Take a Very Brief Tour of 105 Sq Ft Apartment

In this short piece from CCTV, we see the interior of Genevieve Shuler’s 105 Sq Ft NYC apartment. Shuler pays $800 for the packed-to-the-gills West Village mico-unit. She has lived there for 8 years and apparently feels there’s more than enough space for her, evidenced by the fact she has a roommate: her cat Ruby.

The tour was part of CCTV’s coverage of the adAPT NYC competition. The segment included Senior Policy Analyst of the Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council (CHPCNY) Sarah Watson. Spearheaded by executive director Jerilyn Perine, CHPCNY was one of the main initiators of the adAPT NYC competition and is the city’s biggest advocate for small-space policy reform.

One of the biggest hurdles facing building small is policy reform. As the segment indicated, the smallest you can build in NYC is currently 400 sq ft. As we see with Shuler and many others, a person can live quite comfortably in far less space. Similarly, no more than 3 unrelated persons can occupy the same space legally (though this author can attest that that policy is seldom enforced). Tenant advocacy is very important but, as is the case in New York, policy is often out of step with tenant needs and advancements in building design.

While Shuler shows that people can–if necessary–live happily in super tiny apartments, we think the best is yet to come in small living; where micro units will be designed from the ground floor to optimize the living experience. San Francisco’s SmartSpace is a great example of that. Before that happens, policy reform will have to take place in many regions. The adAPt NYC competition and CHPCNY are making that look like a likely reality.

• Fidget Your Way to a Leaner, Longer Life
• NYC’s First Micro-Apartment Building is (Almost) Ready to Rock
• 300 Sq Ft Mock-Up for adAPT NYC Dines 8, Sleeps 3
• Are Micro-Units Helping or Hurting Our Cities?
• The State of Small in New York City