Providence, Rhode Island. 2003. While the rest of the world was obsessing over the launch of iTunes or the final season of Friends, a small group of artists was busy hauling cinder blocks into a parking garage. They weren’t building a wall. They were building a home. Most people have heard whispers about the secret mall apartment, but few actually know how to watch the original footage or understand the sheer ballsiness it took to pull this off.
It wasn’t just a prank. It was a four-year-long middle finger to urban development.
Michael Townsend and his friends didn’t just "hide" in the Providence Place Mall. They lived there. They had a sofa. They had a PlayStation. They even had a hutch filled with china. If you’re trying to figure out how to watch the documentary or see the original tapes of this architectural heist, you have to look for It’s This Happiness, the primary film that chronicles the life of the Trummerkind collective and their 750-square-foot luxury bunker.
Why Everyone Is Still Obsessed With the Secret Mall Apartment
Honestly, the appeal is obvious. Who hasn't looked at a massive, climate-controlled shopping center and thought, "I could just stay here forever"?
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Townsend and his crew took that intrusive thought and turned it into a concrete reality. They found a "dead space" in the mall’s blueprints—a pocket of air left over by the construction of the parking garage—and decided it belonged to them. They didn't pay rent. They didn't have windows. But they had the ultimate 21st-century hideout.
The story went viral decades after it happened because it taps into a deep-seated human desire for "liminal spaces" and the reclamation of corporate property. When you watch the grainy, low-res footage from the early 2000s, you aren't just seeing a room. You're seeing a weird, DIY rebellion. They spent years sneaking in and out, avoiding security guards, and even hosting "dinner parties" where guests had to be led through dark corridors with flashlights.
Where to Actually Watch the Footage
If you want to see the real deal, you have to be specific. You’ll find clips scattered across YouTube, but the definitive source is the documentary It's This Happiness.
Directed by Jason Loomis, the film explores Michael Townsend’s philosophy. It’s not a shiny, high-definition Netflix special. It’s raw. It feels like a home movie because, well, it was. You can often find the documentary on Vimeo or through independent film festivals that focus on urban exploration and "culture jamming."
Search for these specific titles to find the best versions:
- It’s This Happiness (The full documentary)
- The Secret Apartment (News segments from 2007)
- Michael Townsend Providence Place Mall (Original raw clips)
Beware of the "re-enactment" videos. A lot of modern YouTubers try to recreate the "vibe" by hiding in Targets or IKEA stores overnight. Those are clickbait. The original secret mall apartment was a permanent residence. They weren't just staying the night; they were living a life.
The Cinder Block Strategy
They built the wall one block at a time. To get the materials in, they would buy things from the mall itself or smuggle them in through the garage. Townsend has noted in interviews that the hardest part wasn't the construction. It was the silence. They had to be quiet. No loud music. No shouting. Just the hum of the mall's HVAC system keeping them company.
They even had a TV, though they couldn't get cable. They watched tapes. Imagine sitting in a hidden room, feet away from a Foot Locker, watching a movie while thousands of shoppers walk by, completely oblivious to your existence. It's wild.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Discovery
The end didn't come because they were messy. It came because of a fluke.
In 2007, security guards finally noticed a door that shouldn't have been there. Or rather, they noticed people where people shouldn't be. When the police finally entered the space, they were stunned. They expected a homeless encampment. Instead, they found a fully furnished apartment.
The most legendary detail? The guards found a PlayStation 2. Townsend was charged with trespassing, given probation, and banned from the mall for life. He actually tried to go back years later, disguised, but the mall's facial recognition or observant security caught him. He's a legend in Providence, but he's persona non grata at the food court.
The Legacy of the Trummerkind
You’ve got to understand the context. This wasn't just about free rent. It was a protest against the "mall-ification" of America. Townsend saw the Providence Place Mall as a monolith that destroyed the local neighborhood's character. By living inside it, he was "consuming" the consumerist space from the inside out.
It's a concept called "Psychogeography."
It’s the idea that we should interact with our urban environments in ways they weren't intended for. If a mall is built for shopping, you should use it for sleeping. If a garage is for cars, you should use it for art. When you watch secret mall apartment videos, you’re watching a masterclass in this philosophy.
How to Dig Deeper into Urban Exploration
If this story fascinates you, the "mall apartment" is just the tip of the iceberg. The early 2000s were a golden age for this kind of stuff.
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- Look into the work of Lebbeus Woods, an architect who dreamed of "war zones" and unconventional spaces.
- Research The Cave Clan in Australia, who mapped out entire subterranean cities.
- Check out the Wonderland mall in San Antonio, which has its own weird, semi-hidden history of community use.
Actionable Steps for the Curious
Stop looking for a 4K Netflix link. It doesn't exist. To truly understand this story, you need to go to the source.
- Check Vimeo first. Search for It's This Happiness. It’s often hosted there by independent creators or the filmmakers themselves.
- Use the Internet Archive. (Archive.org) is a goldmine for old Rhode Island news broadcasts from 2007. Search for "Providence Place Mall Apartment" to see the original local news reports from the day the story broke.
- Read Michael Townsend’s own accounts. He has written extensively about his "banishment" and the philosophy of the project. His writing is often found on art blogs and urbanist forums.
- Visit the mall (maybe). If you’re ever in Providence, you can still see the exterior of the garage where the apartment was located. You can't get inside the "room"—it’s been filled with concrete or reinforced—but standing near the site gives you a real sense of the scale.
The secret mall apartment reminds us that the world is more flexible than we think. There are cracks in the system. There are hollow spaces in the walls. And sometimes, if you’re brave enough to carry a few cinder blocks, you can turn a corporate void into a home. Just don't expect to keep your PlayStation once the guards find you.
To fully grasp the technical layout of how they tapped into the mall's electricity, look for the "underground" circuit diagrams often discussed in urban exploration forums like UER (Urban Exploration Resource). These communities have archived threads dating back to the mid-2000s that discuss the logistics of the Providence project in obsessive detail. Reading these posts provides a much more granular look at the engineering challenges than any brief news clip ever could.