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In his book, Green Metropolis, author David Owen makes a convincing argument that New York City is the most sustainable city in the U.S. Smaller residential units, higher densities, fewer households owning automobiles, fewer miles traveled for those who do own automobiles, all contribute to a more sustainable environment. Essentially, less energy is used in high-density cities like New York.
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“With increasing world population and diminishing natural resources, maintaining our existing agricultural land, recreational areas, forests, and wetlands is essential.“
Michael Fifield, Minimal Live/Work Studio, 2009. Courtesy of the architect.
The Future of Housing
By Michael Fifield, FAIA, AICP
In his book, Green Metropolis, author David Owen makes a convincing argument that New York City is the most sustainable city in the U.S. Smaller residential units, higher densities, fewer households owning automobiles, fewer miles traveled for those who do own automobiles, all contribute to a more sustainable environment. Essentially, less energy is used in high-density cities like New York.
Examples of someone making a home in only 100 square feet of space have become a common feature in the Thursday NY Times Home Section. Creative use of space with a great deal of flexibility and multiple use of various components is essential to accommodate most New Yorkers’ basic needs in a tiny apartment. With housing costs so high in major cities like New York, living in a small unit is expected. However, my interests and focus has been in convincing people and cities that there are benefits to applying New York’s smaller residencies to places in which they aren’t an absolute necessity. Household size has changed considerably in recent years with over 26% of all U.S. households consisting of only one person. Nationally, married couples with children comprise roughly only 23% of all U.S. households. Yet we continue to provide few attractive alternatives from either the grandiose single-family house in suburbia or some form of multi-family housing in the inner city.
Suburban sprawl is extremely detrimental to maintaining a vital and sustainable environment. With increasing world population and diminishing natural resources, maintaining our existing agricultural land, recreational areas, forests, and wetlands is essential. Jared Diamond in his book Collapse, his sequel to Guns, Germs, and Steel, cites many examples of entire cultures that have disappeared because of poor land-use practices. While most examples are Pacific Island nations, there is one chapter on “Montana” where poor environmental practices have led to many economic problems that severely impact the quality of life. What is needed, I believe, to address these concerns, is to develop new strategies to curtail growth on the periphery of our cities by providing housing forms that are attractive and fulfill the needs of what is expected for those who currently live in large, single-family detached houses. What we need to do is to rethink that middle zone, just outside the city center, where existing neighborhoods could be reconfigured to address new and emerging lifestyles as well as changing demographics and household sizes.
The key to sustainability in the future is to provide some form of attached dwelling unit—increasing density and requiring less infrastructure—but there are still concerns about issues of privacy, noise, lack of identity, etc. I think this can be alleviated through proper design. Another form of housing that has tremendous positive implications is the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), sometimes known as a granny flat. Typically, ADUs are limited to 800 square feet and can be either attached to the main dwelling unit or as a separate structure. These units can be occupied by a family member, or rented out to provide additional income. The most positive aspect of an ADU is that it provides opportunities for aging in place—an idea that is essential to maintaining one’s quality of life but has become a luxury and near impossibility in contemporary society. In my own architectural practice, I have recently completed a small—269 square foot—studio for an artist client who lives abroad most of the year, but who wishes to come back and visit friends and paint during the summer.
Michael Fifield, Minimal Live/ Work Studio, 2009. Courtesy of the architect.
In designing small residential units, there are a number of design principles to consider in order to make that unit feel more spacious and homelike—as opposed to feeling like a temporary storage space. Incorporating multiple uses within the space of one room is a way to maximize function and square footage; a home office may also be a guest room or media room. A window seat on a stair landing can be large enough to function as a guest bed with bedding storage underneath for the occasional guest. Engaging with the outside is another essential in the creation and comfortable habitation of a small dwelling unit. Small rooms can feel infinitely larger if there is a visual of the outdoors that will serve to extend the visual perception of the room and interior rooms that open directly to the outdoors allow for interior spaces to spill over to the outside. Additionally, defined figural outdoor spaces can serve extremely well as additional living spaces. Compared to initial costs of construction and life-cycle costs of heating and cooling, outdoor rooms can be utilized at a fraction of the costs of house construction.
