Small Spaces for Big Ideas: Creative Studios in Compact Footprints
Creativity is not one size fits all. Every artist, marker, and creator has a method to their madness – a specific set of conditions (or lack thereof) that help them get their creative juices flowing. That said, we don’t always have the luxury of having our dream set up. The days of massive warehouse or loft studios like Andy Warhol’s famous Factory have more or less become a thing of the past – for the average person, at least. Space is increasingly at a premium, inspiring a growing number of artists to bring their practice home. An underutilised garage, neglected barn, or a spare room are all perfect spots to make this happen, but we’ve got some more realistic solutions for those of us living in cities, in condos, or on a small footprint.
Living Room Art Gallery
The most definite way of having a studio in your compact home is to – well – turn your whole home into a studio like was done in Atelier Belém, a 50sqm/538sqft storefront space in Lisbon. “The building was constructed in the late 18th century, and this small space has seen many different uses over time”, Lenka Holcnerova, the architect of Atelier Belém, told Never Too Small. “Today”, she added, “it’s used as a living, working, and exhibition space for a visual artist”. This design prides itself on its many functions, seamlessly transitioning from a public to private space depending on the need. Watch Atelier Belém.
The Next Level of WFH
This is perfect for people who hopped on the work-from-home train and never got off. Because: why commute when you can make your colleagues come to you? William Ng, founder of Studio WILLS + Architects, took this approach with his reinterpretation of the traditional shophouse in Singapore. “Instead of having a building with offices and shops at street level and the home on the upper level, we split the unit to have an office and home beside each other”, said Ng of Project #13. For their part, Tra.ma founders Patricia Carrasco and Ricardo Mancho didn’t originally plan on making their home their office, though they did note it “had to be flexible and adapt to our chaotic lives”. And so it did. The couple uses the luminous and colourful 55sqm/592sqft space as a creative architecture studio for them and three others. Watch Project #13 and Three Balcony House.
Creativity Takes Many Forms
An open-concept footprint can actually allow for a larger studio than a separate room would by overlapping with adjacent zones while still occupying its own little area. At their 59sqm/635sqft apartment in Tokyo, David and his partner Koichi dedicated a corner to their studio where they can access a height-adjustable trestle table from both sides, allowing them to share it while working on their laptops of cutting patterns and sewing. To give even more versatility to the space, they decided to use a duct rail to hang the lights, which allows them to easily move the lighting toward the task at hand. around the room”. Watch Tokyo Blue.
Put Baby (or, your Studio) in the Corner
Working on an even smaller scale? It’s time for the small guns (aka a closet or tucked away counter). In one of Never Too Small’s earliest episodes, The Warren, architect Nicholas Gurney explained how they created a versatile zone that serves as an art studio, guest bedroom, or living room extension. The studio is composed of a counter surface niched into a central joinery unit, which they designed to intentionally blend in with the surroundings so that it doesn’t overwhelm the small space: “We used black in the art space niche. It’s quite reductive; it doesn’t detract from the mirrored gold, and it’s much easier to keep clean with all the mess related to the art”, said Gurney. Watch The Warren.
In a more recent episode of NTS, Open Sky House, artist and architect Zajirogh revolutionised your typical closet by turning it into his little home studio: “In the corner there is a small study for me”, Zajirogh explained. “It is only about one square metre. I fill it with shelves and desks, and it is my little sanctuary where I draw and create”. For messier creations, Zajirogh found a corner on the raised walkway of their open-air courtyard to paint and make a mess without worry. Watch Open Sky House.
For more at-home studio inspiration, watch the latest episode of our new series How I Live Small with artist and architect Daniel Dorall whose studio is somehow in his ceiling.
