Small Spaces is about living comfortably and using space wisely, and where better to find ideas on that subject than Japan, one of the world's most urban and densely populated countries? Tokyo resident Azby Brown, a distinguished architect and designer, has assembled dozens of creative solutions to space and storage problems, illustrating them with photographs and plans of actual living environments in contemporary homes. The key to his approach is what might be called "The Three Cs "-compact, comfortable, and convenient. Use of space is reconsidered, with easy living always the uppermost goal. A living room is opened up by creating level changes or "joining it with the exterior." A staircase can double as a chest of drawers, a space beneath the floor can serve as a kitchen pantry or hiding place for a disappearing bed: an adjustable table can serve different purposes at different heights. From top to bottom, in bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and hall, Azby Brown presents solutions to the problems of inner space, illustrated with dozens of full-color photographs, drawings, and architectural plans. Small Spaces will be a lifesaver for all those with growing families, shrinking resources, and limited room to grow-or indeed anyone who wants to transform a disorganized, cluttered environment into an orderly, attractive living area. Drawing upon the sparse tranquility of Japanese design, architect and Tokyo resident Azby Brown explains how to live comfortably in limited or overcrowded domains. By rethinking our approach to space, utilizing seemingly dead areas (under-floor or under-stairs storage, for example), creating multipurpose or convertible areas, and reconsidering layout, we can make the most of what we have. Some of these homes carry Eastern minimalism to an extreme that clutter-prone Westerners may not be comfortable with, but there are plenty of ingenious furniture, storage, and planning solutions nevertheless. --Amy Handy The Japanese have the ability to live in small spaces yet make them appear roomy and tranquil. Brown, a New Orleans native and Ph.D. candidate in architecture who has lived in Japan for more than a decade, examines their homes and lifestyles to find ideas that can be adapted to Western homes. This book is geared to the professional, although amateurs will find useful ideas such as closets with shelves in the doors, under-the-floor storage, and even a bed that retracts into the ceiling. For space-saving ideas in traditional Western styles, Anoop Parikh's Making the Most of Small Spaces (Rizzoli, 1994) will be more useful, but this book should find a place in professional and urban-area libraries. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. "Azby Brown's book presents an attitude toward designing space that inspires creative solutions....He shows us ways to bring order and tranquility back into our lives." - Fine Homebuilding " Small Spaces has some dazzling answers: most simple and colorful, all imaginative and practical. Invaluable." - House & Garden AZBY BROWN is an architect who has lived in Japan since 1985. A native of New Orleans, he received a bachelor's degree in f ine art from Yale College in 1980, and a master's degree in architecture from the University of Tokyo, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate, in 1988. He is also the author of The Genius of Japanese Carpentry and The Japanese Dream House: How Technology and Tradition Are Shaping New Home Design . His visual and verbal ideas have reached a wide international audience through frequent lectures, publications, and exhibitions. YOSHIO SHIRATORI has photographed interiors and exteriors since 1962. He was the recipient of the Interior Designers' Association prize in 1987. Shiratori's work appears in major Japanese design and architecture magazines throughout Japan. Introduction: Compact, Comfortable, Convenient Home is where the heart is. Our homes become part of us, shape us, and reflect our desires and habits to a far greater degree than most of us realize. And despite the potential pleasure our homes can provide, few people are satisfied with their living spaces. Many of us can live without fashionable furniture, new appliances, or multiple bathrooms. But none of us wants to live without comfort, and comfort often depends upon SPACE. Ahh, space. Adequate space, generous space, liberating space--this is exactly what most of us lack, and, if current trends continue, coming decades will see more people living in less space in urban areas the world over. This should not be cause for despair. What this book intends to do is to demonstrate that limitations imposed by lack of space can largely be overcome by intelligent design, and that compactness in the home can in fact become a virtue. Indeed, this book would like to suggest that compactness, comfort, and convenience go hand-in-hand. Some of the ideas presented here may seem extreme at first glance, but all were selected with current Western lifestyles