NYC's 'Microstudio': Is 325 Square Feet the Future of Housing for City Dwellers?

Updated Jan 23rd 2013 9:03PM

Unless you're in college. the prospect of living in a tiny, 325-square-foot apartment probably sounds like a nightmare. But according to a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, this living situation could be the future for many single city-dwellers.

MCNY's latest exhibit, "Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers," explores the future of housing in dense urban areas such as New York City. Through the exhibition of innovative new housing models, provided by architects affiliated with the Citizens Housing Planning Council and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's adAPT NYC program. ideas surrounding the changing demographic of cities and a need for greater efficiency were explored.

CHPC research, for example, has shown that almost half of New York City's population is comprised of single adults. But this is not reflected in the housing options and needs available to city dwellers: Only 1.5 percent of New York City's rental housing stock is made up of studios or one-bedroom apartments ready for occupancy, said Sarah Watson, senior policy analyst at CHPC. This has caused the rampant growth of illegal living situations.

"Currently, laws in New York City are still based on the demographics and living arrangements of the 1960s," said Watson. "We need to move forward."

Moving forward could take the physical form of a 325-square-foot "microstudio" apartment with transformable furniture. (See the gallery below.) Though apartments under 400 square feet are illegal in most of the city, Mayor Bloomberg is currently exploring ways in which such micro-units could be tested in New York City.