This series shows life in a public temporary housing project that was set up as a response to the housing shortage in Brussels. Thanks to an organisation called ‘Samenlevingsopbouw’
a couple of abandoned buildings next to the Brussels-South railway station were made available as temporary homes; a dozen families got housing there at very affordable prices. At the same time these families received coaching, and a savings plan was drawn up for after their stay in the project. I followed three families for a couple of months: Nabil and Rachida from Algeria, who have four kids, Irina and her sister Svetlana from Ukraine, and Nicolas from Argentina.
I was struck by how each of them, in their own way, managed to turn the originally almost identical apartments into unique and personal homes with clear references to their home countries. And by how they succeeded in creating a cosy and warm place to live for their families, with limited means.
Si l’on nous demandait le bienfait le plus précieux de la maison,
nous dirions: la maison abrite la rêverie, la maison protège le rêveur,
la maison nous permet de rêver en paix.
Gaston Bachelard, philosopher
