Micro-architecture honored in latest Tiny House Architecture Competition

Competition platform Volume Zero has unveiled the winners of their Tiny House 2025 Architecture Competition. The sixth edition of the competition saw entries from 37 countries.

The competition called on participants to “rethink the conventions of modern living and explore how architecture can respond to the evolving idea of home.” Submissions were to include a tiny home for two individuals within a maximum built-up area of just 300 square feet.

"Our humble abodes are being redefined with every passing day," organizers said about the motivation for the competition. "The world is changing constantly, and along with it, our homes are seeing us spend more time within them. The built form of a home is evolving rapidly; its design adapting to various other needs that were not limited to this space before."

The winning entries for the 2025 edition are as follows:

First Place
Housing is a Human Right by Han K of Taiwan

Project excerpt: "New York City, home to over eight million residents, is experiencing one of the most severe housing crises in history, driven by a persistent shortage of housing, particularly affordable units. This imbalance has fueled rising rents, escalating home prices, and an increased cost of living, making secure housing increasingly unattainable for many residents. Between 2000 and 2020, the city underproduced more than 340,000 housing units, significantly intensifying the current crisis. Amid this shortage, New York’s iconic wooden water towers represent an underutilized urban resource. These structures are ubiquitous across the city and contribute to its distinctive skyline. Typically constructed from cedar or redwood, wooden water towers are lightweight, durable, and naturally insulating, preventing freezing and outperforming metal alternatives in outdoor conditions. Although long-lasting, they are periodically replaced due to aging, structural deterioration, or safety concerns. New York City is estimated to have between 10,000 and 15,000 functioning water towers, with older units routinely decommissioned."

Second Place
Pasang by Malvin Bastian Sendi & Selina Sunardi of Indonesia

Project excerpt: "Muara Angke is a dense coastal district and one of Jakarta’s most important fisheries hubs. Over the past five years, tidal flooding has become increasingly frequent and severe. Seawater now reaches homes, streets, and places of work, making flooding part of daily life. In a context of economic vulnerability, one job is rarely enough. Homes function as both living and working spaces, where fish are sold, mussels are processed, catches are dried, boats are repaired, and neighbors gather. Pasang responds with a flexible terrace module, allowing a single space to support multiple household and community activities."

Third Place
Aanehaadu by Akash & Bhushan M of India

Project excerpt: "The mahout rides and commands. The kavadi, his assistant, bathes the elephant each morning, stores its fodder, keep watch through the night. Together they tend a kumki, a trained elephant deployed to locate and calm wild herds deep inside Nagarahole, the word itself from the Persian kumak, meaning aid. It is one of the oldest professions in this forest. It has never had adequate housing. Anehaadu addresses that directly. The structure lifts off the forest floor on bamboo and timber stilts, keeping the men above predators and flood, giving them sightlines across the canopy. Below sits a bathing pond for the elephant and a granary for its feed. The building material is entirely local: bamboo, timber, mud plaster, and stone. The asymmetric roof harvests rainwater, made potable on site. Solar panels on the upper face power the unit off-grid. The woven bamboo façade regulates heat without mechanical assistance."

Student Award
Attach - e by Siddharth Laddha, Samyukta Tati & Sadhavi of India

Project excerpt: "Two field researchers live and work along the mangrove tributaries of the Sundarbans near the Arpangasia River. Their research focuses on the fragile ecological interface where birds hunt fish along tidal riverbanks. Following seasonal shifts in fish populations and migratory bird activity, they travel slowly along the river’s edge, relocating every few weeks to observe new feeding grounds. Their lifestyles are nomadic and immersive, living within the ecosystem they study, far from urban infrastructure. The house must therefore function as a self-sustaining research outpost, enabling two scientists to observe, record, and inhabit the dynamic landscape of mangrove forest and water."