Dwell November 2013

Living in diminutive quarters is an experience that never leaves you. The inherent challenges never cease: the problems of storage and clutter, the battle between acquisition and display, and the constant renegotiation of space and belongings. The upside is that while the memories of the skirmishes reverberate, so too do the victories—for if an area is truly tiny, any subsequent home you inhabit will feel palatial in comparison, and you’ll be able to incorporate the same solutions again and again. While small, much like affordable or green, is a tricky adjective—one person’s cottage is another’s sprawling estate—clever design responses make way for thoughtful living, no matter the size of the home’s footprint. Problems of perception and spatial inequity are not new to Dwell. In years past we have featured “Small…

—Jakob Clark, posted on Facebook Just received the “Designers at Home” issue of Dwell (September 2013) and thoroughly enjoyed each project. There is inventiveness and innovation throughout the buildings, interiors, and furniture in each of the featured houses. I wish that all design magazines inspired me like this issue. Chris Clarke Brisbane, Australia I picked up the September 2013 issue of Dwell when a friend told me there was a piece on Paolo Soleri in the magazine (“A Radical Proposal,” p. 30). I enjoyed the entire publication, especially the Soleri feature. I would love to see more on this visionary genius. Soleri, yes! More, please. Laurie Krcmaric South Bend, Indiana Editor’s Note: Soleri created many incredible drawings and sketches during his lifetime, more than we could ever print. We suggest…

I brought my two sons with me to Dwell on Design, and it was great to watch their eyes light up at the prefab houses they could tour! To see new ideas and creativity spark in their minds is invaluable. When we got home, they started creating new structures on Minecraft (a computer game) related to things that inspired them at Dwell on Design. Jeffrey Yip Every year at Dwell on Design I get to see so many new products and items. This is a great showcase. Nice to meet designers and industry people and hear talks at the show. June Takahashi Editor’s Note: Miss this year’s Dwell on Design? Flip to p. 72 for our wrap-up of the show. I have always thought that the Edgeland House (“Living Edge,”…

Ben Anders When he’s not spending his spare time restoring his London home or dragging his children to design shops and exhibitions, photographer Ben Anders is happiest traveling and adding to a vast portfolio of personal work that includes gauchos in Argentina, the rugged mountains of Iceland, and lush Bavarian landscapes. He shot “High & Tight” (p. 120). “Getting the yellow Fiat involved was great fun and perfectly complemented the owners’ sense of humor.” Dominic Bradbury Journalist and writer Dominic Bradbury lives in a village in Norfolk, England, with his wife, Faith, and their three children. He has authored a dozen books on architecture and design, including his most recent, The Iconic Interior (Abrams, 2012). The story of Paul Hinkin and Chrissy Pearce’s Deckhouse (“High & Tight,” p. 120) fed…

Bernal Hill, one of San Francisco’s sunniest and least-developed spots, is a bare peak rising some 450 feet out of an otherwise densely packed neighborhood of charming turn-of-the-20th-century homes and shops. But whereas many manmade gardens are watered to be verdant year-round, Bernal Hill’s winter green and summer brown are a refreshing marker of the seasons. And that is exactly what designer Peter Liang desired atop his recently remodeled 2,000-square-foot home on the hill’s southern slope. “I wanted to plant a green roof for its thermal mass, but I wanted it to be as natural as possible,” Liang says. “To achieve that, what better partner could I have found than nature itself?” Now his 580-square-foot green roof is like a piece of the hill; its indigenous vegetation—seeded by birds and…

You live in a small house, and you love it! Before you moved in, you got rid of your old hockey pads, pruned your T-shirt collection from 50 to 15, and felt totally liberated dumping those college textbooks. But you still need some furniture. And like it or not, furniture takes up space. Which, let’s face it, you’re a little shy on. Thankfully, we’ve rounded up this class of top-drawer furnishings to outfit a diminutive space. Need your chair to convert to a bench and back again? Gotta be able to tuck that side table into a closet when more than two guests show up? Looking to cut some of the bulk out of your living room without, you know, sitting on the floor? Take notes and learn to live…