Being Small: Elements and Observations of Small Houses

House is a basic need for people to stay. In competing societies, people can afford only small houses, making them cheaper and easier for maintenance. This article discusses elements of small houses, including house area, construction materials, stair, vertical space optimization, spatial arrangement and space management, multipurpose areas with collapsible-expandable multipurpose furniture, colors, lightings, windows, and mirrors, and privacy of the small houses and occupants. This work gives two modern urban triangle houses as examples, one in Korea and one in Japan, for small house observations. Keywords: small house design, residential house, triangle house, sustainable house, small dwellings.