg Nickisch + Selina Walder (40m2)
© Gaudenz Danuser
Section
MINIMOD Catuçaba / MAPA (42m2)
© Leonardo Finotti
Floor Plan
Treehouse Riga / Appleton & Domingos (44m2)
© Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
Floor Plan
Garden House / Caspar Schols (45m2)
© Jorrit't Hoen
Elevation
Colorado Outward Bound Micro Cabins / University of Colorado Denver (48m2)
© Jesse Kouroiwa
Exploded Axonometric
Whangapoua / Crosson Clarke Carnachan (48.8m2)
© Jackie Meiring
Floor Plans
House Prototype / Luis Roldan Velasco + Ángel Hevia Antuña (50m2)
© Gori Salvà
Floor Plan
The VIPP Shelter / VIPP (55m2)
Courtesy of Vipp
Floor Plans
Eyrie Houses / Cheshire Architects (58m2)
© Jeremy Toth
Floor Plan
Moonlight Cabin / Jackson Clements Burrows (60m2)
© Jeremy Weihrauch
Floor Plan