Regine March 17, 2009 architecture, ARCO, photography

ARCO discovery: Case Study Homes

Hey! looks who’s back from last month limbo! It’s the ARCO post. A very concise one to share an artist or artwork i discovered at the Madrid Contemporary Art Fair. This one is Case Study Homes, a series of photographies by Peter Bialobrzeski whose work Neontigers i had briefly alluded to a couple of years ago. The project, that started in Manila then spread over Asia, attests men’s desire to built themselves a place they can call home, even if that entails rummaging through garbage.

Case study homes, 2008

Also worth the trip: Jörg Colberg’s interview with the photographer.

8Comments

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1

Rendell @ Brandlessblog on March 17, 2009 at 9:21 pm

Oh my, make me realize how fortunate we are despite this economic situation.
2

CaliforniaMegalottery on March 19, 2009 at 5:19 pm

very poor people… who really needs help
3

Chris on March 20, 2009 at 2:06 am

piss poor comments, friends. These structures are inspired and beautiful. I admire the creative ingenuity that went into these dwellings. I can only hope I would be able to carve something as awesome out of so little. Pity should be reserved for your attitudes. Can you build anything that would even approach this skill?
4

robin on March 23, 2009 at 5:50 pm

well said, chris.
the previous comments suggest that it is difficult [for some?] to see beyond a flattened measurement of poverty/wealth.
perhaps the people who have build these unique homes for themselves know a wealth of vitality and self-trust that simply cannot be experienced (or in some cases, even perceived) from the confines of pre-fabricated living.
5

usg on April 1, 2009 at 11:08 pm

I’m always amazed how birds make their nest with one tool – a beak. Yet, with all the technology available how many of us can build our homes? These houses are inspiring!
6

Sigh on April 6, 2009 at 9:04 am

Robin, are you kidding or has privilege really clouded your vision to such an amazing degree? These people literally live in trash, on trash, around trash, and probably struggle daily to meet their most basic needs.
Oh yeah, but they’re crafty! And look at how they used trash-bags for doors! You know, wealth isn’t about money!
Get a grip.
7

Saoki on April 8, 2009 at 8:34 pm

We call this structures “barracos” (“favela” is the collective of barracos) around here. “Barraqueiros”, those that construct these shelters (because those are neither houses nor homes), are usually trash gatherers, which they sell for pennies with which they buy booze (to ward away the hunger, cold and the feeling of being the poorest of the poor).
They will pick up or steal anything that’s not nailed down. It’s the sort of poverty that you can’t explain to anyone that has never seen it. You can’t blame them for stealing cables for the copper, but you can’t approve of if as well.
These people are usually given houses by the government. Real houses, which they proceed to sell (irregulary) on the pretense that those houses are too far away from the places where they can find the trash they pick up for a living. It’s sad, it’s terrible and it’s so very true I only need to walk a few kilometres to find them.
Just so you know.
8

Marcus on July 5, 2009 at 6:26 am

I live on metaphorical trash, in metaphorical trash and around metaphorical trash…
should I look up or down on these people’s dwellings… I can’t tell. someone please save me

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