Customer Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful book for anyone who owns or is buying a home!
Comment: This book was recommended to me as I am in the process of looking for a new home for my family. I was a bit skeptical as my family is large enough where I can't really consider "Living Small". I bought the book against my better judgment. Let me say that this is the best book I have read in a very long time. It is so thoughtfully constructed and wonderfully illustrated that it is real joy to read! It has given me a real insight to how small homes developed over time and how some have evolved into today's larger homes. It has also given me basic information about how homes in general are constructed but more importantly, it has given me wonderful ideas about how one can "Live Small" in a larger home by utilizing the guiding principals used in constructing small homes as a foundation for renovating an existing home to make the best use of the space and keep our busy lives free flowing and organized. No small feat. Pardon the pun.
Mr. Fukai has given me plenty of food for thought and I can't wait to get his other books! I highly recommend this book to anyone who owns a home, is thinking about buying one, or just wants to organize their existing space and needs a little inspiration.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Wanted more......
Comment: Reading the book a person see how small homes were the norm and how they were built and all. I live in a small house built in the late 1800's here in the Mother Lode of California, so I well understand the old small homes. But what isn't often discussed is how poorly laid out they are and even claustrophobic at times. This is why I like the new modern small homes that are built upwards, often on small lots to get the most space for a small space.
Yes, the McMansions have loads of wasted space and use way more natural resources. But I would have like to see more examples of homes for 2000 and onward that were slick and clean looking, as well as environmentally friendly.
And the price. YIKES. Although to be fare it does come with a CD. So see if your library can get a loaner copy for you to use.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not just a book, an Experience!
Comment: The interesting thing about "reading" a book like Living SMALL is that the book presents the reader with a multimedia three-dimensional experience. As such, the book invites the reader to participate and really experience small spaces.
First to study the detailed illustrations and see the architectural relationships on a printed page and read the captions and footnotes as they are directly related to the images. Then to use the books CD to view animations and listen to commentary about objects and spatial relationships that cannot be explained on a two-dimensional page.
And finally to use the SketchUp modeling program to walk through the spaces, place people and furniture, add rooms and experience each of the 16 little buildings. The two dimensional drawings and three dimensional models for each of these buildings are even included on the CD.
Important is that this book is not a simple straight read. "Readers" must be prepared for a full interactive three-dimensional experience to truly understand what it means to begin Living SMALL. This book invites hands-on user participation as part of a learning experience -- perhaps redefining what a book can be for all of us in the future.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Probably a good book, but for a limited audience
Comment: Let me start off by explaining that my rating of this book is based on its value for me vs. the cost of the book. It might be a good book for the right audience, but I think that audience is quite limited. If you are very interested in architectural modelling (especially using SketchUp) or are training to be an architect, this book may well be an excellent resource. Also, I did not read the entire book; I decided to return it as soon as I realized its value to me was limited. (This is, by the way, the first book I have ever returned to Amazon - out of over 100).
I was hoping the book would have more details on how to get the most "value" out of a small house. The book, however, is more of a primer on historically small houses and how they were efficient because they were purpose built/remodelled. This is certainly a valuable observation, but the book lacks any real analysis what makes these houses models for efficient modern houses, nor does it provide many principles that the reader might apply. For example, one chapter explains that farm/ranch houses originated as single room buildings that were added onto over time to accommodate additional residents, new technologies, and so forth. This is interesting, but it's not much help to someone trying to design a complete, modern house that already has a bathroom and a kitchen planned into it.
Some of the other reviewers have glowed about this book's illustrations; indeed the vector illustrations (from SketchUp) are nice, but the bitmap illustrations are very pixelated and in several cases are nearly unintelligible. Potential buyers must keep in mind that this book is a graphic novel. It is 95% illustration and 5% text (estimate).
My harshest criticism of this book is that as I read it I kept finding myself asking what the purpose of the book was. Is it truly to educate the reader about small houses? Frankly, I'm doubtful of that. I think the content is presented in too simplistic a manner to provide any deep insight. Is the purpose to promote the use of Building Information Models (BIMs)? SketchUp? Is it a vehicle for the author to cash in on some cool SketchUp models he's created? I kept thinking there was an underlying agenda, but I don't know what it is.
Customer Rating:
Summary: highly recommended
Comment: I was very impressed by this little book.
Great graphics and put together very well.
A must have for up and coming architects and designers.
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