Urban Additions for "Antisurbanites"

We often put forth the proposition that people who live in the city tend to have smaller footprints and live in smaller spaces than those in the suburbs; The New York Times shows some additions that are glaring exceptions, big gorgeous galomphing footprints on roofs and in backyards, designed for families that wanted to stay downtown and had the means to do it in style.

Lucy Musgrave and Zad Rogers outgrew their 1100 square foot London apartment but didn't want to leave the neighbourhood, so they added on to a warehouse building. Dad Richard Rogers designed it and helped slog through the approval process, which took years of negotiations with freeholders, leaseholders, and neighbours with rights to ancient light.

"The 2,800-square-foot apartment hangs from a steel frame bolted to a system of peripheral concrete beams atop the warehouse’s roof. The luminous, double-height upper floor, with 11-foot windows, was designed to be as open as possible, so that six people could comfortably spend time together." ::New York Times

In Los Angeles, "A crowded family enters the Space Age" when Neil Denari, "an ascendant Los Angeles architect with a penchant for swoopy curves." adds a 1050 SF addition to the rear.

" The family likes to sit on floor cushions salvaged from an old couch. The atmosphere of the room evokes Japan, where the architect spent seven months in a micro-apartment in 1990, learning to live sparely.

As it turned out, Mr. Alan and Ms. Voo were yearning to do so as well. They sold their nonessential possessions on eBay, and now live in Shaker-like simplicity. “I’ve never seen people so relieved to be spared from distractions,” Mr. Denari said." ::New York Times