Modern architecture may be famous for large expanses of glass — a departure from conventional punched openings in walls — however tiny windows still stay in many contemporary buildings. Oftentimes small windows provide a challenge for architects, that are otherwise composing facades with larger openings. Nevertheless tiny openings offer the potential for regions of attention, relief and at times whimsy. The next houses present several examples that juxtapose small windows from larger ones, and for a few we’ll go inside to see why these petite apertures exist.

Fivedot

While the windows within this home in Seattle aren’t overly large, the small windows nevertheless stick out from the corner windows visible here. Little square windows can be seen on the ground level, at the foreground and on the next floor, above the canopy.

Fivedot

Unsurprisingly, at least one of the tiny windows found in the past photo serves a toilet. Bathrooms are a logical space for small windows, because they allow privacy while still bringing in natural lighting. Here, the large window allows a perspective outdoors, however a soak in the tub doesn’t have any prying eyes.

Bruce D. Nagel Architect

The house on Long Island, in New York, has a number of small openings, 3 of them visible here: one is at the low link in the middle of the photo, and 2 are asymmetrically found in the quantity on the left.

Bruce D. Nagel Architect

Elsewhere in the house, a toilet is punctuated by three small openings (at least) on a corner. The sunlight cast on the very same walls allows it be known that the room also has a skylight, so the windows tend to be more about perspectives (of the green trees, it seems) than about bringing in natural lighting.

Bruce D. Nagel Architect

This view of the double-height living area in the exact same house has two small windows. While the interior (room-to-room) opening at the middle of the photo brings attention, the one in the peak of the staircase is considerably more interesting. It seems to exist so as to offer a view to a person standing at the peak of the staircase, a very thoughtful gesture.

Charles Rose Architects Inc..

Many of the walls at the aptly called Copper House are followed by large pieces of glass, as may be found at the left center of the photo. But the wood-clad quantity to the right features small windows. Here they’re both above and under a snaking canopy, also rendered in copper. (On a side note, the cantilevered scupper shooting to the left is just wonderful!)

Charles Rose Architects Inc..

A close-up of the timber volume reveals the way the windows are set deep into the outside walls. The windows also stick to the horizontal planks, so the wood turns the corner to serve as jambs in front of the windows.

Hugh Jefferson Randolph Architects

This classically modernist house has a variety of windows — large, horizontal, corner — but the tiny openings (one is visible at the middle of the photo) stand out from the whitewashed walls.

Hugh Jefferson Randolph Architects

Other tiny windows are visible everywhere in the undertaking, and it is a grouping of condos, not a single-family house. According to earlier examples, it’s a safe guess that those windows serve bathrooms.

Hugh Jefferson Randolph Architects

Another project by the exact same architect, but at a really different fashion, shows small windows appearing but more frequently. It’s not surprising that this is actually the house’s side altitude, where the informality of this window composition is more acceptable (front facades being more formal in nature).

John Senhauser Architects

The grass roofing of this distinctive house certainly brings the most attention, however the horizontal articulation of the tiny windows is quite intriguing, like a line of Morse code. The row of windows sits just above door height, and a few are set back from the timber facade.

John Senhauser Architects

At the blow off portion the windows serve as clerestories in the kitchen. Looking through the window onto the left reveals an even smaller opening at the wood walls, that serves the entry and supplies the facade its own rhythm.

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