Category: Architecture

Adaptive Size

November 28, 2019 By arne hendriks Off

Architecture studio Wallgren Arkitekter and Swedish construction company BOX Bygg created the design tool Finch which can generate floor plans adapted to the constraints of a site. It allows architects to understand the potential of a specific building site, especially in terms of size and configuration. The Incredible…

The Makhunik Ceiling

January 10, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

There are indications in the architecture that 100 years ago the average resident of Makhunik, in eastern Iran, measured just 100cm in height – some 50cm shorter than the average height at the time. Of the roughly 200 stone and clay houses that make up…

Japanese Miniatures: Cat Maximisation

October 30, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Our series of Japanese Miniatures investigates the specific Japanese sensitivity for small as expressed in their love for things like bonsai, sushi, netsuke, and capsule hotels. Japan ‘knows’ things about shrinking that may help the human species embrace the desire for, or overcome hurdles to, becoming…

Lodan Report: Private to Public

October 19, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

Kampung Lodan, Kampung Kerapu and Kampung Tongkol are three villages situated on the banks of the Ciliwung river in the sinking Indonesian city of Jakarta. Because the river beds along the Ciliwung were, and increasingly are, subjected to regular flooding it was never a popular…

Bumblebee Megacolony

November 3, 2016 By arne hendriks 0

A study by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México explored the effects of food availability on the colony and body size of 21 bumblebee taxa. Not surprisingly according to the study, the size of a colony is a direct result of food availability. The more…

Japanese Miniatures: Tokonoma

July 26, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Our cultural environment bombards us with signs that bigger is better. The very notion of shrinking creates such internal conflict that we are inclined to ignore its obvious benefits and condemn the whole idea to the realm of mad science. We lack a framework that…

Six Cities / Empty World

June 20, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

Earth is turning into a global city. Over half the world’s population lives in urbanised areas and those cities are taking up more and more space.  Most of the rest of the world is organised to supply food and resources. Even so, cities are the most…

Tiny House Movement

April 15, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

Fish kept in small tanks remain small because they produce pheromones that suppress growth. If the same rule applies to people, the small house movement may proof to be a powerful tool to curb our physical growth. The small house movement is an intriguing architectural and social movement…

Poultry/House

February 11, 2012 By arne hendriks 0

If we decide to shrink the human species our livestock may need to shrink with us. We’ll only consume about 2 to 10% of the food we consume today. The meat of one chicken could easily feed 100 people and one egg alone would be enough to…

Rewilding Ghost Suburbia

October 21, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

If mankind decides to shrink, and we succeed to achieve an average height of 50 centimeters as The Incredible Shrinking Man proposes, one of the most significant changes will be the increase of available space. The scale of buildings, infrastructure and distance will be enormous…

Voyeur Town

January 7, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

In a previous post we reported on a village exclusively built for little people working in an airplane factory during the war. More often these temporary customized tiny towns were built for housing the small performers of amusement parks. The towns soon turned into sideshows catering…

Tiny Towns for Special Forces

January 5, 2011 By arne hendriks 0

Joost Janmaat of Partizan Publik recalls his memory  of an intriguing search for a lost tiny town: “I fruitlessly embarked on a quest for little people two years ago when I was in Detroit. I am gonna relate you the story anyway, since by posting it on…

From Macro to Micro

April 28, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

As people start shrinking, Earth and everything on it will proportionally, grow in size. This growth of space and resources is actually one of the main reasons to consider shrinking as a sustainable way of inhabiting the earth. At the same time it holds the…

Less is More

April 12, 2010 By arne hendriks 0

A considerable downsizing of the human species would create an enormous market for architects and interior designers to make good use of the newly available space.  Not to mention the potential of repurposing roads, parks, canals, squares and so on.