Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Why are apartments shrinking across America — and why does every tiny unit look exactly the same?
In 2017, Chicago's first purpose-built micro-apartment building opened, and people couldn't understand why anyone would choose to live in 350 square feet. But since then, these tiny units have become the norm in cities across the country — renting for $1,000 to over $2,000 a month, roughly what a two-bedroom costs elsewhere.
In this video, I break down why micro-apartments all share the same oddly specific layout, why building them actually costs *more* than larger units, and why the real story behind their spread isn't developer greed — it's a collision of plumbing logic, accessibility codes, zoning laws, and a massive demographic shift toward single-person households.
Topics covered:
— Why micro-apartment floor plans are essentially dictated by building codes
— The surprising math of micro-unit development costs vs. revenue
— How the average American household shrank from 3+ people to about 2.5
— Why 40% of Chicago households are just one person
— What happened when Seattle tried to restrict micro-housing
— The real housing types that are missing from American neighborhoods
__Special Thanks__
Evan Montgomery: Producer
Daniela Osorio Sanudo: Graphics
__Sources & further reading__
Urban Land Institute. *The Macro View on Micro Units*. Washington, DC: ULI, 2014.
Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. *The State of Rental Housing in Cook County*. Chicago: DePaul University, 2023.
U.S. Census Bureau. "Households by Type and Size: Chicago City, Illinois." *American Community Survey*, 5-Year Estimates, 2022.
Parolek, Daniel. *Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today's Housing Crisis*. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2020.
Glaeser, Edward L., and Joseph Gyourko. "The Impact of Building Restrictions on Housing Affordability." *Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review* 9, no. 2 (2003): 21–39.
Sightline Institute. *Micro-Housing in Seattle: Policy Lessons from the Front Lines*. Seattle: Sightline Institute, 2016.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. *The State of the Nation's Housing 2024*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2024.
National Low Income Housing Coalition. *The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes*. Washington, DC: NLIHC, 2024.
Pew Research Center. "Americans' Views of Housing Affordability and Supply." Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2024.
Klinenberg, Eric. *Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone*. New York: Penguin Press, 2012.
City of Chicago. *Chicago Building Code, Title 14B: Chicago Zoning Ordinance*. Municipal Code of Chicago.
__Membership__
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCYAm24PkejQR2xMgJgn7xwg/join
__About the Channel__
Architecture with Stewart is a YouTube journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
__About Me__
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
__Contact__
FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: https://arch.uic.edu/
__Attributions__
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images, Storyblocks, and Shutterstock.
Music provided by Epidemic Sound and includes music from Chromatic by Tom Fox
youtube.com/@chromaticbytomfox"
#architecture #urbandesign
Why are apartments shrinking across America — and why does every tiny unit look exactly the same?
In 2017, Chicago's first purpose-built micro-apartment building opened, and people couldn't understand why anyone would choose to live in 350 square feet. But since then, these tiny units have become the norm in cities across the country — renting for $1,000 to over $2,000 a month, roughly what a two-bedroom costs elsewhere.
In this video, I break down why micro-apartments all share the same oddly specific layout, why building them actually costs *more* than larger units, and why the real story behind their spread isn't developer greed — it's a collision of plumbing logic, accessibility codes, zoning laws, and a massive demographic shift toward single-person households.
Topics covered:
— Why micro-apartment floor plans are essentially dictated by building codes
— The surprising math of micro-unit development costs vs. revenue
— How the average American household shrank from 3+ people to about 2.5
— Why 40% of Chicago households are just one person
— What happened when Seattle tried to restrict micro-housing
— The real housing types that are missing from American neighborhoods
__Special Thanks__
Evan Montgomery: Producer
Daniela Osorio Sanudo: Graphics
__Sources & further reading__
Urban Land Institute. *The Macro View on Micro Units*. Washington, DC: ULI, 2014.
Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. *The State of Rental Housing in Cook County*. Chicago: DePaul University, 2023.
U.S. Census Bureau. "Households by Type and Size: Chicago City, Illinois." *American Community Survey*, 5-Year Estimates, 2022.
