XS Future: New Ideas, Small Structures

XS Future, the third volume in the successful XS series, focuses on two of today’s most challenging design problems—how to conserve space and help preserve the environment. The houses that are profiled here all represent striking, cost-effective, functional solutions located "at the edge of possibility"—remote locations previously deemed unbuildable, sites that face extreme environmental conditions, or simply, designs so daringly provocative that they are literally at the extremity of contemporary architecture. Each project shares the same basic design brief: build as small and efficiently as possible, harmonize with the site, use natural heating/cooling techniques, and, above all, combine aesthetic beauty with ecological sensitivity. Each design is presented with detailed plans, drawings, and photographs and represents the work of up-and-comers at the forefront of architecture. XS Future is a compelling manifesto in a small and charming package that illustrates how extreme creativity, innovative techniques and materials, and ecological responsibility is transforming contemporary architecture.