Architects Build Small Spaces

I need more space......I keep saying to myself as I try and squeeze yet another newly purchased item of 'essential' clothing into my wardrobe.  Whilst the ceiling height storage solutions certainly make the best use of space, this all seems relative when I have to stand on a chair or even step ladder to reach a book from my bookshelf or a cereal packet from my kitchen cupboard.  So off I went to visit the Architects Build Small spaces exhibition at the V&A


Nineteen architects were invited to submit proposals for structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat.  Seven were selected for construction at full-scale and can be viewed at the Museum.  My favourite structure was by Studio Mumbai Architects.  The project examines the unauthorised architecture of Mumbai.  Precisely modelled on dwellings crammed into a narrow urban corridor behind the Studio Mumbai offices, it presents an architectural 'cast' of a sliver of space that is home to a family of eight.  Viewing the structure both inside and out really put my own spacial problems into context.