Corrupted Space Parade

In the INSIDE year programme, exploring corrupted space, we established that most of the built environment contains elements of corruptedness. We learned not to denounce this situation or initiate a Don Quichote battle against that but to enjoy the examples and discover unexpected qualities in this ‘dirty reality’ of the built environment. The basic assumption is that especially in adapting the built environment to its real circumstances a society shows it’s unique strength and creativity. On the next pages you will fnd a collage of the corrupted spaces we met. Our journey started in the German city of Oberhausen and continued in The Hague. We organized a lecture series where artists, architects and researches shared there experiences with corrupted space and end this overview with a selection of observations and interpretations we gathered on our travels through, among other places, the Balkan region.

The Oberhaus Our year began in the German city of Oberhausen, in the formerly prosporous Ruhr Area. Now the area suffers massive unemployment and debt. We participated in The Oberhaus, an initiative by the Oberhausen based artists group kitev to develop an artistic approach to upgrade a neglected building near the Oberhausen train station. It focuses on fostering the intercultural dialogue between current and future neighbours to create a better life. INSIDE students,

Dirty reality At frst entry the students could not help to be somewhat shocked by the garbage in the hallway, the dirt on the foor and the walls and the unpleasent smell in the collective spaces of the Oberhaus. This turned out to guided by REFUNC, participated in the project by designing and realising four collective ‘services’ with materials they harvested in the direct environment of The Oberhaus. These new collective ‘services’ support the inhabitants that mostly have a refugee background, to create a stronger ‘sense of belonging’ in their new Heimat. INSIDE students, in cooperation with local refugees, developed and realized several proposals for improving the building.

be a signal for the lack of collectivity in the building. The Oberhaus is a ‘halfway house’ a place people come with no other housing options. The frst thing the participants of the workshop did was to buy cleaning products and frmly brush the hallway of the building.