These People Are Living in a Tiny Apartment in the Middle of a Museum

More Americans are staying single longer, or never marrying at all. But just because they’re opting for the bachelor lifestyle doesn’t mean they want to dwell in the stereotypical bachelor pad. The combined forces of population growth and the ongoing rural-to-urban shift mean that all of these single urbanites are going to be fighting for space. But how can you retain your classy lifestyle as the walls move in around you?

Enter the micro-apartments currently on display at the Museum of the City of New York, a set of highly-designed, versatile, compressed dwellings meant to make the most of a theoretical 325-square-foot space.

Building for micro-apartment living is nothing new. A few months ago, in fact, a team of Italian prisoners unveiled their designs for small-space living. What makes the Museum’s designs particularly interesting is that they’re putting them to the test. Curbed live-blogged a day living in one of the units, and according to the New York Times the sleepovers will continue throughout the weekend.

More from Smithsonian.com:

Prisoners Have Some Ingenious Ideas on How to Make the Most of Tiny Apartments

Transforming Micro-Unit at the Museum of the City of New York

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Colin Schultz | | READ MORE

Colin Schultz is a freelance science writer and editor based in Toronto, Canada. He blogs for Smart News and contributes to the American Geophysical Union. He has a B.Sc. in physical science and philosophy, and a M.A. in journalism.