HOME

A strategy to improve the homeless network

A SENSE OF HOME arose from a fascination with how and when someone feels at home. How does this work for homeless people who have no physical house or home? The lack of shelter and space for the homeless in the Netherlands is high. As long as the issue is not adequately addressed at the state level, bottom-up alternatives must be sought. But what do homeless people actually need?

To explore this, I lived on the streets of Amsterdam for one week. One of the main insights was that homeless people see their neighborhood as home but miss "rooms" in their "house." Their living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom are scattered throughout the city like a fragmented network, and there aren’t enough “rooms” available in their neighborhoods. This forces them to move to areas outside the city, causing stress, discomfort, and physical hardship. Given the abundance of unused spaces and waste flows in the city, we could utilize these resources to better facilitate the daily network of homeless people.

In the neighborhoods with the greatest need, I created two rooms: a kitchen at Dappermarkt, called de Dapperkeuken, and a bedroom in the Jordaan, called de Bedsteeg. Waste formed the primary material for these rooms. In de Dapperkeuken, meals were prepared using leftover products from market stalls. De Bedsteeg was made from collected waste cardboard, which was pressed and treated as a new modular building material. With family and friends, I carried out these experiments. The building process made connections at a local level. Although the local residents had initial doubts, they became involved and part of the project as it progressed.

The role of an architect or architecture in general is open for debate. This project demonstrates that architecture is much broader than just a building itself. When you listen, observe, and collaborate, architecture is no longer a final product but becomes the process itself.

Program: 4 m²

Completion: 2019

Location: Amsterdam - Zwaardvegersgang

Design: A SENSE OF_

Visuals: A SENSE OF_

Collaboration: The Netherlands FIlm Academy