A miniature library adjoins this tiny home that architect Sam Jacob and car brand MINI have built for this year's London Design Festival.

MINI created the 50-square-metre Urban Cabin as part of its ongoing MINI Living project, which is exploring new forms of urban living. The tiny cabin is designed for a future when homes become a shared resource.

Jacob was asked to make alterations to the cabin, to give it a distinct personality. His response was to attach a mini library onto one side, as a reaction to the closure of many of England's public libraries in recent year, due to digitisation and funding cuts.
The library is made out of a range of materials that are stacked together like bookshelves. Terazzo forms the base, while other layers are made out of expanding foam and translucent acrylic.
"The idea of the library is that it's actually built in the same way as the shelves work, so the materials are stacked almost as if they were books," Jacob told Dezeen at the opening of the cabin today.
"It's almost like a materials library," he added. "It starts more solid and it gets more transparent as it goes up."

The rough textures of Jacob's library provides a stark contrast to the exterior of the cabin, which is covered in copper panels and copper mesh, to provide reflections of the surroundings.

Jacob made other adaptations to the tiny residence, inspired by London life. For instance, a table folds down at the rear to form an informal outd...