At noon yesterday, we moved into the 325-square-foot micro-apartment on the third floor of the Museum of the City of New York. The apartment is part of an exhibition, "Making Room," focused on demographic change and housing alternatives. We stayed overnight, avoided being haunted by the ghosts of the museum's costume collection, and met a few small-living celebrities, architects, and Curbed readers who stopped by to evaluate the small space. Our verdict: pretty livable! (Even if the transforming furniture isn't quite as easy to use as the Resource Furniture reps make it seem.) By this morning, we were acting as informal tour guides to museum visitors who passed through.
The "Making Room" exhibit closes September 2, and after that, the micro-unit is looking for a new home, according to Sarah Watson of CHPC, who visited us earlier this morning. Watson thinks an office building lobby might be a good place for the unit to live?any landlords interested?
As for the future of micro-units as a whole, construction will begin soon on a whole building full of micro-units at 335 East 27th Street. The building will contain 55 apartments between 250 and 370 square feet. As one Curbed commenter pointed out yesterday, "This size is NOT unusual for NYC! Everyone is acting like it's cruel and unusual punishment, but, honestly, it's all too common for the city and has been for decades. I can think of a dozen friends who live in apartments this size, built before the 1980's law about building 400+ s.f. units. They're small units but perfectly livable. And for anyone making less that six digit incomes, this is pretty much all you can afford if you want to stay in Manhattan."
It's true that these apartments exist, but as various visiting experts pointed out during our 24-hour stint, the supply doesn't yet meet the demographic demand. As more micro-apartments are constructed?assuming city housing policy is altered to allow for them?more companies will also get in on the furniture-creation game, Watson points out, hopefully allowing for more affordable alternatives to the furniture we've been using.
And on that note, our modern-day Mixed-Up Files comes to an end. Thanks for following along.
· Liveblogging 24 Hours in a 325-Square-Foot Apartment [Curbed]
· 24 Hours in a 325-Square-Foot Apartment: The Night Shift [Curbed]
· 24 Hours in a 325-Square-Foot Apartment: A New Day [Curbed]
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