Artists Built Secret Apartment in Mall

[davepeck]

Artists Built Secret Apartment in Mall

From Associated Press
October 02, 2007 4:35 PM EDT
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The leader of an artists\' cooperative has been sentenced to probation for setting up a secret apartment inside a shopping mall\'s parking garage as part of a project on mall life.

Michael Townsend, 36, said he and seven other artists built the 750-square-foot apartment beginning in 2003 and lived there for up to three weeks at a time.

The artists built a cinderblock wall and nondescript utility door to keep the loft hidden from the outside world.

But inside, the apartment was fully furnished, down to a hutch filled with china and a Sony Playstation 2 - although a burglar broke in and stole the Playstation last spring, Townsend said.

There was no running water - instead they used the mall bathrooms.

On his Web site, Townsend said he was inspired by a Christmastime ad for the mall which featured a "an enthusiastic female voice talking about how great it would be if you (we) could live at the mall."

He built the dwelling "out of a compassion to understand the mall more and life as a shopper."

Townsend said plans to make the apartment "super-sweet" with laminated wood flooring and other perks fell apart last week after he and a visiting artist from Hong Kong walked into the room and were greeted by three security guards. He pleaded no contest to a trespassing charge.

Providence Place Mall spokesman Dante Bellini Jr. described the living space as little more than "an area with stuff in it."

But Providence Police Maj. Stephen Campbell said he and other detectives were so intrigued they visited the apartment to see for themselves.

"I was surprised at what he was able to accomplish," Campbell said. "But what he did was clearly criminal. The mall is private property."

their website is here:

http://trummerkind.com/mall/Living_in_the_Mall.html

fantastic.

[leith]

Awesome!

[derickw]

you just heard about this.... live rent free for a couple months

the mall is huge and right in the middle of downtown Prov. i guess it\'s pretty easy to slip through the cracks around there.

[solver]

Townsend said plans to make the apartment "super-sweet" with laminated wood flooring and other perks fell apart last week after he and a visiting artist from Hong Kong walked into the room and were greeted by three security guards. He pleaded no contest to a trespassing charge.

rotfl
 
this sounds like textbook onion material!

[ds673488]

the mall is huge and right in the middle of downtown Prov. i guess it\'s pretty easy to slip through the cracks around there.

I used to live in providence, that mall is enormous

[Todd]

Ha!! 4 years??

[FreeSpirit]

wow!  that\'s so cool... but, how could seven people actually pull off living in the mall?  aren\'t there cameras & security equipment?!  I call shenanigans

[kindm's]

wow!  that\'s so cool... but, how could seven people actually pull off living in the mall?  aren\'t there cameras & security equipment?!  I call shenanigans

The article I read about this yesterday said he did not live there full-time. I guess the guy lived close by and watched as they built the mall. According to the article he noticed or discovered a space in the mall used for the construction but was abandoned after the completion. 750Sq ft I think it said.

I couldn\'t watch the video on his website because I didn\'t want to upgrade quicktime

[derickw]

from what i understand the guys girlfriend was doing a documentary on malls and want not and they stumbled on this room that had no security to it. i guess it didn\'t really go anywhere so i guess it wasn\'t that big a deal

[Spacey]

ser heard about this but now I finally understand it.