Parolek, Daniel. *Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today's Housing Crisis*. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2020.
Glaeser, Edward L., and Joseph Gyourko. "The Impact of Building Restrictions on Housing Affordability." *Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review* 9, no. 2 (2003): 21–39.
Sightline Institute. *Micro-Housing in Seattle: Policy Lessons from the Front Lines*. Seattle: Sightline Institute, 2016.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. *The State of the Nation's Housing 2024*. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2024.
National Low Income Housing Coalition. *The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes*. Washington, DC: NLIHC, 2024.
Pew Research Center. "Americans' Views of Housing Affordability and Supply." Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2024.
Klinenberg, Eric. *Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone*. New York: Penguin Press, 2012.
City of Chicago. *Chicago Building Code, Title 14B: Chicago Zoning Ordinance*. Municipal Code of Chicago.
__Membership__
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCYAm24PkejQR2xMgJgn7xwg/join
__About the Channel__
Architecture with Stewart is a YouTube journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
__About Me__
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
__Contact__
FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: https://arch.uic.edu/
__Attributions__
Stock video and imagery provided by Getty Images, Storyblocks, and Shutterstock.
Music provided by Epidemic Sound and includes music from Chromatic by Tom Fox
youtube.com/@chromaticbytomfox"
#architecture #urbandesign
![Inside a Bizarre LOST House for Josephine Baker [by Adolf Loos]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f70UfPWo4eA/mqdefault.jpg "Inside a Bizarre LOST House for Josephine Baker [by Adolf Loos]
The unbuilt design of a home for Josephine Baker by the architect Adolf Loos is perhaps one of the most analyzed unbuilt homes of Modernism. Its design and history touch on a number of complex social and political issues during the early 20th century. The design comes when Josephine Baker, an African American entertainer is beginning her rise to superstardom and represents a thoroughly modern and fresh artistic voice. Meanwhile, Adolf Loos was a physically ailing man on a steep moral and social decline. The house itself was never truly commissioned by Baker, rather it lives mostly as a fantasy concocted by the architect. This video presents the house through a 3D model and narrated walkthrough to discuss how and why the house was designed and allow you to explore this unique house for yourself.
Link to explore the Josephine Baker House
https://api2.enscape3d.com/v1/view/8050d35a-a5d6-4fa8-9dd4-94c83601e341
Membership
Join this channel for access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYAm24PkejQR2xMgJgn7xwg/join
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:30 Timeline
04:06 Analysis
07:08 3D Modeling
08:03 Exploration
10:38 Takeaways
About the Channel
Architecture with Stewart is a YouTube journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
About Me
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.")
![Explore Toyo Itos LOST Masterpiece [U House]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hk_zVp9jf1E/mqdefault.jpg "Explore Toyo Itos LOST Masterpiece [U House]
What if you could visit some of architectures most famous but unbuilt or demolished structures?
The U House is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of Pritzker Prize winning architect Toyo Ito. It was designed specifically to nurture his sister and two daughters after they lost their father to cancer. Decades later, the house sat empty once the family had eventually moved on from the grips of their grief. In 1997, the house was demolished to clear the site for sale and today the building only lives on in memory, drawing, and images. In this episode of Architecture with Stewart, he reconstructs the U House to simulate what it would have been like to visit in real life. After a forensic investigation and a close analysis of its program and geometry, he builds a 3D model and navigates it in the real-time render engine Enscape and offers a link for you to explore as well. What hidden treasures are lurking inside this important building lost to the wrecking ball?
Link to explore the U House: https://api2.enscape3d.com/v1/view/788c9f78-98ef-4c12-bf20-807517a585ff
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:07 The Timeline
02:34 Background of the U House
03:50 Analyzing the U House
07:27 Rebuilding the U House
08:32 Exploring the U House
10:45 The Takeaways
Architecture with Stewart is a YouTube journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco
Design With Company: https://designwith.co
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: https://arch.uic.edu/")
