The pros and cons, and there are equal servings of both, of living in the middle of nowhere. Brian Fey, who moved into the depths of a Mexican forest almost ten years ago, outlines the ups and downs of the experience.

I will never run out of work or projects. There is a lot of land. I can make art, reproduce plants, and implement any vision I have energy for.

I’ve pointed out small Hong Kong apartments before but here is a collection of photos taken from the ceilings of these so-called cubicle apartments. I’m sure I’ve seen cubicles in workplaces that are larger.

Some food for thought. The pace of US economic recovery, which has been relatively tentative to date (go read about QE3), may depend a lot on the purchasing intentions of Millennials, or Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 2000, give or take, who so far seem to be showing little interest in making big purchases, such as cars and houses.

All of these strategies share a few key assumptions: that demand for cars within the Millennial generation is just waiting to be unlocked; that as the economy slowly recovers, today’s young people will eventually want to buy cars as much as their parents and grandparents did; that a finer-tuned appeal to Millennial values can coax them into dealerships. Perhaps. But what if these assumptions are simply wrong? What if Millennials’ aversion to car-buying isn’t a temporary side effect of the recession, but part of a permanent generational shift in tastes and spending habits? It’s a question that applies not only to cars, but to several other traditional categories of big spending – most notably, housing. And its answer has large implications for the future shape of the economy – and for the speed of recovery.

The sounds of an abandoned house’s long absent occupants render “Forgotten”, a short film by Michael Cameneti, undeniably haunting.

If smartphones have have effectively shrunk the size of computers, and I’m thinking of the desktop devices of say ten years ago, then it’s time we considered applying the same proportions to our homes. And it’s not as if people are struggling to live reasonably comfortably in spaces that are the size of the average garden shed either…

Beijing architect Dai Haifei seems quite happy living in an egg shaped shelter, while Jay Schafer – a designer of tiny, portable houses – lives in an approximately 31 square metre (100 square feet) home.

Meanwhile for those also wishing to eat in small spaces, converted food carts are becoming increasingly diverse dining and entertaining venues.

Creative professionals reminisce about the dwellings – which range from caravans to farmhouses – where they spent their childhood.

I had been away from this state for over 20 years, and it took a great deal of courage to make the trip from Yosemite to visit 50 Villa Street. I tried not to think of what it might look like. Unbidden, images of decay arose, or perhaps an apartment building standing where I used to play.

Curious and bizarre, designs for 26 “dream houses” fashioned on letters of the alphabet, by Scott Teplin.

More of the ancient rock dwellings in Cappadocia, Turkey.

A small hillside village we spotted as we headed east in Turkey.

The things people will do to get around building regulations, even if that means building a house that is just 12 feet (about 3.7 metres) wide.

And despite being about the height of an average two-story house it is referred to as a “mini skyscraper”.

Lofty ambitions possibly?