BLOCK BY BLOCK FILM SERIES

In 2003, eight Rhode Island artists led by Michael Townsend, quietly built a fully furnished apartment inside the Providence Place Mall — and lived there, on and off, for four years, documenting it all on film. Working mostly at night, they carried in furniture piece by piece, ran a line to the mall’s electrical system, and even built a wall, hauling in more than two tons of cinderblock by hand.

What began as an audacious act of ingenuity became something more lasting: a quiet, hidden home carved out of unused space hidden within the mall’s parking lot. The story raises questions that feel especially relevant today — about who gets to belong in our cities, what we do with the space we’re not using, and how far people will go to find a place to call their own when housing feels increasingly out of reach. Equal parts heist story, art project, and meditation on home, Secret Mall Apartment is a genuinely surprising look at creativity, community, and the search for shelter in an unlikely place.