Allure of tiny, compact houses I

The American culture has always tended to make you believe that bigger is better, as "McMansions" and the general trend of having bigger and bigger houses shows (the average square footage of houses in America has been increasing since the after math of WWII, when Americans started the trend of celebrating the suburban lifestyle by living in neighborhoods like Levittowns.

The Levittown

These houses represent the pinnacle of simplistic architecture; they are modular pieces that are designed for the masses and provide a standard of living which then gradually evolved into the large, diverse suburban houses that has become a staple of the middle class life in present day America. These Levittowns truly ignited the development of suburbs in the 1950s and eventually evolved into the types of houses we use today. These first houses were not designed for large families; instead they provided the accommodations for one core family and a couple of kids. However, the stimulus provided by the next few decades allowed the middle class to truly flourish is very vital in increasing the average size of houses. As these WWII-era couples becoming older, their style of housing changed too; not only do they want larger houses, but they also want more unique houses as well. Levittowns are great for the first post-WWII families, because these families shared the same background and story, but how each of these families lives changed also played a part in how shaping the design of their more permanent housing. Eventually, as more and more Americans entering the ranks of the millionaire, the popularity of McMansions began to soar in popularity with this particular demographic. However, due to the growing significance of Ecology in our Modern society, the trend towards sustainable, small houses has lead to an appreciation of tiny compact houses - some of them are even portable to an extent.

A fitting example of a McMansion

This picture illustrates what the essence of the inside of a tiny house looks like, but take note though this would be for a single person residence. Regardless, these houses combine three aspects of Architectural design; it maximizes usable space in a small area, traditional housing elements and the small ecological footprint of this guy's apartment. I like this concept because it appeals to the people with a solitary attitude and wants independence and some mobility for those who wants a change of scenery and neighbors. I will be evaluating different tiny house in my following posts where I select random tiny houses and analyse them.