Wow! What a week! On Friday last week I was celebrating my 33rd birthday by Savoring Yesterhygge. Today we celebrated the hard work, incredible creativity, and mad building skills of our students as we wrapped up Tiny House Design-Build.
As I've noted previously in Less is More Wrap Up and Tiny House Design-Build Wrap Up, Presentation Day feels like Xmas morning to me! After seeing the slow figuring of the first week and then the flurry of possibility early in the second week, we start seeing snatches of genius in the middle of the second week as people start landing on clever solutions to address their design challenges. Elegant details emerge. The paint box comes out. The cardboard landscapes of the models become populated by little trees. Watching the activity of the design studio the night before Presentation Day is a bit like hanging out in Santa's workshop on Xmas Eve. It leaves one with a night of excitedly disrupted sleep, curiosity brewing about what will be revealed the following day.
And I'm never disappointed!
It was such fun this year to see all the fabulous projects shared by our Tiny House Design-Build students. Many of our students designed little houses on wheels this year:
- A short and sweet (but elegantly simple) camper.
- A Japanese inspired home with several height changes.
- A little home for a family transitioning out of homelessness for high school students to build for their community.
- A gypsy wagon with a curved roof and a balcony.
- A wee house with vintage fixtures and a fabulous vanity for our rockabilly babe.
- A tiny vacation house that can sleep a family of 8!
- A well-considered little house with transforming furniture and a snack elevator.
- A mobile workshop with basic amenities for traveling instructors.
- A tall man's tiny vacation home with a multi-use space and a draw bridge.
We also had three wonderful ground-bound structures:
- A duo of glass and timber houses on skids that will perch on a hilltop in New Zealand.
- An A-Frame mini ski chalet with a curvaceous porch and a closet hidden in the bookcase.
- A charming cottage with cozy nooks and a generous porch.
Did I mention that this hard-working bunch was also incredibly productive on the construction site?! So productive, in fact, that we got a crash course in electrical from Jan Ruta the last day of building!
It was a pleasure and honor to work with this bunch of students and I look forward to seeing where their tiny house journeys take them. If you're interested in taking one of my small home design (and build) courses at Yestermorrow, check out my course offerings and stay tuned for the dates which will be announced soon!