Compact living, big ideas
in the 1980s and ’90s, when space was never an issue. Okay, my siblings and I did fight over territory within our shared bedrooms but only before fleeing the confines of the house for the big backyard beyond. When I moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in the late 2000s, I realised just how little living space I actually need. That said, a reduced residential footprint requires a different mentality. Kiwis are much too accustomed to the notion of large, empty spaces. Every time I return to New Zealand, the next person is discussing their plans for ‘building on’. But, as the Auckland housing crisis continues and New Zealand’s
