Gary Chang has lived in the same 32 square meters (344 square feet) for nearly his entire life. Nearly 40 years ago, he moved into the tiny apartment with not only his parents and 3 younger sisters, but they rented a room to a tenant.

During his childhood the space was divided into several small rooms- kitchen, bathrooms and 3 bedrooms (Chang slept on the couch). In 1988 when his family moved out (into something bigger), Chang bought the place from the landlord for $45,000 and began his experiments in small space design.

Today, at first glance, the small space appears a fairly average open studio, but with pulls on handles, walls slide across steel tracks, Chang can have a “maximum kitchen”, a guest bedroom, a library, dining room, laundry-room and even a spa: one walls slides to reveal an extra-large Duravit bathtub.

His home is tricked out with a wall-sized movie screen, a shower with color therapy and massage that doubles as a steam room, but Chang argues that the moving walls are fairly low-tech. And while he can control his appliances with his smartphone he usually prefers the manual option.

Chang is now an architect (Edge Design) with a focus on micro-apartments.

* Filmed by Johnny Sanphillippo, owner of a small, mortgage-free home. He also films for the site Strong Towns.