Developer Riksbyggen and creative agency BBDO Nordics have designed three flats based on what a 25-year-old can afford to buy in Sweden today, with the smallest micro home measuring just 1.9 square metres.
The sizes of the three apartments were based on Riksbyggen's square metre index, which calculates how many square metres of housing a young person can afford based on income, property prices and mortgage conditions.
The calculations were made using data from government agency Statistics Sweden (SCB) and digital bank Avanza.
Riksbyggen and BBDO Nordics looked at incomes in three Swedish cities – Stockholm, Gothenburg and Umeå – to create a broad geographical spread when calculating the size of the homes, which the companies are calling Sweden's smallest apartments.
"Stockholm, Gothenburg and Umeå are among the Swedish cities where young people have a particularly strong need for housing, while also facing significant difficulties finding and affording it," BBDO Nordics art director Anton Bolin told Dezeen.
"Together, the three cities show that the issue affects young people across Sweden, from south to north."
After calculating what a 25-year-old with the national average income and savings could afford to buy in each city, the companies designed three tiny apartments: one measuring 1.9 square metres for Stockholm, a 3.1-square-metre flat for Gothenburg and a 4.5-square-metre home for Umeå.
"The idea is to make the housing crisis facing young people visible and tangible," Bolin said. "We see numbers and statistics about it everywhere, but they can easily become abstract."
"So we wanted to show exactly how much home an average 25-year-old can afford today, and let people experience that reality."
Bolin then worked with Bengt Svedlund from Stockholm company Dekormakarna to create the three flats, which were designed to look typically Swedish.
"We wanted the houses to look like typical Swedish homes, the kind of houses you see all over the country," Bolin said. "With familiar architecture and details, but at an unusual scale that makes the absurdity of the situation immediately clear."
Each of the three buildings has a distinctive design, ranging from more classical building types to contemporary housing.
"The first is inspired by turn-of-the-century style, with a rendered facade in 'Stockholm yellow', herringbone flooring, mullioned windows and ceiling mouldings," Bolin explained.
"The second draws on 1930s/40s functionalism, with clean lines, light pastel colours, linoleum flooring and a corrugated metal balcony," he continued.
"The third represents contemporary housing, with a brick facade and simpler, more functional materials."
One in five young people in Sweden still live with their parents, according to Bolin, who hopes that the project will ultimately help to rally public support for more affordable housing.
"We hope the project gets more people talking about the problem and puts housing higher on the political agenda," he said.
"That's why we launched the project ahead of Sweden's general election in September 2026. Our hope is that the next government will take action on the three housing reforms we believe are needed."
Previous micro homes featured on Dezeen include a house in a former wind turbine and an "aspirational" housing prototype in India.
The photography is by Jörgen Brennicke from Rockson.