The population of the Earth in 2018 exceeded 7.4 billion people. And every day the space available for living is decreasing. With this in mind, many people choose to build small and even super compact homes. We present you a list of 10 smallest houses and buildings in the world... Whether it will be comfortable to live in such a building - decide for yourself.
10. North Queensferry lighthouse in Scotland
Built in 1817, this lighthouse in Scotland is only 3.3 meters high. To get to the top from the very bottom, you need to take 24 steps. Once you reach the top floor, you will find that there is enough room for two people.
Now the world's smallest residential lighthouse has become a tourist attraction, which is overseen by the North Queensferry Heritage Society.
9. Riverside House in Japan
Housing is very expensive in Japan. However, savvy people found a way out by turning to the experience of the past - Kyosho jutaku, a variant of a micro-city. This practice dates back to the 13th century, when the poet Kamo no Chmei wrote an essay on the joys of living in a hut. Of course, modern Japanese do not build their own huts, replacing them with micro-houses with all the amenities.
One such miniature house is the Riverside House, designed by architect Kengo Kuma. It is built on a 55 m² plot and is spacious enough for 2 adults and one child. The two-story building, despite its ultra-small size, is very elegant and comfortable. It has a children's play area, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, recreation area and workplace. But there are no closets in the house; instead, special places for storing things have been invented.
The entire end of the building is occupied by a vertical window that lets in a lot of light and thus saves energy.
8. Square house in Idaho
Divorce is a traumatic experience, it can morally devastate a person, drive him into apathy and depression. But not with the architectural designer, Macy Miller. Several years ago, Miller went through a divorce and was faced with the need to look for new housing. She spent $ 11,400 to build a small home of 18.21 square meters. And now he lives in it with his new boyfriend, child and dog.
7. Prince Edward Island Library in Canada
Libraries are something that modern civilization cannot do without. We used to think of the library as a large room filled to the brim with books. However, there are also very tiny libraries in size, and one of them is located in the smallest province of Canada - on Prince Edward Island. It covers an area of 3.3 x 3.3 meters, contains almost 1,800 books, and father and daughter are engaged in their issuance and storage.
6. A tiny Victorian cottage in New York
Probably, you have often heard the calls: "Make your dream come true." We do not know if their mistress heard this beautiful home, but she did bring her ideal of a house to life.A woman from the city of Catskill has changed the hunting lodge beyond recognition, making it an amazing Victorian cottage. It does not have a toilet and a kitchen, but it has everything else that is necessary for a normal life. The trunks of the trees that held the porch roof turned into antique columns, and the inside of the house is light and cozy. A luxurious sofa, a small table, floor, walls and even a huge crystal chandelier are all dazzling white.
5. House on a rock in Serbia
This small house balances on a rock and has experienced all the changes in the weather for 50 years. In 1968, a group of young swimmers were resting on a large boulder in the middle of the Drina River, and decided that they needed to create a more comfortable place to rest. This decision did not come by chance, the guys were "regulars" of the boulder, they sunbathed on it and fished.
First, a platform was built from planks taken from an old barn. But, as they say, the appetite comes with eating, gradually the walls and the roof joined the platform. And now a lonely house proudly towered where it is difficult to imagine.
For a long time, only local residents knew about the construction. The house on the cliff gained wide popularity after the Hungarian photographer Irene Becker took photographs and posted them on the Web. Now it is one of the tourist attractions of the city of Bayina-Bashta.
4. The Newby-McMahon Building in Texas
The city of Wichita Falls, became famous for the smallest skyscraper in the world, although not wanting to. In 1919, engineer J. D. McMahon convinced investors to invest $ 200,000 in the construction of a skyscraper. Investors did not study McMahon's project properly, and in vain. He mistakenly indicated the height of the building not in feet, but in inches. As a result, it was only 12 meters.... For title tallest building in the world this baby will definitely not pretend.
3. House on the pier in Wales
This 3.05 x 1.8 meter structure is considered the smallest home in the UK and is also a popular tourist attraction. Once the house belonged to a rather tall (1.85 meters) fisherman Robert Jones.
The only drawback of the home is the lack of a toilet.
2. Ochopi Post Office in Florida
Russian Post has many drawbacks, but few people complain about the size of post offices. And in comparison with the post office opened in the American city of Ochopi, the Russian “colleagues” are simply giants.
The first post office in this town was destroyed by fire in 1953. And instead of rebuilding it, the local authorities simply took the gardener's booth where the irrigation hoses were stored and turned it into a postal booth. This department is fully operational, it regularly receives and sends mail. But visitors have to stand outside, there is enough space inside for exactly one employee.
1. House of nanoparticles in Besançon
Here it is, the smallest house in the world. But you won't see it without a very, very, very powerful microscope. It is too small for a human and even a ladybug. And it's only 15 micrometers high. It was created by researchers of nanorobots from the French institute Femto-ST.
The smallest building in the world is made from a 1.2 micrometer thick silicon wafer. To build it, the researchers used a device called the μRobotex system, which combines: a dual scanning electron microscope, a focused ion beam, a gas injection system, and a tiny, maneuverable robot. The process of assembling a microhouse was somewhat similar to the art of origami.
- The focused ion beam cut the silica as well as paper can cut with scissors.
- To make the joints between the base and the walls thin enough, they were irradiated with gallium ions.
- Gas spraying was used to weld the house along the seams.
- Two parts of the roof, cut from a silicon wafer, were brought to the house by a micromanipulator, and then they were gas-sprayed. The completed micro-building even has a chimney because “it is cold and snowing in Besançon in winter”.
The project was an interesting way to demonstrate that μRobotex can operate with a deflection of no more than two nanometers.