Could you live (happily) in a micro apartment?

[MineralMan]

36. I'd prefer a larger space, but would do fine there.

At one time, I designed a living space that was only 120 sq. feet, but it had a sleeping loft of 48 sq. feet which added to the space. It was solar heated, had a skylight for additional daytime lighting, and was heavily insulated. Every single furnishing in it was custom-designed and built-in, and everything that a person sat on or laid on was also a storage space.

I built it as a standalone building in the backyard of my house and rented it to a college student for about three years. Then I converted it into an office for myself. The student liked it very much, and made excellent use of its design features.

Today, with flat-screen TVs and computer monitors it would have been even more convenient. For me, the only real inconvenience that was required was the shower, which was one of those camper-style showers. The bathroom and shower were the most difficult thing to deal with, but the solution worked out fairly well, and the student who lived there never complained about that feature.

I had sketched out the plans for a village of such living spaces, where they were clustered in groups and built as modular structures with varying numbers of individual spaces. Working with a developer, I attempted to create a small development of 36 units near the local university, but were never able to get approval, despite having one test unit that was occupied full time for a couple of years.

Another idea, another time. It would have been fun, though.