21st century housing
A debate closing the festival

  • 21st century housing

    Krzysztof Eberle, Untitled, 2014-2016

Oliver Elser, the curator of the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt, said: “We don't have a refugee crisis, we have a housing crisis”. Contemporary social inequalities are directly reflected in housing. This was markedly shown by the 2008 economic crisis, but also by the wars taking place right before our eyes. However, miserable living conditions and lack of shelter does not only touch those whose homes were taken away by military conflicts or unpaid mortgages.

Poles in general do not live too well. Our country's housing market in the times of the political transformation began to reflect wider, more global processes, but apartments in Poland continue to be overcrowded. According to Eurostat, the overcrowding rate in Poland is 43%, which means that almost half of Polish residents live in an apartment that does not have sufficient space.

And while it seemed that after 1989 everyone will be able to build their own house to live in, as would be appropriate for a time of freedom, the living scenarios of many a Kowalski went in a completely different direction.

Their fate inspired an exhibition that shows housing as a still unfinished project of the Third Polish Republic. The debate will present possible solutions that should be implemented immediately in order to improve the situation. We will pay special attention to the role of the government in housing policy.

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