A Series on Urban Transformation and Its Impact on Everyday Life
Located in a bustling area of south London, near a busy Underground station and a network of bus routes, one can find an extraordinary sight. It’s a tiny house, measuring only 27 square feet, nestled inside a dumpster.
The plywood house features a central floor area, wall shelves for storage (which can also be used as seating), a kitchen counter with a sink, hot plate, and a small refrigerator, as well as a mezzanine with a mattress under a vaulted roof. However, this unique abode lacks running water and has a portable toilet situated outside.
This unconventional living space, known as the “skip house,” was conceptualized and built by Harrison Marshall, a 29-year-old British architect and artist known for his design work on community buildings like schools and health centers in the UK and abroad. Since moving into this rent-free dumpster home in January, Marshall’s social media videos showcasing the space have garnered tens of millions of views and sparked numerous inquiries in a city where studio apartments rent for a minimum of $2,000 per month.
“People are increasingly forced to live in smaller and smaller spaces, such as microapartments and tiny houses, just to make ends meet,” Marshall explained in a recent phone interview. “While there are undeniable benefits to minimal living, it should be an option rather than a necessity.”
Social media platforms have become a hotbed for content featuring microapartments and tiny homes like Marshall’s, sparking immense curiosity about this way of life. These compact living spaces have captivated viewers, whether due to soaring housing prices or a desire to explore alternative lifestyles as portrayed on platforms like the Never Too Small YouTube channel. However, despite the attention garnered on social media, it hasn’t necessarily translated into a surge of people rushing to move into such spaces, possibly because living in these compact homes can be challenging. Marshall highlighted that 80% of those who contacted him expressing interest in living in a skip house like his were not genuinely committed, and most of the enthusiasm surrounding it was merely fleeting buzz.
In Marshall’s opinion, the appeal of tiny homes stems from the overexposure of luxury living. “People have become immune to it through social media,” he noted. According to him, people are more intrigued by content featuring a “nomadic lifestyle” or “living off the grid,” without considering the practical challenges like limited access to showers and the use of portable outdoor toilets.
The recent resurgence of people flocking back to major cities after the pandemic has resulted in skyrocketing rents, amplifying the demand for affordable housing, including spaces barely larger than a parking spot. However, while social media audiences may perceive this lifestyle as “relatable and entertaining,” as one expert puts it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will follow suit.
According to Karen North, a professor of digital social media at the University of Southern California, viewers of microapartment videos are akin to visitors exploring the cells of the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. They relish immersing themselves in the extremes of the housing scale.
“Our desire to connect with people, including influencers, celebrities, or those living in different places with different lifestyles, can all be witnessed on social media, as it allows us to establish a personal connection,” she explained.
Pablo J. Boczkowski, a professor of communications studies at Northwestern University, believes that despite the belief in the powerful influence of new technologies, millions of clicks do not necessarily translate into a complete lifestyle shift.
“Based on the data we have so far, there is no evidence to suggest that social media can genuinely change behavior in such a way,” he stated.
Although these small living spaces may not be the most common choice, those who do opt for them are often driven by real pressures. For individuals seeking to work and live in major cities, the post-pandemic housing situation is dire. In June, the average rental price in Manhattan was $5,470, according to a report by real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman. Across the city, the current average rent stands at $3,644, as reported by Apartments.com.
London faces a similar housing predicament. In the first quarter of this year, the average monthly rent in the British capital reached a record high of around $3,165, as residents who had left the city during lockdown returned in droves.
City dwellers in Asia also encounter comparable pressures and costs. In Tokyo, the average monthly rent hit a record high for the third consecutive month in March, currently standing at approximately $4,900.
When 21-year-old Ryan Crouse relocated to Tokyo from New York in May 2022, where he had been studying business at Marymount Manhattan College, he rented a microapartment spanning 172 square feet for $485 per month. His Tokyo studio became viral, accumulating between 20 to 30 million views across various platforms. Mr. Crouse has since moved to a larger space this May.
Situated in a central location, his former apartment featured a minuscule bathroom where he could literally touch both walls, a roasting hot mezzanine sleeping area beneath the roof during summer, and a compact sofa he could barely sit on. Regarding microstudios, Crouse remarked that many people are attracted to the idea without actually pursuing it. They enjoy glimpses into the lives of others.
Crouse believes that the pandemic heightened this curiosity. During the lockdown, “everyone was on social media, sharing their spaces” and “sharing their lives,” leading apartment tour videos to explode in popularity. “That really shed light on tiny spaces like this,” he explained.
Alaina Randazzo, a media planner based in New York, experienced a similar frenzy of curiosity on social media during her year-long stint in an 80-square-foot microapartment in Midtown Manhattan, which cost $650 per month. Her microstudio had a sink but lacked a toilet or shower, which were located down the hall and shared.
Randazzo had downsized to the microstudio in January 2022, following six months in an expensive luxury rental that significantly depleted her finances. In her compact space, doing dishes in the small sink was impractical, so she had to rely on disposable plates. The absence of a window made it difficult to ventilate cooking smells, and she had to be meticulous about the clothing she purchased, as storage was extremely limited.
Nonetheless, her TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram videos showcasing her microapartment garnered tens of millions of views. YouTube influencers, including one with a cooking series, even conducted on-location shoots in her microstudio, and rappers messaged her requesting the same. She revealed that the pictures often made the space appear larger than it actually was, and there were various challenges to navigate that people often overlook.
“There’s a certain coolness factor associated with microstudios these days,” Randazzo remarked, “because you’re selling someone on the dream that they can be successful in New York without being judged for living in a tiny pad. Additionally, our generation appreciates authenticity. They want to see someone genuinely building a career and saving money for the future.”
However, Randazzo knew it was not a sustainable lifestyle for her beyond a year. She now shares a spacious bedroom in a large townhouse in New York and has no regrets about her microapartment experience. “I cherish the sense of community it brought me, but I definitely don’t miss bumping my head on the ceiling,” she concluded.
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